Einer der ganz großen Bluesmusiker ist heute gestorben.
Nicht nur ein fantastischer Musiker, auch ein toller Mensch.
Ein trauriger Hans-Udo
Unter anderem traten (unbekannten)die Rolling Stones 1961 als Vorband 1961 für ihn auf...
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) --
Veteran bluesman John Lee Hooker,
whose foot stompin' and gravelly
voice on songs like "Boom Boom"
and "Boogie Chillen" electrified
audiences and inspired generations of
musicians, died Thursday. He was 83.
Hooker died of natural causes as he slept
at his home in Los Altos, south of San
Francisco, said his agent, Mike Kappus.
The veteran blues singer from the
Mississippi Delta estimated he recorded
more than 100 albums over nearly seven
decades. He won a Grammy Award for
a version of "I'm In The Mood," and
was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame in 1991.
Through it all, Hooker's music remained
hypnotic and unchanged -- his rich and
sonorous voice, full of ancient hurt,
coupled with a brooding, rhythmic
guitar. He sang of loneliness and confusion. Neither polished nor urbane, his
music was raw, primal emotion.
His distinctive sound influenced rock 'n' rollers
as well as rhythm and blues musicians.
Among those whose music drew heavily on
Hooker's style are Van Morrison, the Rolling
Stones, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie
Raitt and ZZ Top. In 1961, the then-unknown
Rolling Stones opened for him on a European
tour; he also shared a bill that year with Bob
Dylan at a club in New York.
Even in the '90s, when his fame was sealed and
he was widely recognized as one of the
grandfathers of pop music, Hooker remained a
little in awe of his own success, telling The
Times of London, "People say I'm a genius but I
don't know about that."
Like many postwar bluesmen, Hooker got
cheated by one fly-by-night record producer
after another, who demanded exclusivity or
didn't pay. Hooker fought back by recording
with rival producers under a slew of different
names: Texas Slim, John Lee Booker, John Lee
Cocker, Delta John, Birmingham Sam and the
Boogie Man, among others.
Hooker's popularity grew steadily as he rode the
wave of rock in the '50s into the folk boom of
the '60s. In 1980, he played a street musician in
"The Blues Brothers" movie. In 1985, his songs were used in Steven Spielberg's
film, "The Color Purple."
Hooker hit it big again in 1990 with his album "The Healer," featuring duets with
Carlos Santana, Raitt and Robert Cray. It sold 1.5 million copies and won him
his first Grammy Award, for a duet with Raitt on "I'm in the Mood."
Several more albums followed, including one recorded to celebrate his 75th
birthday, titled "Chill Out."
Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1917, Hooker was one of 11 children born to
a Baptist minister and sharecropper who discouraged his son's musical bent.
His stepfather taught him to play guitar. By the time Hooker was a teen-ager, he
was performing at local fish fries, dances and other occasions.
Hooker hit the road to perform by the age of 14. He worked odd jobs by day
and played small bars at night in Memphis, Tennessee, then Cincinnati and
finally Detroit in 1943.
In Detroit, he was discovered and recorded his first hit, "Boogie Chillen," in
1948.
"I don't know what a genius is," he told the London newspaper. "I know there
ain't no one ever sound like me, except maybe my stepfather. You hear all the
kids trying to play like B.B. (King), and they ain't going to because, ooh, he's
such a fine player and a very great man. But you never hear them even try and
sound like John Lee Hooker."
"All these years, I ain't done nothin' different," he added. "I been doing the same
things as in my younger days, when I was coming up, and now here I am, an
old man, up there in the charts. And I say, well, what happened? Have they just
thought up the real John Lee Hooker, is that it? And I think, well, I won't tell
nobody else! I can't help but wonder what happened."
In his later years, Hooker laid back and enjoyed his success. He recorded only
occasionally; he posed for blue jeans and hard liquor ads. He played benefits
from time to time, but mostly performed in small clubs, dropping in
unannounced.
Mostly, though, he hung out with friends and family at his homes in Los Altos
and Long Beach, watching baseball and enjoying a fleet of expensive cars.
