The son of a sharecropper, blues legend John Lee Hooker was
one of the very first artists to break out of that genre and become a
world-wide force. He based his sound on a driving boogie beat and lyrics that
sometimes seemed to come from another world. To begin the centennial
celebration of Hooker’s birth year, Vee-Jay Records, a division of Concord
Bicycle Music, will release WHISKEY AND WIMMEN: JOHN LEE HOOKER’S FINEST on
March 31. The multi-label compilation features songs from Hooker’s Vee-Jay,
Specialty, Riverside and Stax Records releases, and includes many of the
bluesman’s most iconic songs.
Born near Clarksdale, Mississippi in 1917, the man who would
become known as the “King of the Boogie” was destined for blues royalty.
Hooker’s 1948 single, “Boogie Chillun,” sold a million copies and set Hooker on
his unstoppable path. Countless recordings followed, and a winding road through
different labels and audiences. He was a huge influence on the burgeoning
British Invasion in the early ‘60s, and welcomed with open arms by the rock
audience around the world. Hooker is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of
Fame, Blues Hall of Fame, Memphis Music Hall of Fame, has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame and won four Grammy's. He performed with or had his
music covered by music's elite, including Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Van
Morrison, Bonnie Raitt, Carlos Santana and many more.
WHISKEY AND WIMMEN: JOHN LEE HOOKER’S FINEST is the perfect
collection to honor the man. It includes many of Hooker’s most exciting and
time-honored recordings, showing how an artist who started with literally
nothing but his inspiration and talent was able to make such a lasting impact
on music. His work for the Vee-Jay, Specialty and Riverside labels were many of
the recordings his unshakeable legend is built on, and provide a sonic tour of
what Hooker’s blues accomplished. Music journalist Bill Dahl contributes
insightful new liner notes.
In the proud history of American music there have been a
handful of blues artists who really did shape what the music became. They took
the primal forces of Mississippi country blues and twisted and turned it into
their very own creation. To hear how John Lee Hooker did that over the course
of these 16 songs is a blood-rushing history lesson of all that he created. And
to have them all on a single disc is as convincing a collection as has ever
been assembled that, indeed, John Lee Hooker will remain the “King of the
Boogie” forever.
“When so much music of great importance exists, it’s
thrilling to continually find ways to share that history with collections like
this,” says Concord Bicycle Music’s Chief Catalog Officer Sig Sigworth. “It
literally sounds like America at its most exciting, and honors someone who
changed the way we hear and feel forever.”
1.Boom Boom
2.Boogie Chillun
3.Dimples
4.I’m in the Mood
5.I Love You Honey
6.Whiskey and Wimmen
7.I Need Some Money
8.Grinder Man
9.I’m Going Upstairs
10.Big Legs, Tight Skirt
11.No More Doggin’
12.No Shoes
13.Crawlin’ Kingsnake
14.Frisco Blues
15.It Serve Me Right to Suffer
16.Time Is Marching
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