Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Hooker 'N' Heat" Best Blues Master, Rock Band Collaboration, July 8, 2001
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.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is too intense..., May 22, 2004
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.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A seminal blues album and John Lee's best........, August 28, 2005
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!!!!
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