Search - John Lee Hooker :: Real Blues: Live in Houston 1979

The Cream + Alone = Live in Houston

Tim Weber | Iowa | 03/21/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"A 20-plus years old previously unreleased (I think) import live album? Worried? Don't be. This 1979 live Hooker album on the well-established JSP Records label is worth the purchase. "Live in Houston" can be thought of as a combination of two other live albums from the same era, "The Cream" (pretty decent full-band recordings) and "Alone" (very good solo, hushed, menacing recordings.) The first four songs here feature a full band, though it is very restrained on the fourth, yet another version of "Jesse James Blues". The last three songs are nice solo Hooker. Only seven songs? Well, that is a problem, and the 36-plus minutes are over before full momentum can be gained. Other quibbles? The sound is solid overall, but the bass is barely audible. Could have used more bottom. Most of the songs are familiar, including a too-short solo "Boogie Chillun" and "Dead Wagon Blues", which is "TB Sheets" retitled for some reason. Still, if you like the two live albums I previously mentioned, give this one a shot. It's probably one of the latest (1979; "The Cream" and "Alone" were a couple years earlier) Hooker live albums available."