Blues legend John Lee Hooker has passed away at age 83. He died in his sleep the morning of June 21 at his home in Los Altos, California.
One of the last of the great bluesmen, Hooker was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, one of 11 children. Steeped in the rural music of the delta region, John Lee made his way north in his twenties, eventually settling in Detroit. The sound that became Hooker's signature ‚ insistent, gravelly vocals married to repetitive guitar boogie -- mixed the straightforward approach of Southern blues with the amplified instrumentation taking hold in northern cities like Chicago. The combination was a potent one, and by 1951 he had earned a pair of huge R&B hits with it: "Boogie Chillun" and "I'm In The Mood."
Like such fellow travelers as Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee cut records for more labels (and under more pseudonyms) than you could count, and by the end of the decade had begun to attract the attention of the folk audience, appearing at Newport in 1959. When his songs were adopted by such British Invasion groups as The Animals and The Yardbirds (both of whom covered "Boom Boom") a few years later, his status among rock fans was assured.
In the late '60s Hooker's career got a further boost as blues revival outfits on both sides of the Atlantic sought out their idol; The Groundhogs and Canned Heat each cut albums with him (the latter collaboration, Hooker 'N Heat, was particularly successful, and would later become one of Rhino's first forays into blues reissues).
While at this point an elder statesman, John Lee's tour itinerary was anything but geriatric; blues fans could count on seeing him in person on a regular basis (film fans got the chance to see him in 1980's The Blues Brothers). He continued to record as well and the persistence paid off with 1989's platinum comeback album The Healer, which featured guest turns by such disciples as Bonnie Raitt and Carlos Santana. The Grammy it won was just one of many honors heaped upon Hooker in his final decade; he was inducted into The Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame in 1991, and received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy last year.
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