Cheapo John Lee Hooker CD is a 5 star performance - buy it!
Mr. Get Real | Long Beach, CA USA | 01/04/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I picked up this disc for $3.00 ("I Feel Good" - on the Spotlight Label CD-15116) because I didn't recognize any of the song titles and figured any John Lee Hooker at that price can't go wrong. I was totally right! This is an essential purchase if you like John Lee mostly solo and primitive sounding. This is basically John Lee and his guitar in a sparse setting - the label lists a drummer and another guitar player, but mainly what comes through is just John Lee - the other players are unobtrusive.
Note: My disc, "I Feel Good", is on the Spotlight Label (CD-15116) and it has 11 songs. I have noted that Amazon has listed this review I wrote with all similarly titled discs from a number of other labels that may or may not be the same track listings as my Spotlight disc.
I have no idea where or when this was recorded and you can get this same material on a number of similar knock-off cheapo labels, but the sound quality is first rate and the performances are excellent. This is actually 5 star material! Think of it as early 1940's style John Lee during his Detroit days, but obviously this was recorded much later with high quality equipment. Everybody rates the early and often very poorly recorded Detroit era songs as essential. Well, the songs on this disc are nearly just as good, but with first rate recording quality, so go figure why no one has written a review of this cheapo $3 disc? Trust me, you can't go wrong with this purchase.
By the way, if you find that you really like the early Detroit material, I have found that the following discs are essential solo performances of just John Lee Hooker and his guitar;
(1) The Legendary Modern Recordings 1948-1954 Flair/Virgin Records #39658 (sound is first rate with minimal vinyl noise - yes, some if not all of this is mastered from 78s).
(2) Blues Brother (Ace label CDCHD 405) sound is also first rate, but again with the occasional vinyl noise from 78s.
(3) Detroit Blues (Flyright CD23) sound quality is good, but slightly below the stellar quality of the two discs listed above. Also, please note that only half of this disc is John Lee Hooker, it has other artists also that are quite good. This disc is worth having just for the excellent Hooker cuts.
(4) Boogie Awhile (Krazy Kat KK CD 05) sound quality is somewhat variable with many tracks mastered from damaged 78s. Even so, they cleaned it up pretty good and this is one of my favorite discs - essential!
(5) I'm a Boogie Man - Essential Masters (Varese Vintage) sound quality is also variable here and some tracks are mastered from damaged 78s, but it doesn't matter! This has some really great stuff on it! Essential!
I like each of the discs listed above almost equally well in terms of the performances. To me the sound quality is not a big a factor as I get into the music and after awhile the occasional distortion and the ticks and pops fade into the background or can actually add to the experience! With John Lee Hooker's early stuff you will get used to the sound of scratchy 78s. Even so, the "Modern Recordings" is the place to start with classic performances and the best sound quality available for this early period. The Ace label "Blues Brother" is also right up there in terms of sound and performances - although a few of the songs on this disc will overlap with the "Modern Recordings" collection.
I hope this helps!
"
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1