Search - Lightnin Hopkins :: Texas Blues

Mr. Lightnin' Tells It Like It Is, Awesome!!!

Ryan Costantino | Nowhere, Special | 10/21/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sam Lightnin' Hopkins is my favorite blues artist and if there's one album I own to explain why this would be it. Texas Blues showcases this Master Bluesman's dynamic range with sixteen timeless tracks."Once Was A Gambler" is an all out guilt laden Blues song"Meet You At The Chicken Shack" has a decisive Rock 'n Roll feel"Bald Headed Woman" is hilarious"Tom Moore Blues" is deep and reflective"Watch My Fingers" is a self-proclaimation of skill"Love Like A Hydrant" is love-life commentary"Slavery Time" is a homage to the past"I Would If I Could" is about being boastful, and backing it up"Bud Russell Blues" is a solemn memory"Come On Baby" is a jumpin' Rock tune"Money Taker" explores the pitfalls of relationships"Mama's Fight" is a strangely jovial reflection on spousal abuse"My Woman" is a soulful story of love lost"Send My Child Home To Me" is a fond childhood memory"Have You Ever Loved A Woman" is kinda self-explanatoryand last but not least there's "Black and Evil" which is a joking look at racism that's truly insightfulFor fans of the Blues this is indeed a necessary album, it doesn't get any better than Lightnin' Hopkins and that's the God's honest truth! Amen!"

This is the best blues cd i own and i own quite a few

lrmatthis@nceye.net | buies creek north carolina | 10/23/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"i have always been a huge stevie ray vaughn and bb king and albert collins fan but when i heard lightnin hopkins complete alladin recordings i added another to my most favorite list this cd shows the shear knowledge this man possesed on a guitar and is a must have in my oppinion. he is THE greatest finger pickers to ever walk this wonderful blues-filled earth order one for yourself and one for your freinds"

Lightnin' In His Prime

Alfred Johnson | boston, ma | 05/05/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This review has been used to cover several Lightning Hopkins CDs and a DVD review of an instructional film, "The Guitar Of Lightnin' Hopkins", directed and taught by Ernie Hopkins, Stephan Grossman Studio Workshop, 2004, on learning his guitar style. I might add that this film makes abundantly clear that learning Lightning's eccentric style is definitely not for beginners. Go to the Willie Dixon song book for that.



Lightnin'!, Lightning Hopkins, Arhoolie Records, 1993



Free Form Patterns, Lightning Hopkins, Fuel 2000 Records, 2003



Blue Lightning, Lightning Hopkins, Paula Records, 1995



Lightning Hopkins & The Blues Summit, Lightning Hopkins, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Big Joe Williams, EMI-Capitol Records, 2001



I have spilled plenty of ink in this space tracing the main line of the blues from its acoustic origins down in the plantation South up river through the way station of Memphis and then to the electric "Mecca of Chicago. Along the way I have occasionally mentioned some of the other branches of the blues line like the North Carolina pick. I have not spent nearly enough time on some of the other important branches of the blues expansion, especially in the post World II period such as the West Coast blues and, as will be noted here, Texas blues.



If the blues is synonymous with the black struggle to get by day to day, to make ends meet and to make it to Saturday night and some relieve then the very big locale of Texas and its harsh hard scrabble life and strict Jim Crow laws hardly seems out of place as a key blues outpost. From the days, in the 1920's and 1930's, of Blind Lemon Jefferson working the streets of rural small town Texas, cup in hand, up to the artist under review, Lightning Hopkins, working the small black clubs and "juke joints" of the cities (like Houston) and beyond to the sounds of blues revivalists like Stevie Ray Vaughn and his brother there has been more than enough misery to create a separate Texas blues tradition.



Moreover, Brother Hopkins brings a distinctive guitar pick of his own to the "dance". He is famous, above all, for what is called the E shuffle sound as he works the guitar to create a sound that is a little "happier" than the forlorn one of the Delta or the "amped up" one of Chicago. I, unfortunately, did not get a chance to hears Lightning live until late in his career in the early 1970's when he had lost a little of his fine-toned edge. One can recapture some of that though through some of these earlier recordings from a tie when he was in full blown Lightning form. Listen up if you want to learn a different way to run a guitar from that of Muddy Waters, Bukka White, B.B. King or, for that matter, Eric Clapton



Needless to say Lightning had covered most of the known blues classics of his time as well as his own material. The borderlines of what is one's own material and what one has reworked from the blues pool is not always clear but you need to hear, for starters, "Mojo Hand", "Hello Central", "Little Girl" and "Rock Me Baby" to get a feel for his sound. Add on such classics as "Wig Wearing Woman", "Lonesome Dog Blues" (with an eerie dog bark included free), "Back Door Friend" and you are ready to become an aficionado. Throw in the talking blues-styled "Mr. Charlie", "Baby Child" and "Cooking Done" for good measure. Finally, team up Lightning with the likes of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and the amazing Big Joe Williams (especially on Hopkins' "Ain't Nothing Like Whiskey" and "Chain Gang Blues") at the famous 1960 "blues summit" and you are ready for the graduate course.



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