Customer Reviews

That's Where It's At!

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Among the plethora of recordings Hooker has laid down--- THIS IS WHERE IT'S AT!

If you're a fan of the more sparse, brooding, unaccompanied Hooker,this one's for you.

Like his double live album, ALONE, this disc is fraught with a menacing tension that leaves one breathless. Abetted only by a mysteriously unbilled bass, Hooker starts off with TEACHIN' THE BLUES, an informal lesson stressing the importance of beat over chord. Then on GOIN' TO LOUISIANA, he lives up to his own advice.

Covering the usual subjects of Death, Despair and Deprivation, Hooker manages to suffuse each song with a slow burning sense of vengence.

I JUST DON'T KNOW is a standout tune for me, perfectly capturing the humiliation one feels at the sight of seeing their woman stepping out with another man. In terms of mounting homicidal frustration, it's right up there with an earlier Hooker classic,I'M GONNA KILL THAT WOMAN. The seething anger of it builds and builds but never explodes into fury as one would expect. It just keeps on wringing it's hands, pacing the floor in agony and indecision.

Over all, this is a dark, sparse offering but not utterly devoid of humor. FEEL SO BAD takes the edge off with Hooker and unbilled friend swaping vocals on the subject of long, lost love. The whole thing goes on for nearly 8 minutes and I wouldn't be surprized to hear that Ol' Jim Beam had something to do with it. At song's end, you can hear Hooker mutter,"You got me so stoned, man!"

To sum up, this is gothic Hooker---sinister, sparse and sincere.

... from a Hendrix perspective. Anyone who was fascinated by the spookier Hendrix tunes like "Voodoo Chile", "Here My Train A Comin'", etc. has got to hear this. What you are hearing are the raw roots of Hendrix. Now look at the release date - 1969. (There were no recording dates on the vinyl LP.) So Johnny Lee could have already heard Jimi by this time ... John Lee Hooker influenced by Jimi Hendrix? (Influenced by Jimi's influences of himself and giving it back?) No matter - what could be better? This is raw primal blues with some oomf ... and it's the missing link. Nobody talks about this one.

Well, first of all, I ordered my cd from uncle sammy and got exactly what I ordered!!! So, there must be some factory defects out there, BUT it would be hard to blame any seller for this, unless you were buying USED! This is another short cd at just over 40 minutes, HOWEVER it's not the length of the set that really matters: it's the quality! Unfortunately, we do not know, as one reviewer mentions, who this STEVE is who trades vocal with Hooker on FEEL SO BAD! Or, who is the bass player! You kinda get the idea they are one and the same guy, but that's, obviously, a guess! No info at all to work with and liner notes are no help at all. Well, all that said, this is a great listen! Classic Hooker at its best! Check this one out! 'Nuf said!

The Hook completely attacks his guitar and rapes his strings in a whole new tangle of MAD madness on this album. With only his voice, tappin' foot, and electric guitar doin' the assualting - you'de think The Hook recorded these tracks not 10 minutes after walking in on his wife with another mule.

Start right here for solo-man angry blues, this is where it's at!

john lee hooker was an icon of the blues, known by the wider public as the man who gave us the boogie--"boogie chillen," "boom,boom", "dimples", etc. but on this album we discover another side to mr. hooker, dark and sinister and downright malevolent. this is blues from way on the other side of town, far away from BB King at the Apollo, Muddy Waters stompin' in the Delta, and Howlin' Wolf growling away in Chicago. this is the blues as filtered through the back alleys and slum shacks where living is hard and nothing is a given. as he says in the opener, he's teachin' the blues--no chords, no melody, just that beat. mr. hooker grinds out slow blues that weave sinister stories of abandonment, despair, and angst, as if william faulkner were suddenly a bluesman. each song grabs you and makes you listen--that beat, again--as mr. hooker unfolds each story. dark as it is, it's not without humor. on "feel so bad" mr. hooker swaps choruses with a vocalist he only refers to as "steve" about an elementary school love affair doomed by a protective mother. then there's the entendre laced "grinder man," that makes you smile. this is real blues practiced by a master that's scary and exhilirating all at the same time.

currently, you might also check out work by junior kimbrough if you enjoyed this album.

On two occasions I sent for this CD from Amazon and got something other than expected. Oddly, the factory has used the wrong recording for this disc. What you will get is some type of blues compilation CD with people like BB King, Ike & Tina Turner and Leadbelly on it. This is not a recording of John Lee Hooker. Amazon should withdraw this from the market immediately!

I received this today. The jewel case and CD were labeled correctly. However, when I played the CD it was "Super Blues All Time Classic Blues Hits - Volume 1." Use caution when buying this CD because there is a chance you might get the defective product too.