This is a great vinyl upgrade of a John Lee Hooker concert.
John Lee Hooker – Alone: Live At Hunter College 1976 – BMG [6/23/2023] 180-gram stereo double vinyl, 82:44 ****1/2:
(John Lee Hooker – guitar, vocals)
There is always something special about a singer/songwriter performing solo. The intimate surroundings help to create a bond with the audience. In the case of blues artists, this dynamic is very evident. When you get a live set from an iconic artist like John Lee Hooker, it feels more consequential. BMG, who acquired the rights to Hooker’s music in 2022 has released a 180-gram double vinyl live performance of the “Boogie King”. John Lee Hooker – Alone: Live At Hunter College 1976 (previously available as a Volume 1 and Volume 2 separately, now combined) is a 17-song set (all original compositions) that includes several well-known hits. Accompanying himself on electric guitar, Hooker immediately grabs the crowd on “I Miss You So” with his Delta-inspired guitar chords. His rumbling baritone expresses deep heartache. On “Jesse James”, Hooker invites the audience to “dig” the lyrics and offers a slow talking-blues jam. In this tough narrative, he is explicitly threatening the man who is stealing his wife. He captures the world of blues in a call and response between guitar and vocals. He maintains his romantic dissolution on “Dark Room”. The lyrics are direct and simple, but there is subdued anger. His guitar riffs are poignant and cut like a knife.This is Hooker’s unique brand of the blues with gut-wrenching realism. After a visceral slow guitar intro, “I’ll Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive” is infused with Delta flavor and Hooker sings in perfect unison with his instrument, wailing about “drinkin’ black coffee and smoking cigarettes all night long”. He has an ability to create intense and hushed moments within a song.
Side 2 picks up the pace considerably on the signature classic, “Boogie Chillun’”. With adroit finger picking and slide-like chords, Hooker embraces the passionate joy of being a genuine blues man. Again, the grooves are hypnotic. “When My First Wife Left Me” reflects on marital stress and its consequences (“drinkin’ my life away”). He turns desolation into poetic storytelling exchanging voice and guitar seamlessly. Then Hooker turns up the heat as he slides into the tongue-in-cheek nasty blues anthem, “Boom Boom”. His vocals are “down ’n’ dirty” and his guitar playing is ferocious with hooks galore. There have been many covers of this song, but none can match the intermittently growling and whispering articulation. The set concludes with the eternal sing-a-long classic, “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer”. The crowd was waiting for this one and responds accordingly.
Sides 3 and 4 comprise a second performance. It kicks off with an up tempo “boogie’ shuffle (“Feel Good”). Lines like ”put your hand on your hip, let your backbone slip” is musical lexicon and a template for future performers. The casual aesthetics of live music permeate the quiet spoken delivery on “Some People”. Many versions of “Baby, Please Don’t Go” have freewheeling high-octane arrangements. This one is more Delta-inspired stream-of-consciousness framed by sensual vocals and crisp guitar accents. Injecting some homespun imagery, “Mama Killed a Chicken” is light-hearted and innately rhythmic. This blues travelogue continues with “Hobo”, a reminder of unsettled wandering. Hooker decides that in the future he will “have my baby at my side”. “Tired Of Being Your Doggie” reconvenes the the hopelessness of romance, but with a hint of resignation (“I’ll get by somehow”). He gets the audience fired up on the gospel-inflected “All Night Long”. The final tune (“Crawlin’ King Snake”) features bolder guitar licks and a distant harmonica.
This re-mixed vinyl of John Lee Hooker – Alone: Live at Hunter College is excellent. The raw intimacy of a live concert is palpable. Most of the crowd noise has been removed. Hooker’s powerful voice is centered in the mix and is clear and resonates. It is easy to see why this artist had a significant impact on late 20th-Century music.
—Robbie Gerson
John Lee Hooker – Alone: Live At Hunter College 1976
TrackList:
Side 1:
I Miss You So; Jesse James; Dark Room; I’ll Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive
Side 2:
Boogie Chillun; When My First Wife Left Me; Boom Boon; One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
Side 3:
Feel Good; Some People; T.B.; Baby, Please Don’t Go
Side 4:
Mama Killed A Chicken; Hobo; Tired Of Being Your Doggie; All Night Long; Crawlin’ King Snake
More information through Acoustic Sounds
