John Lee Hooker

John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often incorporated other elements, including talking blues and early North Mississippi Hill country blues. He developed his own driving-rhythm boogie style, distinct from the 1930s–1940s piano-derived boogie-woogie.

Some of his best known songs include "Boogie Chillen'" (1948), "Crawling King Snake" (1949), "Dimples" (1956), "Boom Boom" (1962), and "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" (1966). Several of his later albums, including The Healer (1989), Mr. Lucky (1991), Chill Out (1995), and Don't Look Back (1997), were album chart successes in the U.S. and U.K. The Healer (for the song "I'm In The Mood") and Chill Out (for the album) both earned him Grammy wins as well as Don't Look Back, which went on to earn him a double-Grammy win for Best Traditional Blues Recording and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals (with Van Morrison).

Links to Peel
Peel often played Hooker's music on his shows. In 1992, Peel played John Lee Hooker’s 1960 single, No Shoes, which he was enjoying as part of a 6-CD Hooker retrospective from Charly R&B called The Vee-Jay Years 1955-1964, which Peel regarded as his best period. Before playing No Shoes on his 29 May 1992 show he said:

"'You can fill  stadiums with all the equipment you can get and all of the dancing folk and backing singers and whatever you like, and you’re still not going to get anything that sounds as good as this.'"

In 1999, he nominated No Shoes as one of his Peelenium tracks for 1960 on his show.

Shows Played

 * 1969
 * 1973
 * 1979
 * 1980
 * 1981
 * 1986
 * 1987
 * 1988
 * 1989
 * 1990
 * 1991
 * 1992
 * 1994
 * 1995
 * 1996
 * 1999
 * 2001
 * 2002
 * 2003
 * 1991
 * 1992
 * 1994
 * 1995
 * 1996
 * 1999
 * 2001
 * 2002
 * 2003
 * 1996
 * 1999
 * 2001
 * 2002
 * 2003
 * 2002
 * 2003
 * 2003
 * 2003