Nicht nur ein fantastischer Musiker, auch ein toller Mensch.
Ein trauriger Hans-Udo
Unter anderem traten (unbekannten)die Rolling Stones 1961 als Vorband 1961 für ihn auf...
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) --
Veteran bluesman John Lee Hooker,
whose foot stompin' and gravelly
voice on songs like "Boom Boom"
and "Boogie Chillen" electrified
audiences and inspired generations of
musicians, died Thursday. He was 83.
Hooker died of natural causes as he slept
at his home in Los Altos, south of San
Francisco, said his agent, Mike Kappus.
The veteran blues singer from the
Mississippi Delta estimated he recorded
more than 100 albums over nearly seven
decades. He won a Grammy Award for
a version of "I'm In The Mood," and
was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame in 1991.
Through it all, Hooker's music remained
hypnotic and unchanged -- his rich and
sonorous voice, full of ancient hurt,
coupled with a brooding, rhythmic
guitar. He sang of loneliness and confusion. Neither polished nor urbane, his
music was raw, primal emotion.
His distinctive sound influenced rock 'n' rollers
as well as rhythm and blues musicians.
Among those whose music drew heavily on
Hooker's style are Van Morrison, the Rolling
Stones, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie
Raitt and ZZ Top. In 1961, the then-unknown
Rolling Stones opened for him on a European
tour; he also shared a bill that year with Bob
Dylan at a club in New York.
Even in the '90s, when his fame was sealed and
he was widely recognized as one of the
grandfathers of pop music, Hooker remained a
little in awe of his own success, telling The
Times of London, "People say I'm a genius but I
don't know about that."
Like many postwar bluesmen, Hooker got
cheated by one fly-by-night record producer
after another, who demanded exclusivity or
didn't pay. Hooker fought back by recording
with rival producers under a slew of different
names: Texas Slim, John Lee Booker, John Lee
Cocker, Delta John, Birmingham Sam and the
Boogie Man, among others.
Hooker's popularity grew steadily as he rode the
wave of rock in the '50s into the folk boom of
the '60s. In 1980, he played a street musician in
"The Blues Brothers" movie. In 1985, his songs were used in Steven Spielberg's
film, "The Color Purple."
Hooker hit it big again in 1990 with his album "The Healer," featuring duets with
Carlos Santana, Raitt and Robert Cray. It sold 1.5 million copies and won him
his first Grammy Award, for a duet with Raitt on "I'm in the Mood."
Several more albums followed, including one recorded to celebrate his 75th
birthday, titled "Chill Out."
Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1917, Hooker was one of 11 children born to
a Baptist minister and sharecropper who discouraged his son's musical bent.
His stepfather taught him to play guitar. By the time Hooker was a teen-ager, he
was performing at local fish fries, dances and other occasions.
Hooker hit the road to perform by the age of 14. He worked odd jobs by day
and played small bars at night in Memphis, Tennessee, then Cincinnati and
finally Detroit in 1943.
In Detroit, he was discovered and recorded his first hit, "Boogie Chillen," in
1948.
"I don't know what a genius is," he told the London newspaper. "I know there
ain't no one ever sound like me, except maybe my stepfather. You hear all the
kids trying to play like B.B. (King), and they ain't going to because, ooh, he's
such a fine player and a very great man. But you never hear them even try and
sound like John Lee Hooker."
"All these years, I ain't done nothin' different," he added. "I been doing the same
things as in my younger days, when I was coming up, and now here I am, an
old man, up there in the charts. And I say, well, what happened? Have they just
thought up the real John Lee Hooker, is that it? And I think, well, I won't tell
nobody else! I can't help but wonder what happened."
In his later years, Hooker laid back and enjoyed his success. He recorded only
occasionally; he posed for blue jeans and hard liquor ads. He played benefits
from time to time, but mostly performed in small clubs, dropping in
unannounced.
Mostly, though, he hung out with friends and family at his homes in Los Altos
and Long Beach, watching baseball and enjoying a fleet of expensive cars.
