Heerlijke comeback uit '89 van deze legendarische bluesman met nieuwe nummers en nieuwe versies van oud materiaal. Het titelnummer en 'I'm in the Mood' (met Bonnie Raitt) werden wereldhits. Ook Carlos Santana, Robert Cray e.v.a. zijn te horen.
"Hooker's 1962 album "Burnin'" is one of the most revered titles in his discography. While his earliest sides featured only his guitar and a stomp board, he also cut sides with a second guitarist or harmonicist. (...) "Burnin'" was recorded in a single day in a Chicago; it paired Hooker for the first time with a full, live electric band in the studio. The musicians were brought in from Detroit, all session aces familiar with Hooker from his years of playing clubs on Hastings Street: the very first incarnation of Motown's globally renowned house band, the Funk Brothers. The set opener is single "Boom Boom", it growls to life with saxes, piano, and shuffling drums offering a rowdy vamp. At the midway point, Hooker, playing in an uncharacteristically tight fashion, delivers a shout worthy of Ray Charles. (...) This expanded CD offers both the mono and stereo mixes, plus a previously unreleased alternate take of "Thelma"." (Allmusic; 5 uit 5 sterren)
Tijdens z'n actieve carrière van dik 50 jaar nam hij op voor vele labels. Vooral in z'n beginjaren bracht hij vele singles uit op allerlei kleine labeltjes - regelmatig onder pseudoniem om contracten te omzeilen. Dit is de eerste boxset die z'n complete muziekleven probeert samen te vatten op een evenwichtige manier en daarvoor materiaal gebruikt dat voor 27 verschillende labels is opgenomen, van eind jaren '40 tot eind jaren '90. Disc 4 is vnl. gewijd aan de sterrenplaten die hij sinds "The Healer" maakte.
"A decent if somewhat low-key electric set, recorded in August of 1966. One of his better live bands, featuring support from Otis Spann, Muddy Waters and other members of Muddy Waters' group. The eight songs include Hooker standbys like "One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer" and "I'll Never Get out of These Blues Alive". This reissue contains the entirety of Hooker's 1966 Cafe Au Go-Go set, and adds five bonus tracks from his 1972 album, "Live At Soledad Prison". Luther Tucker is one of the guitarists for the Soledad portion, which has a somewhat more electric, rock-oriented sound than the Au Go-Go material. The disc only has five of the seven cuts from the original Soledad album, but that's okay, as the two missing items featured John Lee Hooker, Jr. on lead vocals, rather than Hooker himself.
"A 1959 first issued in the UK in 1964, "Burning Hell" ranks among Hooker's most edgy and focused performances. A companion piece to "The Country Blues Of John Lee Hooker", it finds Hooker singing country-blues, accompanied only by his own acoustic guitar - something he rarely did after leaving the Mississippi Delta. Tackling several originals as well as tunes associated with Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Big Bill Broonzy, Hooker shows himself to be an excellent interpreter who could have held his own with Delta bluesmen of any era. Although his guitar playing is pretty raw even by blues standards, Hooker more than compensates with his powerful, resonant voice. Several tracks, like "Burnin' Hell" and "You Live Your Life and I'll Live Mine," are downright frightening in their intensity. Although Robert Jr. Lockwood is often identified as Robert Johnson's successor, this album would seem to indicate that Hooker is the most likely candidate to have a hellhound on his trail." (Allmusic)
De in 2001 overleden bluesman nam op voor vele labels. Het onvolprezen Rhino-label is er in geslaagd om z'n essentiele werk bijeen te krijgen, tot aan een prachtige live-opname met Bonnie Raitt uit 1990. 'n Betere JLH-introductie is er niet.
"Overseen by noted jazz producer Bob Thiele, this session had Hooker backed by some of his fullest arrangements to date, with noted session drummer Pretty Purdie and keyboards in addition to supplementary guitar and bass. The slightly modernized sound was ultimately neither here nor there, the center remaining Hooker's voice and lyrics. His words nodded toward contemporary concerns with "I Don't Wanna Go to Vietnam" and "Mini Skirts," but the songs were mostly consistent with his usual approaches. Another of his many characteristically solid efforts, although it's not one of his more interesting albums." (Richie Unterberger, Allmusic; 3 uit 5 sterren)
Soundtrack van de gelijknamige broeierige film van Dennis Hopper, gecomponeerd door Jack Nitzsche en uitgevoerd door grootheden als John Lee Hooker en Miles Davis.
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