John Lee Hooker

Hooker

Shout Factory

originally published December 13, 2006

If you didn’t come to boogie, you most likely won’t be stopping here, because Hooker, the first stateside box to chronologically cover blues-guitar kingpin John Lee Hooker’s entire career, has nothing but the low-down, hard-earned boogie blues in mind. Collecting tracks from the archives of no less than a dozen labels, the extensive anthology Hooker chronicles how constant and unrelenting a force Hooker became in and outside of the blues world, as well as how some fine tweaking often resulted in “Mr. Boom Boom” recycling the same song with different fittings in mind.

The set starts off highlighting Hooker’s early days on the Modern and King Records imprints. Appropriately enough, his first hit “Boogie Chillen” kicks things off and serves as a brief preview of things to come. Hooker never did much to augment his spare-chorded, trancelike boogie, apparently figuring that it fulfilled its purpose on the first few tries, so why bother changing? It’s tough to argue with such reasoning, as several versions of the bottom-heavy, one-chord lick turn up in more selections than not, each time sounding as alive and potentially threatening as the first. Years later, as Hooker’s career was winding down, the quintessential boogie lick would again be brought to prominence by fellow Mississippi bluesmen like T. Model Ford and Junior Kimbrough.

The second and third discs collect both Hooker catalog staples like “Dimples” and “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” as well as such lesser known tracks, like the politically-charged “Democrat Man” on which Hooker laments, “I’ll get shoes / And I’ll get clothes/ When the Democrats get back in again.” Three tracks from Hooker’s successful pairing with ‘60s blues revivalist act Canned Heat are also present, as are a few that see British blues act The Groundhogs serving as The Hook’s backing band. On the slide-heavy “Burnin’ Hell,” Hooker and Heat get so much in the groove it's easy to imagine an amp or two succumbing to the harp-driven power they put out.

The fourth disc compiles duets from the latter half of Hooker’s career, including pairings with Bonnie Raitt, Ry Cooder, John Hammond and Eric Clapton. His mournful “I Cover the Waterfront” track with Van Morrison is a notable highlight, as is “Mean Mean World” with Hooker’s daughter Zakiya behind the mic.

Hooker also includes a 60-page book with extensive notes by journalist Ted Drozdowski alongside a wealth of rarely seen photos of The Hook in action. It’s good reading material to browse through while getting schooled in the fundamentals of lifelong badassery. Not much more can be said about the box than this: If you like from-the-gut, tough-ass blues, you’ll welcome Hooker's contents most anytime. On the other hand, if them blues ain’t your bag, best just keep on driving.

Karen Dalton

In My Own Time

Light In the Attic

originally published December 13, 2006

When Karen Dalton released In My Own Time in 1971, it looked as if the folky Cherokee songstress might soon be on par with more prominent artists like Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez. Unfortunately, bad luck and a series of personal setbacks confined Dalton’s status to being one of the folk era’s most influential also-rans. Long out of print, Dalton’s second and final album nonetheless serves as a poignant reminder of her unique brand of talent.

With a twangy voice as weathered, worn and frosty as the hard Oklahoma ground from which Dalton came, it’s pretty amazing how much warmth and tenderness the same set of pipes can also convey. Wholly an album of others' material, In My Own Time sees Dalton convey Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves A Woman” from the feminine perspective, find temporary solace in George Jones’ “Take Me” and render The Band’s Big Pink ballad “In a Station” even more forlorn.

The deluxe reissue, packaged in an earth-tone heavy-stock sleeve, also contains informative liner notes courtesy of Rolling Stone scribe Lenny Kaye that document Dalton’s travels, earthy spiritual leanings and ultimately tragic personal life. Eventual country music star Lacy J. Dalton (“Takin’ It Easy”) learned the ropes and adopted her surname from Karen Dalton; Bob Dylan has professed an admiration for her work; Nick Cave and Devendra Banhart offer accolades in the liner notes; and now the chilly-but-comforting swan song In My Own Time gets a welcome new coat of varnish for the digital era.

Nickel Creek

Reasons Why (The Very Best)

Sugar Hill

originally published December 13, 2006

The trio of former child prodigies in Nickel Creek, as the liner notes of this “best of” package point out, were often considered by purists to be “the lost sheep of bluegrass.” Though Chris Thile, Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins started out playing unadulterated Appalachian bluegrass, Reasons Why makes a sound argument that such music eventually became only a minor component of the band’s whole persona.

A one-disc, one-DVD package, the set compiles tracks from the group’s three studio albums, as well as live performances and a separate DVD of videos. The band's yen for chopping, stomping bluegrass does run deep, though, as the undercurrent flows through several tracks like “The Fox,” which also tosses rapid-fire fragments of Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” into the mix.

However, the collection makes a better case for Nickel Creek’s ability to pen studious, very structured pop-country and adult contemporary songs that never really got a confident push from mainstream radio. With Sean Watkins and Thile recently concentrating on solo careers, the future of the band is uncertain, but Reasons Why nonetheless summarizes a trio whose sound evolved far beyond its initially narrow parameters and whose members built an allegiant grassroots following from the ground up.