Craft Recordings, the Catalog division of Concord Bicycle Music, has announced the release of King Of The Boogie, a career-spanning retrospective, honoring blues icon John Lee Hooker. Due out September 29th, the five-CD set delves deep into the catalog of the influential artist, featuring not only his iconic hits, but also rarities, live recordings and several previously unreleased tracks.
Housed in a 56-page book, the collection includes a wide selection of photos, taken throughout the musician’s life, plus new liner notes by writer and John Lee Hooker historian Jas Obrecht, as well as by the artist’s longtime manager and friend, Mike Kappus.
John Lee Hooker was born on August 22, 1917, near Clarksdale, Mississippi to a sharecropping family. Throughout the years, there has been some academic debate about his original birth year. However, the Hooker family maintains 1917 as the de facto date. Says daughter Zakiya Hooker, “As we all know there was no great push for accuracy back then in that portion of the community. But we just stick to what my father told us, which was what he was told by his mother.”
As a young man, Hooker worked his way up north to Detroit to pursue his passion of music. By 1948, the artist had a hit on his hands with one of his earliest recordings, “Boogie Chillun’.” From there, Hooker would record over 100 albums throughout the course of his six-decade-long career, building a diverse collection of fans along the way: from folk musicians and beatniks, to the stars of the British Invasion. The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana are among those who cite Hooker as a major influence. In his liner notes, Mike Kappus recalls that, “Everyone who knew John Lee Hooker loved him and felt privileged to be in his presence. While he influenced generations of musicians with his incomparable style, that impact on musicians stepped up to yet another level once they got to know and, universally, love him.”
In his later years, as the bluesman found himself in one of the busiest, most productive eras of his career, Hooker was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Blues Hall of Fame and Memphis Music Hall of Fame; was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and took home four Grammy Awards, plus a coveted Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. He passed away the following year
Tasked with narrowing down Hooker’s vast catalog into five CDs, box set producer Mason Williams curated the collection to narrate the artist’s story. “Even at 100 songs, this set is just a snapshot of John Lee Hooker’s incredible and influential career,” says Williams, “but one that takes you on the long journey he took from his early days in Detroit, to his time in Chicago recording for Vee-Jay Records and up through his later collaborations with Van Morrison, Bonnie Raitt and Santana, among others.”
King Of The Boogie will be released as part of a year-long, multi-partner centennial celebration, honoring the music and influence of John Lee Hooker, and will be a companion piece to an exhibit of the same name, which kicks off on August 22 at the Grammy Museum Mississippi. John Lee Hooker: King Of The Boogie includes Hooker’s performance outfits, guitars, photos, awards and, of course, his music. The exhibit will be on display through February 2018, before traveling west to the Grammy Museum at L.A. Live.
Additional centennial partners include The Blues Foundation, The Delta Blues Museum, Living Blues, Oxford American, the John Lee Hooker Estate, and Epiphone Guitars, who are currently planning the release of a limited-edition John Lee Hooker Zephyr Outfit sometime in early 2018.
Hooker’s daughter Zakiya has worked closely with all partners on her father’s centennial events, and affirms, “Today, on what would have been my father’s 100th birthday, I am so thrilled to see him celebrated-both with the exhibit, as well as with the announcement of this special collection of music. I know that his fans will be excited to hear rare performances, and to read the touching words of his longtime manager, Mike Kappus, as well as those of the wonderful Jas Obrecht. It was a pleasure to watch this box set come together, and I can’t wait to see it shared with the world.”
The track list:
Disc 1
Boogie Chillun’ – John Lee Hooker And His Guitar
Sally May – John Lee Hooker And His Guitar
Hobo Blues – John Lee Hooker And His Guitar
Crawlin King Snake – John Lee Hooker & His Guitar
Black Man Blues – Texas Slim
Goin Mad Blues – Delta John
Whos Been Jivin You – Texas Slim
(Miss Sadie Mae) Curl My Babys Hair
Hoogie Boogie – John Lee Hooker And His Guitar
Burnin Hell – John Lee Hooker And His Guitar
Weeping Willow Boogie
Moaning Blues – Texas Slim
Huckle Up Baby – John Lee Hooker And His Guitar
Goin On Highway #51 – John Lee Hooker And His Guitar
John Ls House Rent Boogie
Im In The Mood
Two White Horses
33 Blues
Sugar Mama
Wobbling Baby
Stuttering Blues – John Lee Booker
Im A Boogie Man – Johnny Lee
Down Child
Odds Against Me (Backbiters And Syndicaters)
Shake, Holler And Run
Disc 2
Unfriendly Woman [aka Stop Now]
Mambo Chillun
Time Is Marching
Dimples
Little Wheel
I Love You Honey
Drive Me Away
Maudie
When I Lay My Burden Down
Tupelo Blues
Good Mornin Lil School Girl
I Rolled And Turned And Cried The Whole Night Long
No More Doggin
Dusty Road
No Shoes
My First Wife Left Me
Crazy About That Walk – Sir John Lee Hooker
Want Ad Blues
Will The Circle Be Unbroken
Im Going Upstairs
I Lost My Job
Dont Turn Me From Your Door
Grinder Man
Meat Shakes On Her Bone
Disc 3
Boom Boom
Blues Before Sunrise
Shes Mine
Frisco Blues
Good Rockin Mama
Im Leaving
Birmingham Blues
Dont Look Back
Big Legs, Tight Skirt
It Serves Me Right
Money
One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
The Motor City Is Burning
Mean, Mean Woman
Doin The Shout
Homework
Early One Morning
Rocking Chair
Hittin The Bottle Again
Deep Blue Sea
Spellbound
Disc 4 (Live)
Hobo Blues
Maudie
Shake It Baby
Boogie Chillun
Bottle Up And Go
Crawlin King Snake
The Mighty Fire
Youve Got To Walk Yourself
Im Bad Like Jesse James
Boogie Everywhere I Go
Shes Gone
It Serves Me Right To Suffer
Boom Boom
Hi-Heel Sneakers
One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
Disc 5 (Friends)
I Got Eyes For You – With “Little” Eddie Kirkland
Mai Lee – With The Groundhogs
Peavine – With Canned Heat
Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive – With Van Morrison
Five Long Years – With Joe Cocker
The Healer – With Carlos Santana
Im In The Mood – With Bonnie Raitt
Sally Mae – With George Thorogood
Mr Lucky – With Robert Cray
Up And Down – With Warren Haynes
Boom Boom – With Jimmie Vaughan
You Shook Me – With B.B. King
Dont Look Back – With Van Morrison
Dimples – With Los Lobos
Boogie Chillun – With Eric Clapton
