Remembering John Lee Hooker: Performing Live In 1980

The influence of legendary blues singer and guitarist John Lee Hooker is immeasurable. In the 1940s, Hooker — the son of a Mississippi sharecropper and Baptist preacher — tweaked different blues styles from Delta blues to North Mississippi hill country blues until he achieved the sound he wanted: a driving, electric guitar laced boogie that was a forerunner of rock ‘n’ roll. His flying finger-picked guitar style is unmistakable along with his iconic blues baritone.

Hooker had his first hit in 1948 with “Boogie Chillun,” the guitar part for which has been described as the “the riff that launched a million songs.” Hooker would continue his success with tunes like 1949’s “Crawling King Snake,” 1956’s “Dimples,” 1962’s “Boom Boom” and 1966’s “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” songs that would influence such artists at The Rolling Stones, The Doors, George Thorogood and countless others.

Because of his immense influence, Hooker began to collaborate with many of the musicians and bands he inspired such as Van Morrison, Canned Heat, Steve Miller, Santana, Los Lobos and more. In 1989, Hooker released an album called The Healer and his collaboration with Bonnie Raitt from the LP, “I’m In The Mood,” won him his first Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Recording. He would go on to win four more throughout the 1990s.

John Lee Hooker died in his sleep on this date in 2001 at his home in Los Altos, California. To remember the towering figure of American music, watch his complete performance from the 1980 Montreal Jazz Festival below which features some of his most well-known songs like “Boom Boom,” “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” and more as part of JamBase’s continuing celebration of African-American Music Appreciation Month:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwZn0_6MabE