The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker

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The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker
The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker.jpg
Studio album by
John Lee Hooker
ReleasedNovember 1959 (1959-11)
RecordedApril 20, 1959
StudioUnited Sound Systems, Detroit, Michigan
GenreBlues
Length43:00
LabelRiverside
ProducerBill Grauer
John Lee Hooker chronology
I'm John Lee Hooker
(1959) 		The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker
(1959) 		Travelin'
(1960)

The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker (also known as The Folk Blues of John Lee Hooker) is the third studio album by blues musician John Lee Hooker recorded in Detroit in 1959 and released by the Riverside label.[1]

Reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic3/5 stars[2]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of The Blues4/5 stars[3]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings2.5/4 stars[4]

The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings said "Riverside required Hooker to play only acoustic guitar. What motivated this redirection, and in particular the 'classic blues' repertoire on the first album was a view of the blues - you might say a politics of the blues - very much of its time ... though, as always with Hooker the result is not exact commemoration so much as highly personalised allusion".[4]

AllMusic reviewer Richie Unterberger stated: "John Lee Hooker was still churning out R&B-influenced electric blues with a rhythm section for Vee Jay when he recorded The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker, his first album packaged for the folk/traditional blues market. He plays nothing but acoustic guitar, and seems to have selected a repertoire with old-school country-blues in mind. It's unimpressive only within the context of Hooker's body of work; in comparison with other solo outings, the guitar sounds thin, and the approach restrained".[2]

Track listing[]

All compositions credited to John Lee Hooker except where noted

  1. "Black Snake" (Blind Lemon Jefferson) – 3:33
  2. "How Long Blues" (Leroy Carr) – 2:14
  3. "Wobblin' Baby" – 2:51
  4. "She's Long, She's Tall, She Weeps Like a Willow" – 2:47
  5. "Pea Vine Special" (Charlie Patton) – 3:10
  6. "Tupelo Blues" – 3:23
  7. "I'm Prison Bound" (Carr) – 3:58
  8. "I Rowed a Little Boat" – 3:28
  9. "Water Boy" – 3:00
  10. "Church Bell Tone" – 3:43
  11. "Bundle Up and Go" – 2:13
  12. "Good Morning Lil' School Girl" (Sonny Boy Williamson I) – 3:38
  13. "Behind the Plow" – 4:22

Personnel[]

References[]

  1. ^ "The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker". johnleehooker.com. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Unterberger, Richie. John Lee Hooker: The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  3. ^ Larkin, Colin (1998). The Virgin Encyclopedia of The Blues. London: Random House. p. 280. ISBN 9781448132744.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Russell, Tony; Smith, Chris (2006). The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. London: Penguin. p. 270. ISBN 978-0-140-51384-4.
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