Side 1:
01. Boogie Chillen
02. I'm In The Mood
03. Crawling King Snake
04. Queen Bee
05. Hobo Blues
06. Weeping Willow
Side 2:
01. Cold Chills
02. Hoogie Boogie
03. Whistling And Moaning
04. Sally Mae
05. House Rent Boogie
06. Anybody Seen My Baby
John Lee Hooker - The Blues (Zippy)
The Track Details:
Thanks to regular contributor Marv for this reconstitution of a John Lee Hooker LP which was originally released in 1960. The sides on this collection are a good selection of Hooker's late 1940s / early 1950s releases on Modern, some of which were very big R&B hits. "Boogie Chillen" was number 1 in the R&B charts in January 1949. "Hobo Blues," "Crawling King Snake" and "I'm In The Mood" were also hits in 1950/51. During this period Hooker sides were also released on a multiplicity of labels, including Specialty, King, Chess, and Gotham, sometimes pseudonymously.
A native of Clarksdale, Mississippi, Hooker's footstomping, one man and his guitar delta blues style stood in stark contrast to the jump band and blues combo styles which dominated the R&B charts of the time. When he signed for Vee Jay records in the autumn of 1955, his vocals and guitar work were accompanied by small combos which usually featured labelmate Jimmy Reed's collaborator Eddie Taylor. He re-recorded many of his Modern tracks for Vee Jay and also had success with new R&B material such as "Dimples" and "Boom Boom."
This particular LP was issued at a time when Hooker was making a successful move into the "folk blues" market, having recorded two accoustic albums for the jazz label Riverside aimed at the mainly white college crowd. The Bihari Brothers' budget LP outlet Crown wasn't the only label to cash in on the folk blues craze as more early 1950s Hooker material was recycled on LPs by the King and Chess labels in 1960.
On June 25th, 1960, Hooker appeared at the Newport Folk Festival on the same bill as Joan Baez, Flatt & Scruggs, and The Weavers. On July 3rd he appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival. His Riverside LP, "That's My Story" was released around this time. In August 1960 Vee Jay had an ad in the trade papers announcing that the LP "Travelin'" was a winner in the Downbeat International Critics Poll in both jazz and folk categories. In October a Vee Jay advert advised dealers of the issue of "John Lee Hooker's New Folk Single" - "Tupelo" which was a live recording from one of the Newport festivals.
The cover of this Crown LP uses one of the favourite themes of "folk blues" LP covers - empty chair(s) and a guitar lying ready for the folk artist to take to the stage to perform a set of songs relating tales of hard times on the Delta. Mind you this cover is a model of restraint when you compare it with that of another 1960 LP of Hooker sides - Chess LP 1438 "House Of The Blues" which had a photograph of a shot-to-hell country shack.
A native of Clarksdale, Mississippi, Hooker's footstomping, one man and his guitar delta blues style stood in stark contrast to the jump band and blues combo styles which dominated the R&B charts of the time. When he signed for Vee Jay records in the autumn of 1955, his vocals and guitar work were accompanied by small combos which usually featured labelmate Jimmy Reed's collaborator Eddie Taylor. He re-recorded many of his Modern tracks for Vee Jay and also had success with new R&B material such as "Dimples" and "Boom Boom."
This particular LP was issued at a time when Hooker was making a successful move into the "folk blues" market, having recorded two accoustic albums for the jazz label Riverside aimed at the mainly white college crowd. The Bihari Brothers' budget LP outlet Crown wasn't the only label to cash in on the folk blues craze as more early 1950s Hooker material was recycled on LPs by the King and Chess labels in 1960.
On June 25th, 1960, Hooker appeared at the Newport Folk Festival on the same bill as Joan Baez, Flatt & Scruggs, and The Weavers. On July 3rd he appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival. His Riverside LP, "That's My Story" was released around this time. In August 1960 Vee Jay had an ad in the trade papers announcing that the LP "Travelin'" was a winner in the Downbeat International Critics Poll in both jazz and folk categories. In October a Vee Jay advert advised dealers of the issue of "John Lee Hooker's New Folk Single" - "Tupelo" which was a live recording from one of the Newport festivals.
The cover of this Crown LP uses one of the favourite themes of "folk blues" LP covers - empty chair(s) and a guitar lying ready for the folk artist to take to the stage to perform a set of songs relating tales of hard times on the Delta. Mind you this cover is a model of restraint when you compare it with that of another 1960 LP of Hooker sides - Chess LP 1438 "House Of The Blues" which had a photograph of a shot-to-hell country shack.
It should be borne in mind that John Lee Hooker, like fellow Vee Jay bluesman Jimmy Reed, was still recording rockin' R&B records while doing the folk blues rounds. In 1962 his "Boom Boom" reached number 16 in the R&B chart and even crossed into the lower reaches of the pop charts.
01. Boogie Chillen - Recorded in Detroit, circa September, 1948. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar). Released on Modern 20-627.
02. I'm In The Mood - Recorded in Detroit, August 7th, 1951. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar); Eddie Kirkland (vocal, guitar). Released on Modern 835.
03. Crawling King Snake - Recorded in Detroit, February 18th, 1949. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar). Released on Modern 20-714.
04. Queen Bee - Recorded in Detroit, November 16th, 1950. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar). Released on Modern 20-814.
