Music: John Lee Hooker, a Blues Icon

A true touchstone of the genre, John Lee Hooker was a bluesman through and through

One of my stepfather’s favorite films was The Blues Brothers¹. Mainly because it reminded him of growing up Italian in Chicago in the 40’s and 50’s. But it also was a slice through the music of his youth, that was heavily Chicago Blues, with tons of artists that are far more famous now that they have passed, but they plied their trade.

One of these artists is John Lee Hooker. Here is a clip of him playing Boom Boom from The Blues Brothers:

Of course I will bet my bottom dollar that all of my subscribers are familiar with George Thorogood’s epic “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” where he has a long-ish preamble about the house rent blues.

Of course, the main part of that song … yeah, that is John Lee Hooker. Check this out:

I got to see John Lee Hooker in the 1980’s, he played Garden City, a local bar/venue that had definite mob-vibes. He was just electrifying even though he was likely in his 70’s at that point (there is a shroud of mystery about his actual birthdate.) Whilst we might not know when he entered in the world definitively, he passed in 2001, and left a legacy of work that reverberates still. A true titan of the genre.

That was a memorable night, and I have introduced many of my acquaintances to John Lee Hooker, and now I am doing that for you.

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1. Decades later, when Dan Akroyd was asked about all the killer musicians who signed on to The Blues Brothers, he said they just cold called and asked them, the response was overwhelming. Without the stars (Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Cab Calloway, JLH and others, the movie would have been a dud.