CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

The Definitive Collection

by: John Lee Hooker

Release Date May 23, 2006
I was pretty J L Hooker stupid when I bought this. I only bought it to have a copy of 'Boom Boom'. But this is pretty good stuff. The guy who is mainly into hard rock and heavy metal is finding this very good. There are a lot of good songs encompassing his career. If you are just beginning to delve into the blues, pick this up.

CD-Charts Position 2
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Hooker 'n Heat

by: John Lee Hooker w, Canned Heat

Release Date November 05, 1991
Simply 'the best' for the voodoo of truely great Harmonica boogie improvisation. Alan Wilsons [pre-suicide] respect and harmonica 'call & response' to John Lees creative outpourings are like nothing else before or since. What a session. This record is a highly influencial album in my life and stands as a great example of 'electric Harmonica' tone and technique. I would give my 'coolies' for Al's amplifier and wonderful style. Meanwhile The whole band sounds very excited and committed to honoring their session with the legendary boogieman. What more to say? The tunes are often long improvised 'jams', spread with 'solo' loose tunes with John Lee Hooker, his words, guitar and ever tapping foot. This historical recording is not everybodys 'cup of tea' but ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

It Serves You Right to Suffer

by: John Lee Hooker

Release Date July 27, 1999
This is a great John Lee Hooker and probably one of the best blues albums period. The sound quality on this album is top notch (this is not true with all John Lee Hooker material or blues in general). This also includes some of Hooker's best songs, including "It Serves You Right to Suffer" and "Sugar Mama".

The real deal of this album is that Hooker is trying to mainstream himself here. This is not from the classic Hooker period (but it is a classic album). This album came out in the 60's after the start of the British Invasion and this is Hooker's attempt to make a mainstream album for those who were into British Invasion groups. This becomes evident during Hooker's version of "Money". Typically the blues artists that tried to make a mainstream/ pop album lost ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
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The Best of John Lee Hooker 1965 - 1974

by: John Lee Hooker

Release Date March 24, 1992
This collection of John Lee Hooker's recording from 1965 to 1974 is intended to redeem an otherwise misguided period of his career. Like many other blues musicians, John Lee was rediscovered during the folk revival of the early 60s and hustled into the studio to cash in. Because John Lee was a post-war Delta bluesman, he wasn't solely an acoustic act. His boogie style was well served by an electric guitar and backing musicians.

If you listen to the full releases from this period, there are a lot of missteps and ill-conceived experiments. But John Lee's genius is too brilliant to hide. Some great tracks appear among the gaffes.

This collection was lovingly put together by someone who really knew John Lee's music, especially from this period. This CD ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

The Healer

by: John Lee Hooker

Release Date August 21, 2001
This is a decent JLH disc. Great music, which is no surprise. But then I got to the song 'My Dream.' Blew me away. Just something about this one that makes me want to get a good stiff drink and drift away for a bit.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

John Lee Hooker: The Ultimate Collection 1948-1990

by: John Lee Hooker

Release Date November 19, 1991
John Lee Hooker: The Ultimate Collection 1948-1990 is one of the best, if not the best anthologies of the blues master early work and some of his later work.

Hooker, who because of legal entanglements, recorded under a lot of different names (John Lee Cooker, etc...), is one of the alltime greats, able to evoke haunting tones and moods on some songs, while kicking off a rocking boogie vibe in others. Just about all of the blues standards that he is known for are on this collection - Boogie Children, Crawling Kingsnake Blues, House Rent Boogie, One Bourbor, One Scotch, Onr Beer, and many others.

If you want to get the best representation of his early era, and pickup his later comeback material elsewhere, this is a great way to get your fill of Johnny Lee.

CD-Charts Position 7
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Live At The Cafe Au Go-Go (And Soledad Prison)

by: John Lee Hooker

Release Date November 19, 1996
John lee seemed like he had the blues his hole life.Maybe he did maybe he didn't. He played the hole blues man thing to a T. He seemed like the coolest of all cats when he was up on stage. That's because he was. The people bought it hook line and sinker as they should.I have heard,lived and felt the blues since I was 8 yrs.old. I can totally relate to what he was doing and singing about back then and now.Hookers blues and boogie music is and will always be timeless. That to me is the conection I have with him.Pure blues, no nonsense music that hits you like a ton of bricks. This CD does just that and more.

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Endless Boogie

by: John Lee Hooker

Release Date December 10, 1991
This is a quality John Lee Hooker album. John Lee is one of my favorites, but hgis catalog is pretty mixed. Endless boogie is not just an album, but a phase John Lee went through that was my favorite period with the artist. This phase includes live albums like 'Live at Soldad prison and his work with Can Heat.

On this album the songs are great, their is a quality backing band (with Steve Miller on Guitar for most tracks), and excellent overall sound quality. This album reminds me a lot of another great JLH album 'Never get out of these blues alive' (buy it if you can find it.

This is a smoking boogie blues album. Buy it and enjoy.

CD-Charts Position 9
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Mr. Lucky

by: John Lee Hooker

Release Date June 29, 1992
First, I'm grateful that John Lee spent the final years of his life sharing his music with the world. I'm not even going to get into an argument about whether this is "pure" JLH in light of the guest musicians. I challenge anyone to listen to "This Is Hip," featuring Ry Cooder, and find fault. The same holds true for "Crawlin' Kingsnake," with Keith Richards and Canned Heat's Larry Taylor. When this album came out in 1991 it was a very welcome blast of John Lee, who STILL didn't care what they allowed...he boogied anyhow. He was still full of attitude and rocked harder than most musicians half his age.

CD-Charts Position 10
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The Very Best of John Lee Hooker

by: John Lee Hooker

Release Date April 25, 1995
Some of John Lee Hooker's best known songs are compiled from his many years and albums onto this budget CD, with not one being one you will skip over. From "Boogie Chillen'" to "Boom, Boom," they are all here. Even the songs which made others famous, such as "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer."

"I'm Bad Like Jesse James" is a favorite of mine, with this particular song showing his inimitable rambling style so strikingly, a style which over the years can be found less and less.

It should be noted that the version of "I'm in the mood" on this album is different than the Chess side he recorded with the Chess brothers (I actually prefer the more polished Chess side). But regardless, each song is representative of a different time in his life, as this legendary bluesman recorded over 100 ... Read More: