Search - John Lee Hooker :: His Best Chess Sides (Chess 50th Anniversary Coll)

Hooker was already making hits (for Modern) when he started to record for Chicago's legendary Chess Records in 1952. So he's at the peak of his powers on these solo sides from 1952 to '54, and with Eddie "Guitar" Burns, pianist Lafayette Leak, and drummer Fred Below in 1966. The '50s numbers stomp and grind through Hooker's typically down-'n'-dirty songwriting. "Ground Hog Blues" is especially gritty, as he describes how he'll poison his woman's lover. Those cuts also show the influence of prewar blues personalities Sleepy John Estes (on "Worried Life Blues"), Tampa Red ("Sugar Mama"), Sonny Boy Williamson ("Louise"), Johnny Temple ("Please Don't Go"), and Big Joe Williams ("Bluebird"). The '66 band recordings include his classics "The Waterfront" and "One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer." --Ted Drozdowski