Career-Spanning Box Set Crowns John Lee Hooker ‘King Of The Boogie’
Craft Recordings, the Catalogue division of Concord Bicycle Music, is proud to announce the release of King Of The Boogie, a career-spanning retrospective, honouring blues icon John Lee Hooker.
Due out on 29 September 2017, the five-CD set delves deep into the catalogue of the influential artist, featuring not only his iconic hits, but also rarities, live recordings and several previously unreleased tracks. Housed in a 56-page book, the collection includes a wide selection of photos, taken throughout the musician’s life, plus new liner notes by writer and John Lee Hooker historian Jas Obrecht, as well as by the artist’s longtime manager and friend, Mike Kappus.
Born 100 years ago today, near Clarksdale, Mississippi to a sharecropping family, John Lee Hooker (1917–2001) worked his way up north to Detroit to pursue his passion of music. By 1948, the artist had a hit on his hands with one of his earliest recordings, ‘Boogie Chillun’. From there, Hooker would record over 100 albums throughout the course of his six-decade-long career, building a diverse collection of fans along the way: from folk musicians and beatniks, to the stars of the British Invasion. The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana are among those who cite Hooker as a major influence. In his liner notes, Mike Kappus recalls that, “Everyone who knew John Lee Hooker loved him and felt privileged to be in his presence. While he influenced generations of musicians with his incomparable style, that impact on musicians stepped up to yet another level once they got to know and, universally, love him.”
In his later years, as the bluesman found himself in one of the busiest, most productive eras of his career, Hooker was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Blues Hall of Fame and Memphis Music Hall of Fame; was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and took home four Grammy awards, including a coveted Lifetime Achievement award in 2000.
Tasked with narrowing down Hooker’s vast catalogue into five CDs, box set producer Mason Williams curated the collection to narrate the artist’s story. “Even at 100 songs, this set is just a snapshot of John Lee Hooker’s incredible and influential career,” says Williams, “but one that takes you on the long journey he took from his early days in Detroit, to his time in Chicago recording for Vee-Jay Records and up through his later collaborations with Van Morrison, Bonnie Raitt and Santana, among others.”
King Of The Boogie will be released as part of a year-long, multi-partner centennial celebration, honoring the music and influence of John Lee Hooker, and will be a companion piece to an exhibit of the same name, which kicks off today at the Grammy Museum, Mississippi.
John Lee Hooker: King Of The Boogie includes Hooker’s performance outfits, guitars, photos, awards and, of course, his music. The exhibit will be on display through February 2018, before traveling west to the Grammy Museum at L.A. Live. Additional centennial partners include The Blues Foundation, The Delta Blues Museum, Living Blues Magazine, Oxford American Magazine and the John Lee Hooker Estate.
King Of The Boogie is due for release on 6 October. Scroll down to read the full tracklist and order the collection here.
The full tracklist for King Of The Boogie is:
CD1
‘Boogie Chillun’’ – John Lee Hooker And His Guitar
‘Sally May’ – John Lee Hooker And His Guitar
‘Hobo Blues’ – John Lee Hooker And His Guitar
‘Crawlin’ King Snake’ – John Lee Hooker & His Guitar
‘Black Man Blues’ – Texas Slim
‘Goin’ Mad Blues’ – Delta John
‘Who’s Been Jivin’ You’ – Texas Slim
‘(Miss Sadie Mae) Curl My Baby’s Hair’
‘Hoogie Boogie’ – John Lee Hooker And His Guitar
‘Burnin’ Hell’ – John Lee Hooker And His Guitar
‘Weeping Willow Boogie’
‘Moaning Blues’ – Texas Slim
‘Huckle Up Baby’ – John Lee Hooker And His Guitar
‘Goin’ On Highway #51’ – John Lee Hooker And His Guitar
‘John L’s House Rent Boogie’
‘I’m In The Mood’
‘Two White Horses’
‘33 Blues’
‘Sugar Mama’
‘Wobbling Baby’
‘Stuttering Blues’ – John Lee Booker
‘I’m A Boogie Man’ – Johnny Lee
‘Down Child’
‘Odds Against Me (Backbiters And Syndicaters)’
‘Shake, Holler And Run’
CD2
‘Unfriendly Woman’ [aka Stop Now’]*
‘Mambo Chillun’
‘Time Is Marching’
‘Dimples’
‘Little Wheel’
‘I Love You Honey’
‘Drive Me Away’
‘Maudie’
‘When I Lay My Burden Down’*
‘Tupelo Blues’
‘Good Mornin’ Lil’ School Girl’
‘I Rolled And Turned And Cried The Whole Night Long’
‘No More Doggin’’
‘Dusty Road’
‘No Shoes’
‘My First Wife Left Me’
‘Crazy About That Walk’ – Sir John Lee Hooker
‘Want Ad Blues’
‘Will The Circle Be Unbroken’
‘I’m Going Upstairs’
‘I Lost My Job’
‘Don’t Turn Me From Your Door’
‘Grinder Man’
‘Meat Shakes On Her Bone’*
CD3
‘Boom Boom’
‘Blues Before Sunrise’
‘She’s Mine’
‘Frisco Blues’
‘Good Rockin’ Mama’
‘I’m Leaving’
‘Birmingham Blues’
‘Don’t Look Back’
‘Big Legs, Tight Skirt’
‘It Serves Me Right’
‘Money’
‘One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer’
‘The Motor City Is Burning’
‘Mean, Mean Woman’
‘Doin’ The Shout’
‘Homework’
‘Early One Morning’
‘Rocking Chair’
‘Hittin’ The Bottle Again’
‘Deep Blue Sea’
‘Spellbound’
CD4: Live
‘Hobo Blues’
‘Maudie’
‘Shake It Baby’
‘Boogie Chillun’
‘Bottle Up And Go’
‘Crawlin’ King Snake’
‘The Mighty Fire’
‘You’ve Got To Walk Yourself’
‘I’m Bad Like Jesse James’
‘Boogie Everywhere I Go’
‘She’s Gone’*
‘It Serves Me Right To Suffer’*
‘Boom Boom’*
‘Hi-Heel Sneakers’*
‘One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer’*
CD5: Friends
‘I Got Eyes For You’ – With “Little” Eddie Kirkland
‘Mai Lee’ – With The Groundhogs
‘Peavine’ – With Canned Heat
‘Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive’ – With Van Morrison
‘Five Long Years’ – With Joe Cocker
‘The Healer’ – With Carlos Santana
‘I’m In The Mood’ – With Bonnie Raitt
‘Sally Mae’ – With George Thorogood
‘Mr Lucky’ – With Robert Cray
‘Up And Down’ – With Warren Haynes
‘Boom Boom’ – With Jimmie Vaughan
‘You Shook Me’ – With B.B. King
‘Don’t Look Back’ – With Van Morrison
‘Dimples’ – With Los Lobos
‘Boogie Chillun’’ – With Eric Clapton
* Previously unreleased
UK English
