John Lee Hooker was born the son of a sharecropper around 1917 in Mississippi. He came from a musical family, and his cousin was Earl Hooker. Hooker was employed as a janitor in Detroit when his recording career began in 1948. Modern Records, which was based in Los Angeles, released a demo he had recorded and his single Boogie Chillen became a fast hit and one of the top selling records of 1949. He was a talented lyricist despite not knowing how to read. Since black musicians did not make much money on songwriting, he would charge record companies upfront fees and provide variations of the same song under different names. For example, he recorded as John Lee Booker for Chess Records and Johnny Lee for De Luxe Records. By the 1960s, John Lee Hooker had garnered great exposure and toured Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival. His song Dimples became a huge hit in Europe in 1964, which was eight years after its initial release in the United States. Hooker ended up collaborating with many rock musicians including Van Morrison, Steve Miller, Canned Heat, and Carlos Santana. John Lee Hooker passed away in 2001 at the age of 83 and was survived by eight children and 19 grandchildren. We recommend starting your John Lee Hooker vinyl LP collection with the essential House of the Blues and Never Get out of these Blues Alive. Our inventory is constantly changing, so check back often, or browse our list of vinyl from blues musicians.
