Customer Reviews

Burnin'

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It's sort of weird that Amazon doesn't stock the newest Vee-Jay re-release of this classic John Lee Hooker-LP. It features the best sound yet, and five bonus tracks. Too bad...

Anyway, "Burnin'" is still one of the Hook's better albums. Recorded with a full band (drums, bass, seconds guitar, piano and even a tenor sax), it marked a departure from the sparse backing on previous John Lee Hooker sides. Some may prefer him alone, just a guitar and a piece of plywood to stomp on, but if you like band-backed Hook this is a very good place to get some (as are "I'm John Lee Hooker" and "It Serves Me Right To Suffer").

The Hook lays down a rollicking "Let's Make It", a piano-enhanced "Boom Boom", and covers Leroy Carr's mournful "Blues Before Sunrise". And "Thelma" rides along on a funky horn riff and some more fine piano playing by Motown's leading piano player Joe Hunter (not to be confused with "Ivory" Joe Hunter from Kirbyville, Texas).
There is a lot of rather dubious Hooker reissues out there, but you can't go wrong with the Vee-Jay stuff. And if you should get your hands on a copy of the 2000 issue with bonus tracks, savour that slippin', slidin' swing of "Old Timmy Shimmy" and the funky, Booker T-inspired groove of "Onions".

Burnin' (Collectables): First off, this is a different album than his "Burning Hell" album. Both deserve a place in your collection, but they are not the same. "Burnin'" has a jumping band (but still a Blues band) behind John Lee and it starts off with a killer version of "Boom Boom". The rest of the CD moves along well but they don't lift the album up to Classic status. Well worth having nonetheless.