John Lee Hooker – The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker (Craft Vinyl LP)

60th Anniversary 180g Vinyl LP Reissue All Analog Mastered from the Original Stereo Tapes by Kevin Grey at Cohearent Audio

Craft Recording proudly reissues The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker, a showcase of traditional (folk/country) sound and one-chord blues all with John Lee Hooker’s smooth baritone vocals. Unaccompanied and playing acoustic instead of his usual amplified guitar, Hooker recorded a wonderfully varied set of deep Delta blues, moans, boogies, one field holler, and even a bit of hokum here. The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker was cut from the original master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and comes pressed on 180-gram vinyl LP housed in a tip-on jacket.

John Lee Hooker is the most down-home of the major post-war blues figures, “a most authentic singer of the way-back, close-to-the-soil kind of blues,” as Orrin Keepnews commented in this 1959 album’s original liner notes. Of Hooker’s innumerable recordings, the Riverside session is perhaps the truest to his Mississippi roots. Some are autobiographical, others reworkings of blues standards – all stamped with the hauntingly personal Hooker touch.

This LP stems directly from Hooker’s troubadour-like travels and his interpretations of the people and places he saw on the road. The time-honored tradition of wandering the earth is unique to the blues musician; letting places, faces, stories, varying styles of music all imbue one’s own interpretation of the blues. Hooker’s voice also is considerably deeper than other rhythm and blues artists. The enduring power of the album’s gritty authenticity creates a time capsule of the people Hooker interacted with on his travels. The blues retain their impact through these personal stories.

1. Black Snake
2. How Long Blues
3. Wobblin’ Baby
4. She’s Long, She’s Tall, She Weeps Like A Willow Tree
5. Pea Vine Special
6. Tupelo Blues
7. I’m Prison Bound
8. I Rowed A Little Boat
9. Water Boy
10. Church Bell Tone
11. Good Mornin’, Lil’ School Girl
12. Behind The Plow