Customer Reviews

Masters of the Country Blues - John Lee Hooker and Furry Lewis [VHS]

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

 

 

I have recently reviewed a few of John Lee Hooker's vast number of blues albums that lend credence to the title "Boogie Chillen" man. I also noted that unlike other old time electric blues artists such as Howlin' Wolf and Lighting Hopkins that Hooker's work, in general, leaves me cold. Although the small segment of his work presented here is good as he articulates his sense of what the blues mean, especially as it features one of his signature songs that I like, "Boom Boom", I still am left with that same feeling. I finish by noting that this is a question of personal taste. Hooker is a blues legend, justifiably so. Case closed.

The other figure in this short Yazoo production is a different story. I have also reviewed Furry Lewis's work elsewhere in this space and have praised his clean guitar picking style and vocals from his early career in the 1920's when he was along with Blind Blake and Blind Lemon Jefferson one of the kings of the guitar pick. Furry does not fail here late in his career after reemerging during the folk revival of the 1960's. His version of the famous "Kassie Jones" is worth the price of admission.

The first part of this dvd consists of the unorthodox John Lee Hooker singing meaningful lyrics which tend not to rhyme, which is something that really sets Hooker's music apart from that of other Bluesmen. He plays "Boom Boom", which had recently been done by many British Blues-Rock groups. Though he only does a total of three songs, the music takes up the first fifteen minutes of the dvd. In my opinion, Furry Lewis' performances of "Goin' To Brownsville" and "Furry's Blues" are the real highlights of this disc. "Kassie Jones" is also fantastic. This is definitely one of the best dvds in this series. I highly recommend that anyone who is interested in Blues music pick up this disc. If you are a fan of technical guitar work and don't like Blues too much, maybe you should avoid this dvd and pick up a dvd with performances by Reverend Gary Davis or Mance Lipscomb, as their playing is less "sloppy" than that of Furry Lewis, and more impressive. However, for true Blues fans like myself, a little bit of "sloppy" playing means nothing when we can listen to great vocals and lyrics from Mr. Lewis. Furry's 1920s recordings and his "Shake 'Em On Down" cd find his guitar playing in better form than on this disc. In the end, I'd take Furry's "sloppy" playing over the maniacally fast and meaningless guitar playing of Steve Vai or Eddie Van Halen any day. This is a five star dvd.