Search - Lightnin Hopkins :: Lightnin Strikes Twice

Finally, the 5 cd "Lost Texas Tapes" under one roof!

William H. Haines | Nashville, TN | 06/27/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Well it's about time!! "The Little Darlin' Sound of Lightnin' Hopkins: Lightnin' Strikes Twice" double CD is a welcome addition to anyone's blues collection, but not just because the music's great. Nope. What's REALLY great about it is that now you don't have to buy all 5 of the Lost Texas Tapes cds to get the music! Yes, that's right. I refused to buy that set because the stores were charging FULL price for each disc, and I'm not kidding when I tell you that each disc held less than 20 minutes of music! How's THAT for customer gouging? Now here, 10 or 15 years later, we finally get all that music on a more reasonable 2 disc set, and it's even cheaper than one volume of the original "LTT" series. SWEET! I'm jumpin' on this one right now!! And if you're a fan of Lightnin' Hopkins, you will too!"

One to avoid

Pitoucat | UK | 02/06/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I just can't believe that the previous two reviewers are raving about this release. I must be one of Lightnin' Hopkins' biggest fans, but in my opinion it's probably the worst collection of his (alleged) work ever compiled. In the liner notes the producer, Aubrey Mayhew, explains that he recorded these sessions by Lightnin' in Houston, Texas in 1967 and 1968. However, listening to the tracks on disc two it became apparent to me that six of them definitely do not involve Lightnin' in any way. "John Hardy" and "Goodnight Irene" are Leadbelly recordings made for Moses Asch in 1943, while "One Meat Ball" and "Sorrow To My Heart" are 1944 recordings by Josh White. The other two -- "Chicka Choca Shalali" and "Blow Out The Candle" are by a white performer who apparently worked under the name of "Irish O'Malley." There is no mention of such other artists in the liner notes, merely details of Mayhew's recording sessions with Lightnin'.



Despite the claim that all the material was recorded in 1967-68, it transpires that nine of the same tracks had appeared on Pickwick LP 3013, recorded in 1964 and released in August 1965. Six other tracks on the CDs comprised Guest Star LP 1459, recorded live at the Bird Lounge, Houston in 1964. Song titles on this Koch release have been changed, but the music is the same, except for the fact that some intros have been removed. Furthermore, the track on the first CD, "I Wish I Was A Baby" is identical to "Back In My Mother's Arms," on the second CD of the set.



So, of the 38 tracks on this Koch release, 15 are known to have been recorded by Lightnin' in 1964 and released shortly afterwards. Another 6 titles, although falsely credited to Hopkins, were recorded by Leadbelly, Josh White, and "Irish O'Malley." A further 9 items are from an unknown session, with "Curley Lee" (actually Billy Bizor) taking the lead on 4 of them and Hopkins just talking on another 3. One track on the second CD is a repeat of a number from the first. This leaves only 9 tracks out of the entire 38 which feature a solo Lightnin' Hopkins singing and playing on recordings previously unheard -- apart from the earlier incarnation of all of this material on the "Lost Texas Tapes" albums.



What a mess! What could Koch have been thinking of to issue such an inferior, misleading collection? I'd advise any potential first-time purchasers of Lightnin's music -- or indeed, any Lightnin' fan -- to give this set a miss and seek out the far superior products such as these from the Aladdin, Gold Star, RPM, SIW, and Arhoolie labels: The Complete Aladdin Recordings, Gold Star Sessions, Vol. 1, Gold Star Sessions, Vol. 2, Jake Head Boogie, Hello Central: The Best of Lightnin' Hopkins, Texas Blues.

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