Customer Reviews

Hooker 'N Heat

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There have been a number of albums produced over the years which match a legendary figure from blues music with some his admirers in well known contemporary rock or blues bands. Blues and other music critics often lambast these efforts and hold them in utmost contempt. Some of these sessions are truly awful but some come off well, such as "Fathers and Sons" with Muddy Waters and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. "Hooker 'N' Heat," released on Liberty Records in 1970, stands as possibly the best example of generational meeting of the minds. Canned Heat was at the top of their popularity and Hooker was fading from the public eye somewhat. This record helped to revitalize interest in Hooker's music. Most of Hooker's best work, out of hundreds of recordings, many under assumed names, is solo, just "The Hook," his left foot and his guitar. On albums where he recorded with full bands or other accompaniment his rough, often uneven style, with a measure count that often varied, didn't mesh well with musicians accustomed to playing arrangements or standard blues classics. Sometimes the clash detracted from the product. The band Canned Heat had no such problems. It was obvious that he loved the band and they loved him! Bob "The Bear" Hite, the band leader, who usually provided the gruff vocals on much of the band's material, was a blues collector and historian and was well acquainted with Hooker's music and the band itself was rough hewn and unpolished but played with feeling and a respect for the music. Hite is not heard on the album. He wisely stood aside and gave the spotlight to Hooker. No band ever backed the Hook better. This was the last album for 'Heat member Alan Wilson, who plays harmonica and piano. Wilson would soon after be dead from poisoning and choking on barbituates while on a camping trip. Wilson plays inspired harp on this album and gets special recognition from Hooker for it. Wilson is one of the under rated harmonica players of our time and this stands as his memorial. With the recent passing of John Lee Hooker this album could be considered among his best work as well.

I wore a hole in this vinyl record simply because it was definitive blues at its best.
The interaction between the legend John Lee Hooker and Canned Heat was incomparable, confirmed by Hooker's patter between tracks.
The rawness is still there but with that added polish. At one point Hooker suggests they have enough for a "triple album" which would mean "triple money". A shame it wasn't a triple album, it records both Hooker and Canned Heat at their pinnacle.
If you want to hear Blues music played in its purest form buy this album, it doesn't get any better. John Lee Hooker is at his articulate best and it is surely a definitive blues album which recorded a magic moment in time. Al "Blind Owl" Wilson's harp playing went hand in glove with Hooker's playing and he says between tracks that Wilson must have been listening to his records all his life, it truly is inspired playing. A tragedy that Wilson overdosed shortly afterwards, he was at the height of his musical powers.
The production is excellent and did justice to the musical experience.

This is one of the classic albums of modern times. If you like John Lee, I believe he produced no better album than this, Canned Heat stayed in the background and let him do his thing, whilst providing the best backing band he had ever experienced.
An absolute gem!!!!

When I first heard it, "Hooker and Heat" blew me away. It still does.

It doesn't get any better than this. Separately, Canned Heat and John Lee Hooker both produced excellent blues material, but together, they seemed to work off each other. It seems like the intensity of each got kicked up a level when they went into the studio to record this collection.

The recordings are stripped down, raw. My favorites are "Alimonia Blues", "You Talk Too Much" and "Peavine", but the rest of the set is great too. I guess if you're a blues purist or a member of some obscure mutual admiration society, the studio chatter is probably going to be offensive.

My personal opinion is that all of the extra stuff adds authenticy to the recordings. That's part of what makes this collection unique. After all, if I wanted to listen to some of the material on this collection without the chatter, I could do so by listening to one of dozens of other Canned Heat or Hooker recordings.

I rank this as one of my top three albums of all time. I include beside it Bob Dylan's "Blonde on Blonde" and Lou Reed's "New York". All three albums can be played at any time of the day, in any mood, in any company. They all have a sound that continues from one track to the next.

You may have heard other Hooker albums, but this one is raw. You hear him talking in the studio, his foot stompin, his ideas "for when the band comes tomorrow". "I don't know how he's following me, but he does" he says about the harmonica.

Highlights: Messin' With The Hook, The Feelin' Is Gone, Send Me Your Pillow, Burning Hell, Peavine, and Boogie Chillen No. 2.

This album changed my life.

I came across it quite by accident at a time when I had only a passing familiarity with "The Hook". What I heard here changed me forever. Hooker (clearly enamored with Alan Wilson), and Canned Heat (clearly even more enamored with their hero John Lee) add a sense of life and enthusiasm missing from most of the poorer Hooker records. John plays by himself for most of Disc One, and then is slowly joined- first by Alan Wilson- then by the rest of the band. The album which had started out slow and "melluh" and gradually picked up speed rollicks through a couple of rockers with a jubilant Canned Heat- crowned finally by a wild 12 minute romp that changes in beat and texture throughout.

This album is largely disregarded in the blues and rock press. The record is raw- complete with false starts and dialogue. Also, it was recorded during an unheralded and otherwise unproductive period for Hooker. It is, therefore, no surprise that not many people have ever heard this.

I'm glad I did.

For anyone, like me, weary of the overproduced and distant sounds of modern pop, rock and blues- Hooker'N'Heat is a gritty yet stunningly beautiful reminder of the power of live music. Six guys in a room- feeding off each other, bouncing off each other- weaving a rhythmical and melodic tapestry that rocks- then swerves and changes- and rocks again.

