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John Lee Hooker - The Best of Friends Audio CD

A fair review of the John Lee Hooker "The Best of Friends" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all John Lee Hooker reviews here, or go back to the John Lee Hooker tabs.

John Lee Hooker Band: John Lee Hooker
Title: The Best of Friends
Rating:
Release Date: 1998-10-20
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Boogie Chillen' 2: This Is Hip 3: Healer 4: I Cover the Waterfront 5: Boom Boom 6: I'm in the Mood 7: Burning Hell 8: Tupelo 9: Baby Lee 10: Dimples 11: Chill Out (Things Gonna Change) 12: Big Legs, Tight Skirt 13: Don't Look Back

RICK SHAQ GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE... WELL YOU KNOW THE REST!"
If I was John Lee, I certainly would have wanted something a lot stronger, and wilder, to be my swan song. Though Hooker is a legend, someone with a little more time, could have certainly put together, something better than this. One song in particular makes me want to use some magical power to get it off the CD, and that's "Tupelo". Being forced to listen to that, is like listening to your 6th grade teacher sloooowwwllly scratch her nails on a blackboard. If your image of Hooker, is him, playing a song, in the original "Blues Brother's" movie, stomping his feet in the street, shaking up, the entire city of Chicago, then don't get this CD, because it will ruin your memories of him!.


Great Listening
I enjoyed from beginning to the end. For anyone who likes Jazz and Blues, what a wonderful CD.


music
This is another old school guy's cd that's got to be had by any true blues fan.


***1/2. Polished latter-day Hooker
"

It sounds a bit like the point of view of an old blues purist, perhaps, but one with a lot of truth to it. Author Stephen Thomas Erlewine once said something like this about "The Best Of Friends":
"This is for people who like to think they like Hooker, but really just want to hear Eric Clapton wail away. Many people who aren't attracted to John Lee Hooker's raw, gritty 40s, 50s and 60s recordings will certainly find these guest star-heavy re-recordings much more accessible, and who knows. . . maybe some of those who got to know John Lee Hooker when he suddenly popped up on MTV at age 73 can use this music as a "gateway" to the REAL blues.

This is a compilation of songs from the Hook's last five guest star-heavy albums (plus a couple of previously unreleased recordings). There is really nothing here to match Hooker's magnificent VeeJay-recordings, his best ever band backed material, but this is certainly not bad music. . . with the possible exception of two stylistically challenged numbers, "Chill Out" and "The Healer".
Van Morrison appears on two numbers, "I Cover The Waterfront", and a slow, soulful "Don't Look Back", playing guitar and singing a verse or two, and his contributions are really the only ones which add something new to the songs.
Eric Clapton plays relatively restrained guitar on a pretty good "Boogie Chillen", and "This Is Hip" and "Dimples" get a nice swaggering groove going, although neither of them come anywhere close to surpassing the original recordings.

"Burnin' Hell" is marred by the monotonous guitar playing of Ben Harper, and "Baby Lee" and "I'm In The Mood" are too slick, but "Tupelo" is classic John Lee Hooker, just the Hook himself and his guitar and a piece of plywood to stomp on! And "Big Legs, Tight Skirt" is really good as well, although not as good as Hooker's definitive rendition which he cut for VeeJay in the mid-50s.
Again, this is a pretty good album, especially for "casual" blues listeners, but it does fall a little flat when compared to the gritty and powerful waxings Hooker made when he was in his prime.


Super CD
You will not go wrong with this cd. Absolutely a gem no doubt about it.


You can see a complete list of all John Lee Hooker discography, or go back to the John Lee Hooker tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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