05. Hobo Blues - Recorded in Detroit, February 18th, 1949. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar). Released on Modern 20-663.
06. Weeping Willow - Recorded in Detroit, ? 1949. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar). Released on Modern 20-688.
07. Cold Chills - Recorded in Detroit, early 1952. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar); Bernie Besman (organ). Released on Modern 862.
08. Hoogie Boogie - Recorded in Detroit, ? February 1949. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar). Released on Modern 20-663.
09. Whistling And Moaning - Recorded in Detroit, ? 1949. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar, whistling). Released on Modern 20-688.
10. Sally Mae - Recorded in Detroit, circa September, 1948. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar). This is an alternate take of the side released on Modern 20-627.
11. House Rent Boogie - Recorded in Detroit, November 16th, 1950. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar). Released on Modern 20-814.
12. Anybody Seen My Baby - Recorded in Detroit, August 7th, 1951. Personnel: John Lee Hooker
(vocal, guitar); Eddie Kirkland (guitar). Released on Modern 847.
Original Single Releases of Tracks:
Modern 20-627 - Sally May / Boogie Chillen' - John Lee Hooker & His Guitar - released November 1948. Re-released as Modern 627 in 1951.
Modern 20-663 - Hoogie Boogie / Hobo Blues - John Lee Hooker & His Guitar - released March 1949.
Modern 20-688 - Whistlin' and Moanin' Blues / Weeping Willow Boogie - John Lee Hooker - released June (?) 1949.
Modern 20-714 - Crawlin' King Snake / Drifting From Door To Door - John Lee Hooker and his Guitar - released October 1949.
Modern 20-814 - John L's House Rent Boogie / Queen Bee - John Lee Hooker - released May 1951.
Modern 835 - I'm In The Mood / How Can You Do It - John Lee Hooker - released October 1951.
Modern 847 - Turn Over A New Leaf / Anybody Seen My Baby - John L. Hooker - released ?early 1952?
Modern 20-663 - Hoogie Boogie / Hobo Blues - John Lee Hooker & His Guitar - released March 1949.
Modern 20-688 - Whistlin' and Moanin' Blues / Weeping Willow Boogie - John Lee Hooker - released June (?) 1949.
Modern 20-714 - Crawlin' King Snake / Drifting From Door To Door - John Lee Hooker and his Guitar - released October 1949.
Modern 20-814 - John L's House Rent Boogie / Queen Bee - John Lee Hooker - released May 1951.
Modern 835 - I'm In The Mood / How Can You Do It - John Lee Hooker - released October 1951.
Modern 847 - Turn Over A New Leaf / Anybody Seen My Baby - John L. Hooker - released ?early 1952?
Modern 862 - Rock Me Mama / Cold Chills All Over Me - John Lee Hooker - released circa April 1952.
Elsewhere on the blog: "This Is Hip" - a collection of Vee Jay sides including "Dimples" and "Boom Boom."
Click on the link - "John Lee Hooker - This Is Hip"
The original Zippyshare link is still active and I have added a new Mega link.
Many thanks to Marv and a tip of the chapeau to Discogs.com for cover art.
Many thanks to Marv and a tip of the chapeau to Discogs.com for cover art.
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7 comments:
thanks
Many thanks BW. I've got all these tracks but didn't have a copy of this particular album, so nice to have it now.
BW,
Good thing! thanks for Marv and You.
Best wishes.
- Jay from the North.
Thanks for this! The detailed information is appreciated!
Many thanks, boogiewoody!
Wow. Seeing that Crown LP, followed with House of Blues along with a brief word about their covers...well it hits a soft-spot in my record collection. You see, coincidentally, those are two records in my collection (of about 8 or 9 hundred?)that do not have covers. It's just the damnedest thing. House of the Blues, I got in high school by mistake. I thought I was buying Chess Blues Volume 2, got it home and unwrapped it and voila: House of Blues was the record inside! I loved its sparse instrumentation right away so I didn't take it back to the store. I have been irked ever since that the cover is wrong. If one mismatch isn't enough, jump to 1999 or 2000: some friends who worked at Half-priced books in Columbus OH, would give me records that were in too bad a shape to sell. They brought me a 60s copy of Chess Blues Volume 1. The record was in there (thank god), but, sharing the jacket was that Crown LP! Previous owner must have crammed that into the jacket too. It's a great album, but again I'm plagued by yet another JLH record without a cover. Sorry for such a long comment but I've never had an occasion like this to talk about my weird experience with these two particular records and their covers (or, in my case, the lack thereof). Thanks for a great blog. Love Joans 78s and that Johnny Ace post...that's one poppin' album.
Thanks for commenting, folks! Bob - this isn't quite the actual LP, but rather a "reconstruction" of the original album using artwork from the internet and files from various sources. I've been preparing a few more such albums myself recently as well as receiving more from Marv. Wish I had a stash of genuine 1950s LPs, but alas, I don't! However I think it's a good way to get into the music while getting the "feel" for the original artwork and the various motivations behind the LP reissue of what were at the time older tracks.
Steve - I have a similar tale to tell of a mismatched Big Jay McNeely LP and cover I bought in Edinburgh back in the 80's. The end result is that I still have the mismatched pair, plus "proper" pairings of LPs with their correct covers!
BW
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