Personalities | John Lee Hooker | Roots of Rock

(Guitar, vocals, 1917–2001)

As a youth in Mississippi blues superstar John Lee Hooker was exposed to blues musicians by his stepfather. After living in Memphis and Cincinnati he gravitated to Detroit in 1943, where he recorded the single ‘Boogie Chillen’. It reached the top of the R&B charts in 1948. Follow-ups included the hits ‘Hobo Blues’, ‘Hoogie Boogie’ and ‘Crawling King Snake Blues’. Throughout the 1950s Hooker often recorded under pseudonyms like Delta John, Birmingham Sam and Little Pork Chops.

Hooker’s mournful voice and droning guitar had an enormous influence on British rock bands like The Yardbirds and The Animals, who covered his ‘Boom Boom’ in 1964. Hooker continued label-hopping through the 1960s and had a major success with 1970’s Hooker ‘n’ Heat, teaming with the band Canned Heat. He won a Grammy for the star-studded album The Healer in 1989. Hooker continued recording into the 1990s and collaborating with rock artists.

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Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley

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