Birmingham Sam, Texas Slim, Johnny Lee, Boogie Man, and John Lee Booker all had one thing in common, they were the same man.
Aug 22, 1917
June 21, 2001
Clarksdale, Mississippi
His real name is John Lee Hooker and he started recording in 1948 under numerous names, outwitting contractual obligations in the unbridled recording operations of the era. Making his biggest mark in Detroit, John Lee is probably the most recorded man alive.
Hooker recorded for more than two dozen labels.
Handy traveled the country at the turn of the last century in black minstral shows. He came off the road and became a music professor at Alabama A&M and then quit to go back on the road. He made more money as a minstral!
John Lee and Canned Heat recorded together in 1970.
John Lee learned guitar down home in Mississippi. He saw country Blues legends Charley Patton, Leadbelly, and Blind Lemon Jefferson pass though his hometown.
The Doors recorded "Crawlin' King Snake".
Hooker style is easy to recognize. Usually one chord with a pulsing rhythmic groove chugging along, random vocal phrasing that the less-than-hip would call mistakes, and open-tuned guitar with a choppy percussive sound. His lyrics sound spontaneous and unrelated, but they are all Blues statements that tie the music together.
John Lee Hooker is in the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
John Lee Hooker died in his sleep in San Fransisco in June of 2001.
