John Lee Hooker Delivered Raw
the first in the Bluesville series
The mystery is why this 1959 Riverside recording wasn't released until 1964, and even then, according to Craft Recordings, only in the U.K. True, Riverside was essentially a jazz label, but then why record Hooker in the first place unadorned if not to release it? Hooker had been recording electric blues for Vee-Jay but Riverside wanted acoustic and in fact released in 1960 The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker recorded at the same sessions that produced this album.
Riverside was onto something here: Son House, Lightnin' Hopkins and Mississippi John Hurt played the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. The 1964 festival was mostly main streamers and country blues free. Riverside was way ahead of the curve, somehow anticipating the folk/blues explosion even as Dylan went electric . Well, it doesn't matter now because here this one is, reissued in a terrific sounding stereo edition that puts Hooker on stage in your room.
Jazz enthusiast, record importer/distributor and later Black Lion label founder Alan Bates wrote the liner notes here, probably for the aforementioned U.K. only release and then provide a measured summation of Hooker's upbringing and career, while also championing this "pure" Hooker as opposed to the "R&B backing or vocal choir" Hooker recordings that were popular at the time.
Hooker's covers here of Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightnin'", and Big Joe Williams' "Baby Please Don't Go" (covered by Van Morrison and Them also in 1964) as well as Bill Broonzy's "Key to the Highway" demonstrate that Hooker was as effective singing covers as he was of delivering his originals.
A Discogs search shows that in 2009 Analogue Productions released a numbered, double 45rpm edition of this record that fetches high dollars. Now you can get a really fine TML mastering and QRP pressing for the very reasonable price of $29.98 complete with Stoughton Tip-on jacket!
I'll steal Tracking Angle reader "Scotty"'s comment to close out this review: "I got Burnin' Hell and besides a great choice of a fairly ignored classic from Hooker, the job Matt Lutthans did mastering this stereo version is remarkable. Having heard the original mono, there is something almost magical about the way Hooker's vocals and guitar playing open up on this stereo version (but never too wide). The vocals and guitar do tend to wander a little in stereo, but I sat back a bit, still dead center and the music just wrapped itself around my ears. The jacket looks great and for the price, you have to be impressed with this series. Most likely will get all of them and really looking forward to the Albert King and I'm Jimmy Reed which I heard will be in mono. I have to say Scott Billington, keep these great records coming and a big thanks for bringing these to us! Michael, thanks for giving this new series the attention it deserves!" Thank you Scotty!
By the way, the second in the series, Skip James Today!" has been pushed back until late July but Matthew Lutthans sent me an interesting email about its production that I don't think will get him into trouble with anyone at Craft because more than anything it demonstrates the great care that's going into this Bluesville project, which is anything but "slapdash" reissue churn 'em out, and that I think you'll find interesting. Lutthans (who also did an outstanding job cutting Rufus Reid Presents Caelan Cardello) said he cut three versions of the Skip James record: one from the 1960 stereo mix, one from a new 30 IPS half-inch stereo mix that he made from the 1/2 inch multitrack and a live mix from the 1/2 inch multipack directly to the lathe! That one was used to produce the upcoming record. I'm so glad!
