MCA's The Best of John Lee Hooker has a misleading title. All of the 16 selections are taken from his recordings for ABC, which were made at the end of the '60s and beginning of the '70s. During this time, his producers were experimenting with his sound, adding contemporary sonic touches like funk rhythms and wah-wah pedals. Needless to say, this sound didn't sit particularly well with Hooker's lean, haunting blues. However, these songs do take the best material from generally poor albums -- anyone w...   [ read more ]

CD $9.45

A brief, ten-song set of sides originally recorded by Bernie Besman at United Sound Studios in Detroit between 1948 and 1952 and leased to Modern Records in Los Angeles (Besman did release some of them on his own Sensation Records imprint), this is a prototypical sequence of John Lee Hooker being, well, John Lee Hooker, churning out loose-limbed blues boogies on solo electric guitar. Included are "Boogie Chillen'," "Hobo Blues," "Crawling King Snake," "Huckle Up Baby," {...   [ read more ]

CD $6.63

First off, this double-disc set is on Recall; that automatically gives it some cred, as the label issues fine retrospectives: always double discs that sound good and are offered for a fair price. These 40 tracks are all sides taken from the '60s with an assortment of side musicians; some of the cuts are live, some studio, but all of them burn with the kinds of low-slung back-slipping fever that the Hook did best. All the big tunes are here, and many of the small ones, too. While it is arguable that {...   [ read more ]

CD $13.28