The Real Folk Blues / More Real Folk Blues: John Lee Hooker

iTunes Review

Chess issued John Lee Hooker’s original Real Folk Blues LP in 1966, and its sequel didn’t arrive until 1991, but both albums came from the same marathon session, the entirety of which is contained within this double reissue. Hooker plays with a full band that includes Lafayette Leake on keyboards and Eddie Burns on second guitar. It was a bold move for Chess to aim an album at the mostly white country blues revivalists that made absolutely no concessions to the prevailing edicts of that crowd. Hooker handles the material like it was another Saturday night at the Ebony Lounge. As is always the case with his albums, this particular set of players brings out a different aspect of Hooker’s personality. The playing is leather tough, but “Let’s Go Out Tonight,” “Mustang Sally & GTO,” and “You Know, I Know” are among the most amiable performances Hooker ever recorded. Balancing things out is the cloaked, whispered ruminations of “Nobody Knows” and “The Waterfront,” the second of which is one of the most unusual and poignant blues songs you’ll ever hear.