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Sunday 24 July 2016

John Lee Hooker - This Is Hip





Side 1:
01. Dimples
02. I Love You Honey
03. I'm In The Mood
04. Time Is Marching
05. Big Legs, Tight Skirt
06. Onions
07. Take Me As I Am
08. Boom Boom

Side 2
01. This Is Hip
02. Boogie Chillun
03. Crawlin' King Snake
04. Blues Before Sunrise
05. Will The Circle Be Unbroken
06. House Rent Boogie
07. It Serves Me Right To Suffer
08. Bottle Up And Go

Download from:




01. Dimples - Vee Jay 205, September 1956 (B Side of "Baby Lee"). Recorded in Chicago, 27th March 1956. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar); Eddie Taylor (guitar); George Washington (bass); Tom Whitehead (drums)

02. I Love You Honey - Vee Jay 293, (b/w "You've Taken My Woman"), September 1958. Recorded in Chicago, 10th June 1958. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar); Joe Hunter (piano); Eddie Taylor (guitar); Everett McCrary (bass); Richard Johnson (drums).

03. I'm In The Mood - Vee Jay 308, (B Side of "Maudie"), March 1959. Recorded in Chicago, 22nd January 1959. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar); Eddie Taylor (guitar).

04. Time Is Marching - Vee Jay 164, (B Side of "Mambo Chillun"), December 1955. Recorded in Chicago, 16th October, 1955. Personnel: John Lee hooker (vocal, guitar); Jimmy Reed (harmonica); Eddie Taylor (guitar); George Washington (bass), Tom Whitehead (drums).

05. Big Legs, Tight Skirt - Vee Jay 670, (b/w "Your Baby Ain't Sweet Like Mine"), April 1965. Recorded in Chicago, mid-1964. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar); plus unknown guitar, bass, drums.

06. Onions - Vee Jay LP 1058 "The Big Soul of John Lee Hooker", 1963. Recorded in Chicago 1962. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar); possibly with Hank Cosby (tenor sax); Andrew Terry (baritone sax); Joe Hunter (piano); Larry Veeder (guitar); James Jamerson (bass); Benny Benjamin (drums).

07. Take Me As I Am - Vee Jay 397, (B Side of "Want Ad Blues"), September 1961. Recorded in New York City 29th April 1960. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar).

08. Boom Boom - Vee Jay 438, (b/w "Drug Store Woman"), April 1962. Recorded in Chicago, 1961. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar); Hank Cosby (tenor sax); Andrew Terry (baritone sax); Joe Hunter (piano); Larry Veeder (guitar); James Jamerson (bass); Benny Benjamin (drums).

09. This Is Hip - previously unissued. Recorded in Chicago, 1963. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar); unknown (drums).

10. Boogie Chillun - Vee Jay 319, (B Side of "Tennessee Blues"), June 1959. Recorded in Chicago, 22nd January 1959. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar).

11. Crawlin' King Snake - Vee Jay 331, (B Side of "Hobo Blues"), October 1959. Recorded in Chicago, 22nd January 1959. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar).

12. Blues Before Sunrise - Vee Jay LP 1043 "Burnin'", 1962. Recorded in Chicago, 1961. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar); Hank Cosby (tenor sax); Andrew Terry (baritone sax); Joe Hunter (piano); Larry Veeder (guitar); James Jamerson (bass); Benny Benjamin (drums).

13. Will The Circle Be Unbroken - Vee Jay LP VJS 7301 "John Lee Hooker In Person" 1973. Also released as Dynasty LP 7301. Recorded in Chicago, 4th January 1961. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar); Lefty Bates (guitar); Pop Staples (guitar); Quinn Wilson (bass); Earl Phillips (drums).

14. House Rent Boogie - previously unissued. Recorded in Chicago, 1959/60. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar); unknown (bass) (drums).

15. It Serves Me Right To Suffer - Vee Jay 708, (b/w "Flowers On The Hour"), November 1965. Recorded in Chicago, 1964. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar); unknown (guitar) (bass) (drums).

16. Bottle Up And Go - Vee Jay LP 1066 "On Campus", 1963. Recorded in Chicago, 1963. Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar); unknown (drums).

From my CD shelves: "Testament" 3CD set from Charly (2001) with 60 Vee Jay sides.



If you come across a copy at a decent price, it's well worth getting. It comes with an informative booklet, although in my copy there seems to be a section of text missing. It's a good account of Hooker's years with Vee Jay for whom he recorded between 1955 and 1964.

His most successful period in the R&B charts was with Modern in the late 1940's and early 1950's with "Boogie Chillen", "Crawling King Snake" and "I'm In The Mood", all three of which he re-recorded for Vee Jay as you can hear on this LP. Of the Vee Jay recordings "Dimples" and "I Love You Honey" charted in 1956 and 1958 respectively. "Dimples" was also a top 30 hit in the UK in 1964.

5 comments:

Frank Jive said...

"This is hip," Boogiewoody. . . . Really been enjoying all these 80s LP reissues you've been posting, especially the Charly R&B series . . . I was snapping these up as fast as I could afford them back when they were crowding the blues bins; they were just about the only source at the time for a lot of the great Vee-Jay stuff by JLH, Jimmy Reed, Elmore James, Eddie Taylor et al. Thank you!

boogiewoody said...

Cheers, Frank. Once again it's a case of "I wish I'd bought more of them at the time!" Yeah, the record bins were pretty full of hem - multiple volumes of Hooker, Reed, Elmore and Eddie Taylor. I did grab all 3 of the T-Bone Walker volumes of Black and White sides - a different style of blues from the Vee Jay stuff.

TLR said...

"This is Hip" is one of Hooker's greatest songs. It's crazy that it wasn't released until this compilation came out.

boogiewoody said...

I agree, TLR!

BW

Boursin said...

Perhaps copyright problems prevented the release of "This Is Hip" at th time, as it's a direct crib from the Dinah Washington - Brook Benton hit "A Rockin' Good Way". (As "Onions" is from "Green Onions".)