The Best of Friends
John Lee Hooker
Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Charlie Musselwhite, Los Lobos, Ben Harper, Bonnie Raitt, Ry Cooder, Carlos Santana
Sony Wonder, 2007
1 CD
Catalogue #: 631043
EAN: 0826663104363
UPC: 826663104363
You save: 20%
Personnel includes: John Lee Hooker, Van Morrison (vocals, guitar); Bonnie Raitt (vocals, slide guitar); Eric Clapton, Ry Cooder, Carlos Santana, Jimmie Vaughan, Roy Rogers, Ben Harper, Robert Cray, David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, Danny Caron (guitar); Charlie Musselwhite, John "Juke" Logan (harmonica); Gil Bernal (tenor saxophone, background vocals); Steve Berlin (baritone saxophone); Eric Barber (bass saxophone); Johnnie Johnson, Ike Turner (piano); Booker T. Jones (organ); Chester Thompson (keyboards, synthesizer); Bill Payne, Jim Pugh, Charles Brown (keyboards); Reggie McBride, Nick Lowe, Maurice Cridlin, Richard Cousins, Juan Nelson, Conrad Lozano, Benny Rietveld, Samuel Taylor (bass); Jim Keltner, Scott Mathews, Kevin Hayes (drums).
Producers include: John Porter, Roy Rogers, Ry Cooder, Carlos Santana, Van Morrison.
Engineers include: Samuel Lehmer, Alan Sides, Jim Gaines.
Personnel include: John Lee Hooker (vocals, guitars); Ben Harper, Roy Rogers (guitar); Charlie Musselwhite (harmonica); Kevin Hayes, Dean Butterworth (drums).
When John Lee Hooker recorded 1989's THE HEALER, it marked the beginning of the most successful period of his career. In the ensuing years, the Hook made a number of commercially and critically acclaimed records that found him playing alongside a host of legendary friends and admirers. THE BEST OF FRIENDS gathers together the cream of these collaborations in one place.
Being one of the greatest blues musicians of all time means that John Lee Hooker's made some pretty famous acquaintances along the way. This means Los Lobos and Juke Logan back him on a swinging reading of "Dimples" and Carlos Santana helps create a kind of samba blues vibe for "The Healer" and "Chill Out (Things Gonna Change)." Also included on FRIENDS are "I'm in the Mood," Hooker's Grammy Award-winning duet with Bonnie Raitt and two tracks with acolyte Van Morrison: the ominous "I Cover The Waterfront" and the wistful "Don't Look Back." The inclusion of new tracks with Ben Harper ("Burnin' Hell") and Eric Clapton ("Boogie Chillen") sweetens this package, but it is Hooker's solo reading of "Tupelo" that induces goosebumps.
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.
Eric Clapton
Over the course of four decades, Eric Clapton has carried the British blues legacy into the mainstream of pop music. From his mid-1960s days with the Yardbirds and John Mayall, through his years as guitar god with Cream and Blind Faith, and eventually to his more laid-back solo albums, Clapton has remained one of rock's most successful musicians. Given his guitar-superstar status, Clapton has played alongside the biggest musical acts of the 20th century, from soloing on the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," to performing at the Band's LAST WALTZ, to recording an album with B.B. King. Overcoming numerous setbacks and tragedies, old Slowhand has settled nicely into a long and prolific career.
Van Morrison
Van Morrison first came to notice as the powerful vocalist of the mid-1960s group Them ("Baby Please Don't Go," "Gloria"), and then with the solo hit "Brown-Eyed Girl." Morrison followed this success with two landmark albums, ASTRAL WEEKS and MOONDANCE, which masterfully combined folk, gospel, rock, and jazz. As complex a performer as any that rock & roll has produced, the soulful Irishman has produced numerous outstanding recordings in his long career, mixing his pensive and passionate R&B-inflected rock with a decidedly mystical bent.
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.
Ben Harper
Singer/songwriter Ben Harper, who hails from Pomona, CA, debuted in 1994 with WELCOME TO THE CRUEL WORLD. Harper's idiosyncratic mix of blues, folk, rock, funk, and reggae made an instant splash. His distinctive use of the dobro-like Weissenborn guitar became a key element of his sound. A few years later, Harper adopted a more turbo-charged heavy rock sound influenced in equal parts by Led Zeppelin and Seattle grunge, but his strongly lyrical songwriting and his band's famed live prowess continued to grow.
Bonnie Raitt
Singer/guitarist Bonnie Raitt emerged from the Cambridge, MA, coffeehouse scene with a soulful and sexy sound that mixed blues, folk, and rock. After almost two decades in near-obscurity, her impassioned breakthrough into the pop world--1989's NICK OF TIME--was well-deserved and uncompromisingly tasteful, and it led to a decade of artistic and commercial success.
Ry Cooder
L.A.-based guitarist Ry Cooder learned from the best, getting lessons from legendary bluesman Rev. Gary Davis at an early age. In the mid 1960s, he formed pioneering blues-rock band the Rising Sons with Taj Mahal. When that dissolved, he became an in-demand session player for everyone from Captain Beefheart to Randy Newman. He worked with the Rolling Stones in the late '60s, and nearly became Brian Jones's replacement. Over the years he released numerous quirky solo albums venturing into folk, blues, country, and even Hawaiian music. In the late '90s he instigated the Buena Vista Social Club project, getting veteran Cuban musicians together and presenting their sound to the world via shockingly successful albums, concerts, and a documentary.
