Don't Look Back
John Lee Hooker
Van Morrison, Gregory Davis, Los Lobos, Roger Lewis, Charles Brown, John Allair, John "Juke" Logan
Shout! Factory, 2007
1 CD
Catalogue #: 8266310437
EAN: 0826663104370
UPC: 826663104370
You save: 20%
Personnel: John Lee Hooker, Van Morrison (vocals, guitar); Danny Caron (guitar); John "Juke" Logan (harmonica); Roger Lewis (tenor & baritone saxophones); Gregory Davis (trumpet); Charles Brown (piano, organ); Jim Pugh, John Allair (keyboards); Ruth Davies (acoustic bass); Richard Cousins (bass); Victor Bisetti, Kevin Hayes (drums).
Los Lobos: David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas (guitar); Steve Berlin (baritone saxophone); Conrad Lozano (bass).
Producers: Van Morrison, Los Lobos, Mario Caldato, Jr.
Engineers: Jim Stern, Samuel Lehmer, Mick Glossop, Mario Caldato, Jr.,
All tracks have been digitally mastered using HDCD technology.
"Don't Look Back" won the 1998 Grammy Awards for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals and for Best Traditional Blues Album.
Personnel: John Lee Hooker (guitar); David Hidalgo (vocals); Billy Johnson, Rich Kirch, Cesar Rosas (guitar); Jim Pugh (acoustic guitar); John 'Luke' Logan (harmonica); Kenny Baker , Roger Lewis (tenor saxophone); Steve Berlin (baritone saxophone); Gregory Davis (trumpet); Mitch Woods (piano); John Allair (keyboard); Jim Guyette, Conrad Lozano, Ollan Christopher, Richard Cousins (bass instrument); Ruth Davies (acoustic bass); Victor Bisetti, Kevin Hayes, Bowen Brown (drums).
Audio Remasterer: Keith Blake.
Since he won a Grammy Award for 1989's THE HEALER, John Lee Hooker, now 79 years old, has been an unusually hot property. He has played with the likes of Rolling Stones, Branford Marsalis and B.B. King. DON'T LOOK BACK finds the party continuing, with old friend/disciple Van Morrison, who guested on 1995's CHILL OUT, now in the producer's seat.
Apart from a raucous reading of the old Hooker standard "Dimples," which features backing from Los Lobos, DON'T LOOK BACK leans towards varying shades of slow blues. Emotion is stressed over barn-burning instrumental heroics, particularly on the songs that ride along on Charles Brown's melancholic piano playing. Producer Morrison's duets with his idol on "Travellin' Blues" and Morrison's "The Healing Game" bring out the best in both legends.
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.
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.
Charles Brown
Blues ballad singer/pianist Charles Brown is a key transitional figure between the cool, jazz-influenced R&B that flourished in the late '40s and the wilder music ultimately called rock & roll. His sophisticated, urbane style moved blues from the country to the city, incorporating a distinct jazziness.
