JOHN LEE HOOKER MR LUCKY
Released: 1991
Label: Point Blank
Format: [email protected]
John Lee Hooker and Willie Dixon are the last of a generation of giants that plugged Mississippi's Delta blues into urban America. Dixon went to Chicago and became a mainstay at Chess Records, where he played bass, produced, arranged and wrote songs for electrified Delta wailers such as Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, who, like Hooker, had migrated to the Windy City from rural Mississippi. Hooker left Mississippi and eventually made his way to Detroit nightclubs, so noisy that his only recourse was to strum his open tuned guitar with such ferocity he put an indelible stamp on rock & roll. Blame it on the boogie and you’re blaming it on John Lee Hooker.
Mr. Lucky refines the strategy of The Healer, from 1989, which paired Hooker with a variety of rootsy rockers who had been touched by his rhythmic mojo. The stars on this outing aren't rock stars paying tribute to a legend, but superb sidemen for a great bluesman. Van Morrison, pays his own tribute to Hooker by joining him for a duet on a masterful "I Cover the Waterfront". The best boogie features a piano pumped by Chuck Berry's own Johnnie Johnson, whose work on "I Want to Hug You" reflects Hooker's affinity for vintage rhythm & blues. There is the muscular shuffle on the Robert Cray Band's rendering of the title tune and Carlos Santana's tastefully modern treatment of "Stripped Me Naked." Guitarists Keith Richards and Johnny Winter inspire gritty collaborations on, respectively, "Crawlin' Kingsnake" and "Susie." In the end, the true peaks on the album bring it all back home. "This Is Hip," with its gospel voices and Ry Cooder's sanctified slide guitar, bears a touch of the church, while "Highway 13" and "Father Was a Jockey" are flat-out Delta blues with splendid accompaniment by guitarist John Hammond. As Hooker moves musically from the city back to the Delta on Mr. Lucky, he travels a circle that remains truly unbroken.
Tracklist:
1.I Want To Hug You [featuring Johnnie Johnson]
2.Mr Lucky [featuring Robert Cray]
3.Backstabbers [featuring Albert Collins]
4.This Is Hip [featuring Ry Cooder]
5.I Cover The Waterfront [featuring Van Morrison & Booker T. Jones]
6.Highway 13 [featuring John Hammond]
7.Stripped Me Naked [featuring Carlos Santana]
8.Suzie [featuring Johhny Winter]
9.Crawlin' Kingsnake [featuring Keith Richards]
10.Father Was A Jockey [featuring John Hammond]
Musicians :
John Lee Hooker - guitar, vocals
Johnnie Johnson - piano
Michael Osborn - guitar
Steve Ehrmann - bass
Scott Mathews - drums
Robert Cray - guitar, vocals
Richard Cousins - bass
Jimmy Pugh - organ
Tim Kaihatsu - guitar
Kevin Hayes - drums
Albert Collins - guitar
Deacon Jones - organ
Ken Baker - sax
Jim Guyett - bass
Bowen Brown - drums
Ry Cooder - guitar (where shown)
Nick Lowe - bass
Jim Keltner - drums
Bobby King - vocals
Terry Evans - vocals
Willie Green - vocals
Van Morrison - guitar, vocals
Booker T. Jones - organ
Maurice Cridin - bass
John Hammond - guitar, slide guitar, harmonica
Carlos Santana - guitar
Chester Thompson - keyboards
Benny Reitveld - bass
Paul Rekow - congas
Gaylord Birch - drums
Karl Perazzo - timbales
Johnnie Winter - guitar
Jeffrey Ganz - bass
Tom Compton - drums
Keith Richards - guitar
Larry Taylor - bass