Boom Boom
John Lee Hooker
Charlie Musselwhite, John Hammond, Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughn, Albert Collins, Mitch Woods
Producer: Roy Rogers
Shout! Factory, 2007
1 CD
Catalogue #: 10329
EAN: 0826663103298
UPC: 826663103298
You save: 25%
Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocals, guitar); John Hammond (guitar, harmonica); Robert Cray, Albert Collins, Jimmie Vaughan, Rich Kirch, Billy Johnson, Mike Osborn (guitar); Charlie Musselwhite (harmonica); Mitch Woods (piano); Deacon Jones (organ); Jim Guyett, Steve Ehrmann (bass); Scott Mathews, Bowen Brown (drums).
Recorded at Russian Hill Recording, San Francisco, California and The Plant, Sausalito, California.
Personnel include: John Lee Hooker (vocals, guitar); Jimmie Vaughan, Albert Collins, Robert Cray (guitar); Charlie Musselwhite (harmonica).
Recording information: Russian Hill Recording, San Francisco; The Record Plant, Sausalito, CA.
Produced by slide guitar maestro Roy Rogers, BOOM BOOM finds John Lee Hooker matched with an assortment of famous names. Robert Cray and his band provide sultry backup on "Same Old Blues Again" and with Jimmie Vaughan taking Cray's place, the band jukes it up on the title track. The late Albert Collins helps the Hook turn "Boogie At Russian Hill" into an infectious shuffle, whereas "Bottle Up And Go" slows things down a bit more, with John Hammond contributing guitar and harmonica to the proceedings.
Hooker's greatness is most apparent when his only accompaniment comes from a guitar on which he's scraping out primitive chords. The results range from the bittersweet "Hittin' The Bottle Again" to the more ominous "I'm Bad Like Jesse James." The only other time a song gets this sinister is when Charlie Musselwhite uses some understated harmonica playing to give "Thought I Heard" a more dastardly edge. Moments like this make it seem as if the Devil met his match in John Lee Hooker after getting the best of Robert Johnson.
Tracklist
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker is the most elemental of the electric blues giants. His spooky musical minimalism--plaintive yet powerful vocals coupled with guitar work alternately haunting and toe-tapping--has inspired countless artists, from contemporaries like Slim Harpo to acolytes the Rolling Stones. Few, however, can summon up the inexplicable erotic charge at the heart of Hooker's best performances. The patented "boogie" rhythm upon which seemingly every blues-rock and hard rock band of the 1970s wrought variations was virtually invented by Hooker. One of the most-recorded post-war bluesmen, Hooker released records on countless labels, working much of the time in Detroit and Chicago. He kept working well into his eighties, his style growing ever more refined and penetrating.
Charlie Musselwhite
One of the best Chicago-style blues harmonica players of the post-Chess era, Charlie Musselwhite was born in Mississippi, and soaked up plenty of country blues influences, but it was after his emigration to Chicago that he really came into his own. His 1967 debut album STAND BACK, with it's vibrant Chicago sound, was a crossover success with both the burgeoning hippie crowd and blues aficionados. Musselwhite continued recording consistently into the 21st century, latterly incorporating jazz and international influences into his sound.
Robert Cray
Grammy Award-winning guitar great Robert Cray fuses blues and Memphis-style R&B in his music, often evoking the funky soul sounds of O.V. Wright in the process. Cray is justly praised for his understated approach; the subtlety of his singing and playing indeed set him apart from much of the modern blues scene, and the songs he and partner Dennis Walker write bear the mark of true storytelling. Bursting onto the music scene in 1983 with BAD INFLUENCE, Cray continues to create stellar blues into the 21st century.
Albert Collins
Texas blues master Albert Collins was known for his unique Telecaster style, typified by extensive use of reverb, staccato picking, unconventional minor-key tunings, and a percussive, trebly quality. For four decades, from the 1950s on, his "cool" sound was one of the most immediately identifiable in the blues guitar pantheon, inspiring both blues and rock guitarists.
