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Somebody’s Watchin'
I have been to Clarksdale, Mississippi. There isn’t a lot there that I would regard as noteworthy. Like many other delta towns, the heat rising from the pavement and sidewalks rendered any scene garbled and indistinct. Perhaps that’s part of the mystery there.
But, if I’d been fortunate enough to be born thirty years before I was, I might have witnessed the early years of an innovator whose music left an impression on the musicians of six decades.
June 21st, 2001, we lost John Lee Hooker. There were no moments of silence, no outlandish shows of grief, no to-do. John might have thought such displays foolish and undignified. But make no mistake; he touched countless souls, both musicians and fans.
He was instrumental in the formative years of such bands as the Yardbirds, the Animals, Canned Heat, John Mayall, Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana, to name only a few. Keith Richards, Van Morrison, Bonnie Raitt, Los Lobos and George Thorogood worshipped at the feet of the master.
‘Hook’, as his many friends called him, was himself influenced by a few of the great early Blues performers who brought the genre into the bars and roadhouses of the South. Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton and Blind Blake reportedly all taught him licks and chords while visiting John Lee’s step-father, Will Moore.
In 1948, he brought Blues to the forefront with his release of “Boogie Chilluns”, promoted by entrepreneur Bernie Besman. It was a few minutes of primitive, dark vocals with his one-chord guitar and foot-pounding back-beat that set the music world on its ear.
His music has been described alternately as Detroit Blues, Delta Blues, Acoustic Blues and Blues Revival. Personally, I don’t care what name they put on it. To me, it is a deep venture into myself. His grooves hypnotize me, allowing me access to places in my soul that I can’t get to by any other means. He is simply… timeless.
Carlos Santana, perhaps his most dedicated disciple, upon hearing of Hook’s passing, said, “John Lee Hooker’s sound is kind of like the devil and God playing together. There are no superlatives to describe the profound impact John Lee left in our hearts. All of us feel enormous gratitude, respect, admiration and love for his spirit. When I was a child, he was the first circus I wanted to run away with."
Get Heaven ready, John Lee, I expect to hear you laying it on me if I get there.
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