Search - John Lee Hooker :: 15 Classic Tracks

John Lee Hooker -- The King of Cool

B. Lynch | USA | 06/23/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I just received the news that John Lee Hooker died yesterday. While there are a lot of musicians who are called "true artists" and "original", Hooker was it, and anyone who is or was "someone" in the music business knew it. If imitation is the sincrest form of flattery, then John Lee Hooker was one of the most flattered musical forces of the 20th Century.Blues and boogie was his stock and trade. Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Bruce Spreingsteen, THe Edge (U2), the list is endless... they all paid their respects to Mr. Hooker.Hooker's best work is here, remastered. I've always had mixed feelings about remastering old blues music; it does preserve the clarity of the original (assuming that the CD is made from original master tapes) but at the same time, it never has the warmth of an old vinyl LP, where the bass fed back through the stylus of the records, making the bass BOMM BOOM BOOM. However, just for the record, this CD sounds about as good as any you're likely to hear featuring John Lee Hooker.Killer tracks and then some: a solid sender who's passing is mourned by blues and rock fans everywhere, and a great creative force who will surely be missed. But don't be sad as you mourn his passing, do as The Man says, and have one bourbon, one scotch, one beer...The world's coolest musician may be gone, but his totally cool music is not."