Search - John Lee Hooker :: Golden Legends Series: Boogie Chillun

Dirty and beautiful

S. Grubbs | Athens, GA | 11/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Blues music at its best, when it is raw and simple, sorrowful and mean. Hooker's "inept" or "bad" guitar playing is perfect here. It is ragged and unusual, and his little mistakes add to the broken feeling of the songs. He sounds like a broken-hearted witch doctor. It's amazing. Good grief, how boring and criminal would this album be if it was John Lee singing over somebody playing perfect, totally predictable blues guitar? It makes no sense, and anyone who longs for that doesn't get John Lee Hooker, or the blues for that matter. Why don't you ask Keith Richards? He got a huge amount of his rhythm guitar style from John Lee. Of course if you think John Lee is inept then you probably think Keith Richards is sloppy and that Mick Jagger can't sing, so nevermind. It's people who like clean, overproduced, safe, boring blues music who have nearly killed the blues as an artform, and made it something for middle-aged suburbanites to go see on their Honda Goldwings on Friday nights at some restaurant near a mall. Get this album and turn it up and and experience some real blues, raw and nasty and completely profound."

Good old blues, great stuff!!

Larry J. Mccoy | Seaside, California USA | 06/18/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great "mood" blues cd. That guy below talking about how bad the guitar playing is doesn't get it. It's not how hard something is to play, it's what the songs do for you. I can't stand these technical snobs always talking about how hard and fast they can play....they only play with there brains, this comes from the heart."

Intimate John Lee...

B. Bowman | Jersey, United States | 10/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is one that I always end up coming back to when the hard times hit. John Lee bares his soul on this one and his vocals are delivered with conviction and pure emotion. The CD consists of 19 tracks and are just Hooker and his electric guitar. The setting sounds like a small club or coffee house (every once in a while you can hear dishes or glasses clink) and the applause is sometimes edited out at the end of some songs, making it seem as if Hooker is playing without an audience. John Lee really knows how to deliver when it comes to singing about a relationship gone bad. Songs like "I'm Gonna Keep On Walking" and "You Gonna Miss Me" perfectly articulate feelings on lost love. He also sings of the effects of depression on "I Just Can't Hold On Much Longer". Although it sounds bleak, this is John Lee Hooker at his most intimate. With the exception of a few faster songs, the majority of the music is mellow blues with soulful vocals, actually pretty relaxing. Overall, the amount that I've played this disc in the years since I bought it has made this a worthwhile purchase, and to me it remains one of the best examples of the incredible blues of John Lee Hooker."