sockdolager@hotmail.com | Seattle, WA | 08/15/1998
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Earl Hooker's great guitar playing shines through on this recording. The "Bug" is Earl's reference to his bout with TB, which almost killed him. Earl's an incredibly versatile player and this recording highlights the spectrum of his playing. In a 1970's interview, BB King listed Earl Hooker as one his favorite players, and offered the following analogy - "If Earl Hooker was a truck driver, he'd be able to back his rig into any space, no matter how tight..." By the way... when Jimi Hendrix went to Chicago early in his career he played back-up for Earl & learned alot about how to use a wah-wah.... Listen closely and you'll hear Earl tearing off several riffs that later became parts of Jimi's sound."
Hidden legend waiting to be discovered
crazyjimbo | Denver, CO | 01/06/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Earl Hooker is a master of the wah pedal and slide. Noone has found a way to get a sound like his in all the years I've been listening to the blues. This album is a must have for any blues collector."
King of the Wah pedal
crazyjimbo | 01/06/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This recording is a classic for all blues fans and guitarists alike. Earl plays slide guitar with a wah pedal to give his music a unique sound that NOBODY has duplicated. If you had to choose from the ten best blues albums, this one should definately be on that list."
Master Guitarist Teaches The Blues
Terence Allen | Atlanta, GA USA | 07/13/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The late great Earl Hooker was a second cousing to John Lee Hooker and a guitar player's guitar player, beloved by Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, and many other great guitarists, yet these days he's largely forgotten, having died in 1970 of tuberculosis at age 40.
But this record, his most famous, tells a story of a virtuoso who had mastered every technique in the book. Backed by other excellent musicians, Hooker is absolutely mezmerizing on such cuts as "You Don't Love Me," "Off The Hook," "Sweet Black Angel," and the title cut, a terribly poignant foreshadowing of Hooker's fatal illness.
This record is one that blues fnas will enjoy over and over again."