House Of The Blues

John Lee Hooker

One of the truly great blues artists, John Lee Hooker enjoyed a successful career of nearly sixty years in duration, including a spell towards the latter part of the twentieth century when he was considered the greatest of the era. Times may have changed during the course of his career but John Lee Hooker didn’t, with his overall sound remaining constant. Indeed, the recordings he made during the latter stage of his career invoked images of the earlier part of his career, retaining much the same song structure throughout, albeit with subtle amendments.

This particular album focuses on a brief, three year spell between 1951 and 1954. The material was originally recorded for the Chess Records label and was finally gathered together for release in album form in 1959 and subsequently issued in the UK in 1964. Since the material covers a three year period there is no theme, but much the same argument could be levelled at just about any blues artist of the time. Instead, this album serves to showcase his undoubted talents as a performer and as a writer.