John Lee Hooker: Come and see about me
19 May 2006Must see DVD containing some great performances by John Lee Hooker.
- Baby Please Don’t Go – 1992 – with Van Morrison
- Maudie – 1960 (1965 Newport jazz festival)
- Hobo Blues – 1965 (American folk blues festival)
- It Serves Me Right To Suffer – 1969
- Crawlin’ Kingsnake – 1978 – with Foghat
- The Boogie – 1980
- Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive – 1981
- Worried Life Blues – 1981
- Too Many Women – 1984
- Boom Boom – 1984
- I’m Bad Like Jesse James – 1986
- I’m In the Mood – 1990 – with Bonnie Raitt
- Bottle Up And Go – 1991 – with John Hammond
- Tupelo Blues – 1993
- Hobo Blues – 1990 – with Ry Cooder
- The Healer – 1990 – with Carlos Santana
- Boogie Chillen’ – 1989 – with Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones
- I Need Love So Bad – 1994
The back cover promises “complete archival performances of [John Lee Hooker's] most popular songs,” all courtesy of the Hooker estate. That’s good news for anyone used to music programs containing only frustratingly brief clips of their subjects at work, and it’s exactly what Come and See About Me delivers–in spades–in this superb, two-hour compilation featuring the late bluesman in live performance by himself, with various bands, and in collaborations with a host of famous partners. Hooker’s blues was a dark, menacing, sexy sound, and some of the best moments here come when he is playing solo, with only his guitar, his stomping foot, and what guitarist Ry Cooder (who joins him for “Hobo Blues”) calls his “deep, well-like” voice accompanying songs like “It Serves Me Right to Suffer” (from 1969) and “Bad Like Jesse James” (1986). But the collaborations are swell too, including those with Van Morrison, Cooder, Bonnie Raitt, John Hammond, and the Rolling Stones (“Boogie Chillen’” comes from the Stones’ Steel Wheels tour, with Eric Clapton on hand as well); there’s even an appearance with Brit blues rockers Foghat from 1978, with the great Paul Butterfield adding harmonica. The bonus features (a couple of interviews, discography, another “Boogie Chillen’” take) aren’t much, but little matter–for blues fans, this is the motherlode. –Sam Graham
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