John Lee Hooker was an active recording artist for roughly 50 years -- active in that not only did he record steadily, but he actively jumped from label to label, recording for seemingly every label, big or small, from such legendary imprints as Modern, Savoy, Chess, Vee-Jay, Impulse and Riverside, to such smaller outfits as Eagle, Sensation, Staff, Guest Star and Pausa. He started his career cutting sides for singles, later recording proper albums, and all these recordings have been repackaged and reissued in a seemingly endless series of compilations, ranging from budget-line bottom of the barrel discs to first-rate retrospectives, like Rhino's 1991 The Ultimate Collection, but one thing his discography has always lacked was a comprehensive, career-spanning box set, which Shout! Factory's finally provides with their 2006 four-disc set
Hooker. Encompassing 84 songs recorded for 27 labels over the course of half a century,
Hooker manages to sort through his unwieldy discography with grace and precision, offering all his standards -- beginning with "Boogie Chillen" and "Sally Mae," then running through "Crawlin' King Snake," "I'm in the Mood," "Dimples," "Boom Boom," "It Serves Me Right to Suffer," "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" -- but adding the depth and detail by lingering at relatively lesser-known sides and singles (including songs released under pseudonyms like "Texas Slim" and "John Lee Booker") from every era of his career. And even though
Hooker never quite deviated from his signature boogie -- he always bent backing bands to follow his rhythm, as much of the music on this set proves -- he did have different eras in his career, starting with the spooky solo sides in the late '40s and early '50s, which gave way to his early experiments with backing bands, which lead to his dynamic electric work of the '60s, which in turn set the precedent for his collaborations with
Canned Heat, which in themselves were the foundation of his comeback of the late '80s and early '90s, where he returned to the spotlight via a series of superstar-studded duets albums. All these phases are represented well on
Hooker -- some might argue that the latter duet phase is represented a little too well since the entire fourth disc is devoted to it, but that did span a full decade of recording for
Hooker, and it did bring him his highest commercial profile ever -- giving this set a welcome narrative in addition to its sheer comprehensiveness. These are the two most attractive elements of
Hooker: it makes sense of his long career and hits virtually all his highlights.
Hooker certainly has many excellent individual albums in his catalog, but most listeners could get this set and have all the
John Lee Hooker they'll ever need. Which isn't the same thing as saying that
Hooker is for everybody.
Hooker's boogie is intoxicating, but like strong liquor it may either be addictive or an acquired taste, so it's best for the uninitiated to sample something smaller, like Rhino's 1995 set The Very Best of John Lee Hooker, which has all the essentials in a concentrated dose. For some, that single-disc -- or something similar -- will be all they ever need, since it has the best of the boogie. This set is for the listener who already knows they're a fan, and wants to dig in deep -- and for those listeners, this
Hooker will certainly and repeatedly satisfy. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine