John Lee Hooker Jr.
![Hooker Jr. performing in Auburn, Maine in 2006](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/JohnLeeHookerJr06.jpg/300px-JohnLeeHookerJr06.jpg)
John Lee Hooker Jr. (born January 15, 1952) is an American blues musician and Christian minister. He is the son of influential blues singer John Lee Hooker (1917–2001).[1] The younger Hooker's musical style is markedly modernized, featuring contemporary arrangements.
Biography
John Lee Hooker Jr. was born on January 15, 1952, in Detroit, Michigan, United States, to parents Maude Ellas (née Mathis) and John Lee Hooker.[2] He had five siblings and two step siblings, his younger brother is musician Robert Hooker.[2]
Hooker was performing live on local radio stations by the time he was eight years old, and toured with his father as a teenager. He struggled with drugs and alcohol for several years before reviving his career with his debut solo album, Blues with a Vengeance, in 2004. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award.[3] A follow-up album, Cold as Ice, was released in 2006.[4]
Hooker's third album, All Odds Against Me, was released on August 19, 2008. Marking a clear departure from his father's style of music, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award that year in the 'Best Traditional Blues CD' category.[5] An animated video for the song, "Blues Ain't Nothin' But a Pimp," produced by Paris-based studio Callicore, featured Hooker as a street-hardened character known as "Bluesman." The video was a 2009 Webby Award honoree for special effects.[6]
Hooker's 2008 touring band included of George Lacson (bass), Jeff Horan (guitar), Mike Rogers (drums), and Gig Anderson (keyboards).
Now an ordained minister, he is now reaching out to those in prisons[7] (some of which were where he was an inmate during his drug abuse years) and is currently raising funds through his Kickstarter webpage in order to finish his recording and eventual release of his first contemporary soul gospel album using almost the same blues and funk elements he incorporated in his blues releases and concerts. Rev. Hooker also gives a brief video bio of himself leading up to his conversion to Christianity on his Kickstarter page including a full bio.
Before becoming a minister and still a blues artist, he was featured in an episode of The 700 Club where he detailed his drug addictions and imprisonments leading up to his conversion to Christianity and sobriety. That video clip can be found on YouTube.
Discography
Studio albums
- Blues With A Vengeance (Kent Music/Kent Entertainment Group, 2004)[8]
- Cold As Ice (Telarc Records, 2006)[9]
- All Odds Against Me (Steppin' Stone Records/CC Entertainment, 2008)[5]
- All Hooked Up (Steppin' Stone Records/CC Entertainment, 2012)
- That's What The Blues Is All About [with Daddy's Cash] (Sound And More Studios/Hermes Management, 2012)
- Testify (Steppin' Stone Records/CC Entertainment, 2020)[10]
Live albums
- Live In Istanbul, Turkey (Steppin' Stone Records/CC Entertainment, 2010)
References
- ^ Perry, Lorna (2005-09-01). "John Lee Hooker Jr". The Pitch. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
- ^ a b Eagle, Bob L.; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013-05-01). Blues: A Regional Experience. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-313-34424-4 – via Google Books.
- ^ "John Lee Hooker, Jr. at Chicky's Fine Diner". Foster's Daily Democrat. July 19, 2006. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
- ^ Kane, Dan. "John Lee Hooker Jr. making a name for himself". Canton Repository. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
- ^ a b Palopoli, Steve (2011-08-02). "John Lee Hooker Jr". Metro Silicon Valley. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
- ^ "Bluesman John Lee Hooker Jr. Continues to Garner Nods for 'All Odds Against Me' CD," African American News, DogonVillage.com. Retrieved: 31 October 2013.
- ^ "John Lee Hooker and son shred the yard at Soledad prison". Retrieved 2024-05-27.
- ^ Forcella, Domenic (August 12, 2010). "Blues Beat: John Lee Hooker Jr. to play in New London". The Middletown Press. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
- ^ Fitzgerald, Nicole (2007-07-13). "Cold as Ice, But Warm as His Daddy's Blues". Pique Newsmagazine. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
- ^ Watts, Tee (2020-04-27). "John Lee Hooker, Jr. Testify Album Review". Blues Blast Magazine. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
External links
- Official Site of John Lee Hooker Jr.
- John Lee Hooker Jr interview at Absenta Musical
- John Lee Hooker Jr interview at Artist Connection Podcast
- v
- t
- e
- The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker (1959)
- Travelin' (1960)
- That's My Story (1960)
- The Folk Lore of John Lee Hooker (1961)
- Burnin' (1962)
- The Big Soul of John Lee Hooker (1963)
- John Lee Hooker on Campus (1964)
- Burning Hell (1964)
- ...And Seven Nights (1965)
- It Serve You Right to Suffer (1966)
- The Real Folk Blues (1966)
- Urban Blues (1967)
- Simply the Truth (1969)
- If You Miss 'Im...I Got 'Im (1969)
- Get Back Home (1969)
- I Feel Good! (1971)
- Hooker 'n Heat (1971)
- Endless Boogie (1971)
- Never Get Out of These Blues Alive (1972)
- Born in Mississippi, Raised Up in Tennessee (1973)
- Free Beer and Chicken (1974)
- Sittin' Here Thinkin' (1980)
- Jealous (1987)
- The Healer (1989)
- More Real Folk Blues: The Missing Album (1991)
- Mr. Lucky (1991)
- Chill Out (1995)
- Don't Look Back (1997)
- Concert at Newport (1963)
- Live at Sugar Hill (1963)
- Live at Cafe Au Go Go (1967)
- Live at Soledad Prison (1972)
- Kabuki Wuki (1973)
- The Cream (1978)
- House of the Blues (1959)
- I'm John Lee Hooker (1959)
- John Lee Hooker Plays & Sings the Blues (1961)
- Folk Blues (1962)
- Don't Turn Me from Your Door (1963)
- Original Folk Blues (1964)
- That's Where It's At! (1969)
- Goin' Down Highway 51 (1971)
- The Ultimate Collection (1991)
- Come See About Me (2004)
- "Boogie Chillen'" (1948)
- "Crawling King Snake" (1948)
- "Jack o' Diamonds" (1949)
- "Trouble in Mind" (1949)
- "Catfish" (1951)
- "I'm in the Mood" (1951)
- "Sugar Mama" (1952)
- "Worried Life Blues" (1952)
- "Baby, Please Don't Go" (1952)
- "Key to the Highway" (1952)
- "I'm Ready" (1956)
- "Dimples" (1956)
- "I Need Some Money" (1960)
- "Boom Boom" (1961)
- "Drifting Blues" (1961)
- "Don't Look Back" (1961)
- "How Long Blues" (1960)
- "Good Mornin', Lil' School Girl" (1960)
- "Smokestack Lightnin'" (1960)
- "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" (1966)
- "Bottle Up & Go" (1966)
- "I Can't Quit You Baby" (1966)
- "Meet Me in the Bottom" (1971)
- "Roll and Tumble" (1971)
- "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" (1974)
- "Terraplane Blues" (1987)
- "I Cover the Waterfront" (1991)
- "The Healing Game" (1997)
- "Red House" (1997)
- Discography
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- John Lee Hooker Jr.