Hearing this music has forever changed my approach to recording- and to listening. Thank You John and Canned Heat.

-Matt

P.S. A mark of great music is that it inspires. Every time I hear this I immediately have to pick up a guitar and plug in because yes, John, "I Feeeeel GOOOD!"

Hooker n' Heat is a great collaboration between white blues players and the Hook (in my opinion, the best blues singer of all time). The recording is raw, stripped down and meaty. Reverb wasn't even added to John Lee's vocals or most of the instruments for that matter, which makes me think of After the Goldrush by Neil Young, also a profoundly stripped down record made the same year. Because of its simplicity, this album sounds very different than the Hook's famous late 50's, early 60's work.

My only complaint is that some of the album's songs should have remained out. The album could have been a great single disc. Most of the first disc is John improvising, getting warmed up to boogie the next day. Aside from "Burning Hell" "Messin with the Hook" and a couple of others, these first songs sound like exercises rather than organized material. The album probably should have been arranged as a 12 song single disc and still kicked butt, but I imagine Heat wanted a double album, and had to work with what they had in the end. Hook even tells the producer to take "nothin' but the best and later for the garbage."

Nonetheless it still stands as an awesome collaboration. And I do enjoy the eccentric rambling between tracks, it gives insight into John's personality. Too bad Alan Wilson committed suicide right after recording this record, Wilson and the Hook could've made great records for years. Long live the Hook

You better feel good when you listen to this or Hook will make ya'. Done in a down home style of guys sitting in a studion playing music. Key tracks on this one are the blasphemous "Burnin' Hell" and the great "Boogie Chillen' No. 2." Hook loves Wilson's harmonica and he doesn't know how Alan follows him and you'll wonder too. Well worth the price you pay for it. Actually, it's a little too cheap for such a great cd. If you don't want to spend that much there is a cheaper "best of hook and heat" which is okay too.

As much as I love the 1989-1997 albums that closed out John Lee's amazing career (Healer, Mr. Lucky, Boom Boom, Chill Out, Don't Look Back), 1970's Hooker 'n Heat is a true crown jewel in the legacy. Just as Johnny Winter's pure sympatico hand of support guided Muddy Waters through his late-career Blue Sky albums, Canned Heat provides the most solid and driven backing I've heard on a JLH album. John Lee is in full-blown Crawling King Snake mode here...on this album he's not a kindly "elder statesman," he's a dangerous man, and if you approach his flame, you WILL get burned. The late Heat vocalist Bob "The Bear" Hite limits himself to co-producer duties here, so the musical dynamics come from Al "Blind Owl" Wilson (his final recording), guitarist Henry "Sunflower" Vestine (get ready for the thoroughly insane 11 minute "Boogie Chillen No. 2"), Antonio de la Barreda on bass and Fito de la Parra on drums. The first 9 tracks are John Lee solo. Wilson joins tracks 10 and 11, and the full band backs the remaining 6 tracks. Make no mistake about it...you WILL get cold chills when Hooker bellows "Alan! Alan! Blow your HORN, baby!" on "Let's Make It."

In 1970 the blues-rockers Canned Heat got this, as it would turn out, great idea in bringing blues-legend John Lee Hooker into the studio for a close collaboration. The album was planned as a feature for John Lee Hooker in that respect that half of the album would mostly feature his solo stuff, where as the other half would be together with the group.

The amazing thing is that it brings the best out in John Lee Hooker, as he would deliver some of his most inspired performances ever - that also maybe due to the "Heat's" enormous respect for the man. Canned Heat had proved themselves to be among the most serious and properly best of the "white" American bluesbands with original compositions, especially by the late blues-harp `wonder' & rhythm/slide guitarist Alan Wilson - and by bringing in a slightly more `rocking' approach, they popularised a music that, at the time, seem to have faded away from the limelight (maybe some remembers hits like "Going Up The Country" or "On The Road Again").

Even more wonderful is the fact that the inspiration is mutual and Hooker's duets with Wilson's soulful harmonica, later in the first half, is literally sparkling - there is a fantastic communication between the two. But also the second half with the band is really smoking and I personally really like their bassist Antonio De La Barrada for his inventive and driving playing, but no doubt that Canned Heat fore and most was a group - a unit, and that really shows and because of their open, raw and honest nature, they musically fits so well with Hooker and makes him sound so great.

Canned Heat's lead-singer though, Bob "the bear" Hite, respectfully stands back and solely dedicates himself as a producer together with Skip Taylor. Unfortunately this also was to be Canned Heat's last album with Alan Wilson, who prematurely died soon after these recordings. A loss they properly never really overcame and their best work is also to found before this tragic event occurred with albums like: "Boogie With Canned Heat", "Live At Topanga Corral", "Living The Blues" and "Future Blues".

Many have acknowledged this work to be some of the best Hooker ever delivered - I for one agree.

When this was first released I bought a copy. I was just a young teen and didn't appreciate what I had purchased. Now, I have this on cd and am listening again and realize what a gem it truely is. I was always a Canned Heat fan, still am, but not of this album. Now I love it. Pure, delta blues. JLH with his foot stompin' boogie blues and the canned Heat adding a restrained backing (mostly on disk two) create a classic for all times. Al "Blind Owl" Wilson truly shines. He is even praised on tape by Hooker. What could he have accomplished if his life had not been so tragicaly short!? If you like well done blues, if you like JLH, if you like Canned Heat, get this cd without delay.