With a style that synthesized Mississippi Delta blues through the urban Midwest during the mid-20th century and beyond, John Lee Hooker was the blues. And now, to celebrate what would have been his 100th birthday, Craft Recordings is prepping a five-disc box set, to be released next month.
King Of The Boogie collects a track for every year since Hooker's presumed birth in 1917. The son of a sharecropper raised almost entirely on church spirituals, Hooker ran away from home at a young age, playing on Beale Street in Memphis for a time before settling down in the Hastings Street section of Detroit during World War II. His rhythmic guitar prowess and raspy talking blues vocal style eventually earned him notice from record companies, and in 1949 his "Boogie Chillun" became the year's bestselling race record.
He spent much of the next decade recording under various pseudonyms, eventually gaining traction on the Vee-Jay label in the early '60s, where his original "Boom Boom" and a cover of Rudy Toombs' "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" informed and reflected the blues-based work of British Invasion acts. He was regarded as an elder statesman of rock throughout the remainder of his life, making a cameo in The Blues Brothers in 1980--the same year he was inducted into the Blues Music Hall of Fame. Honors from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame followed 11 years later, and Hooker's reputation stood tall well after his passing in 2001.
Three of the five discs on King Of The Boogie provide an overview of Hooker's solo career, complete with three unreleased studio outtakes. The fourth disc finds Hooker in a live setting; five of the 15 concert tracks are heard here for the first time. The fifth and final disc, "Friends," features collaborations between Hooker and Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt and many more.
The package is rounded out with 56 pages of liner notes and photos, including writing from Hooker historian Jas Obrecht and the guitarist's longtime manager and friend, Mike Kappus. Look for it on September 29 and check the full track list below!
King Of The Boogie (Craft Recordings, 2017)
Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.
Disc 1
- Boogie Chillun - John Lee Hooker and His Guitar
- Sally May - John Lee Hooker and His Guitar
- Hobo Blues - John Lee Hooker and His Guitar
- Crawlin' King Snake - John Lee Hooker & His Guitar
- Black Man Blues - Texas Slim
- Goin' Mad Blues - Delta John
- Who's Been Jivin' You - Texas Slim
- (Miss Sadie Mae) Curl My Baby's Hair
- Hoogie Boogie - John Lee Hooker and His Guitar
- Burnin' Hell - John Lee Hooker and His Guitar
- Weeping Willow Boogie
- Moaning Blues - Texas Slim
- Huckle Up Baby - John Lee Hooker and His Guitar
- Goin' On Highway #51 - John Lee Hooker and His Guitar
- John L's House Rent Boogie
- I'm In the Mood
- Two White Horses
- 33 Blues
- Sugar Mama
- Wobbling Baby
- Stuttering Blues - John Lee Booker
- I'm a Boogie Man - Johnny Lee
- Down Child
- Odds Against Me (Backbiters and Syndicaters)
- Shake, Holler and Run
Disc 2
- Unfriendly Woman (a.k.a. Stop Now) *
- Mambo Chillun
- Time is Marching
- Dimples
- Little Wheel
- I Love You Honey
- Drive Me Away
- Maudie
- When I Lay My Burden Down *
- Tupelo Blues
- Good Mornin' Lil' School Girl
- I Rolled and Turned and Cried the Whole Night Long
- No More Doggin'
- Dusty Road
- No Shoes
- My First Wife Left Me
- Crazy About That Walk - Sir John Lee Hooker
- Want Ad Blues
- Will the Circle Be Unbroken
- I'm Going Upstairs
- I Lost My Job
- Don't Turn Me From Your Door
- Grinder Man
- Meat Shakes On Her Bone *
Disc 3
- Boom Boom
- Blues Before Sunrise
- She's Mine
- Frisco Blues
- Good Rockin' Mama
- I'm Leaving
- Birmingham Blues
- Don't Look Back
- Big Legs, Tight Skirt
- It Serves Me Right
- Money
- One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
- The Motor City is Burning
- Mean, Mean Woman
- Doin' the Shout
- Homework
- Early One Morning
- Rocking Chair
- Hittin' the Bottle Again
- Deep Blue Sea
- Spellbound
Disc 4: Live
- Hobo Blues
- Maudie
- Shake It Baby
- Boogie Chillun
- Bottle Up and Go
- Crawlin' King Snake
- The Mighty Fire
- You've Got to Walk Yourself
- I'm Bad Like Jesse James
- Boogie Everywhere I Go
- She's Gone *
- It Serves Me Right to Suffer *
- Boom Boom *
- Hi-Heel Sneakers *
- One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer *
Disc 5: Friends
- I Got Eyes for You (with "Little" Eddie Kirkland)
- Mai Lee (with The Groundhogs)
- Peavine (with Canned Heat)
- Never Get Out of These Blues Alive (with Van Morrison)
- Five Long Years (with Joe Cocker)
- The Healer (with Carlos Santana)
- I'm In the Mood (with Bonnie Raitt)
- Sally Mae (with George Thorogood)
- Mr. Lucky (with Robert Cray)
- Up and Down (with Warren Haynes)
- Boom Boom (with Jimmie Vaughan)
- You Shook Me (with B.B. King)
- Don't Look Back (with Van Morrison)
- Dimples (with Los Lobos)
- Boogie Chillun' (with Eric Clapton)
Andrew says
Any idea whether these tracks will be remastered and, if so, by whom?
Andrew says
Also, how much overlap in tracks with the old, four-disc set?
Claus Rohnisch says
Only 38 of 100 are also on Hooker 4cdset not that much
Andrew says
Thanks. Wonder about the remastering.
Claus Rohnisch says
Actually only 37 since Sally May is an alternate of the HOOKER box
Claus Rohnisch says
DON'T KNOW who remastered. The book box has not yet been issued. Meanwhile check this - http://www.rhythm-and-blues.info and click on the Hooker image