Details A 1959 recording that was inexplicably not issued in the United States until 1992, Burning Hell ranks among John Lee 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 traveling north from the …

Details Although Orrin Keepnews’ Riverside Records was primarily a jazz label, the company dabbled in blues in the 1960s — and one of the bluesmen who recorded for Riverside was John Lee Hooker. Recorded in 1960, this Keepnews-produced session came at a time when Hooker was signed to Vee-Jay. The last thing Keepnews wanted to do was emulate Hooker’s electric-oriented, …

Details 2017 marked what would have been John Lee Hooker’s 100th birthday. As part of a larger, year-long centennial celebration for the legendary bluesman, this collection features some of Hooker’s most celebrated recordings, from the prime of his career. Spanning his time on Vee-Jay, Stax, Riverside and Specialty Records, the collection includes such favorites as “Boom Boom,” “Boogie Chillun’” and …

Details 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 …

Details One of a series of superb John Lee Hooker albums recorded in the ’90s, Chill Out clearly shows that he remains at the top of his game. The opening (and title) track features guitar god and long time Hooker fan Carlos Santana (with his band). Although quite slick sounding, Santana’s Latin funk grooves and typically blistering solo fit surprisingly well …

Details 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 …

Details Much of Hooker’s best-loved work was recorded for independent Chicago labels like Vee-Jay in the ’50s and ’60s, but the bluesman’s long, prolific career began in the late ’40s in Detroit. During that time, as chronicled on Graveyard Blues, Hooker refined the doomy, foot-stomping boogie style that would become his trademark. The Hooker of ’49-’50 sounds less tormented, lacking …

Details John Lee Hooker was already being hailed as a living legend in the ’60s, but by the time of this 1986 release he was a larger-than-life figure, his iconic stature unquestioned. From his earliest collaborations with Canned Heat and on through the ’70s and ’80s, the rock world never got tired of trying to endear Hooker to a crossover …

Details Live at Newport is an addition to the already huge pile of archival John Lee Hooker releases. What differentiates this release from many of the others is that it focuses on a pair of acoustic performances from the bluesman, a rarity in the Hooker catalog. In the early ’60s, at the height of the “folk scare,” Hooker stepped in …

Details John Lee Hooker recorded for many record labels during his long career. But this sampling of some of his Specialty sides finds him at his best, on tracks like his much-recorded “Boogie Chillen No. 2,” the simmering “I’m Mad,” the brooding “Nothin’ But Trouble,” and the risque “Grinder Man.” Featuring many solo cuts (the artist’s idiosyncratic timing defeated most …