Gold Star Sessions 2

Lightnin' Hopkins | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 1, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Arhoolie Records
• ASIN: B0000001H2
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,570 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #8 in Music > Indie Music > Blues > Texas Blues
  • #8 in Music > Indie Music > Blues > Traditional Blues
  • #67 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > Texas Blues

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Po' Lightnin', December 10, 2010

By 

Kevin Gallaugher - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Gold Star Sessions 2 (Audio CD)

I've got several friends here in austin that are lightin' hopkins fanatics. I've always liked him a lot too, but I've always thought of him as a lesser contemporary to Mance Lipscomb, considering that his style is not as versatile, therefore defining him 'second best' of the two. Felt that way for years. A few weeks ago I was returning to austin from a road trip taken to Ruidoso, New Mexico. Somewhere way out in west texas I was fumbling through the CD collection trying to figure out which to insert and decided to put on something I had not listened to in a while, volume 1 of this two volume Gold Star series (did not own volume 2 at the time). Perhaps it was the multiple circumstance of mood, setting, terrain, and weather all of which magically combined to allow me to 'hear' this music for the first time of sorts, even though I had played the CD on numerous occasions previous. Having ample time and space to patiently consider the characteristics of this particular recording, several facts gradually unfolded: Firstly, although Lipscomb and Hopkins were certainly contemporaries, there is a world of difference in their respective styles which therefore dictates that you cannot compare or rank one to the other, not unless you are in the habit of comparing apples to oranges. Those qualities in Hopkins style which I had previously considered inferior, I now understood to be nothing of the sort. Example: It's probably true that every song Hopkins ever recorded is, to a certain extent, the same song. Yet, what makes it so is the time limitation of the 78 rpm record. In effect, his music is a continual stream of consciousness. It is the quintessential example of the artist's work being his life and his life being his work. Hopkins actually COULD have gone on playing for the duration of the CD without there having been a break from one song to the next. He had no preconceptions, nor did he consider a single note he was playing previous to having played the note. The music flowed from his being in much the same fashion that time ticks off a clock.
Well, the first thing I did upon returning from Ruidoso was to do something I should have done ten years ago after purchasing Volume 1 of the series - I purchased Volume 2. There is no difference in quality between the two. Suffice to say, if you truly are a fan of Hopkins, you cannot own but one of the volumes, you must have them both. One final comment: I've listened to a lot of Hopkins through the years, and with the exception of the Herald Recordings, which are phenomenal, his earlier recordings, those on which he has no accompanists, are the most devastating to me personally. The 'Complete Alladin Recordings' along with 'Jake Head Boogie' in particular, are prime examples. Of course there are exceptions, but Lightin's abrupt, deeply personal sense of timing was a completely self contained phenomena which precluded any other individual being able to effectively accompany him, for it was virtually impossible to anticipate to where he was going or when he would be leaving. Hopkins' journey was fated to be traveled without the comfort of companionship. It was a road he could only travel alone.