ARCHIVE
JOHN LEE HOOKER
Burnin’ (reissue, 1962) CRAFTRECORDINGS 10/10
Sixtieth anniversary of a blues landmark.
By Stephen Deusner
Have the blues, will travel: Hooker circa 1962
FANTASY RECORDS ARCHIVES
JOHN LEE HOOKER wrote his biggest hit because he just couldn’t get to work on time. After scoring a residency at the Apex Bar in Detroit in the early 1940s, he developed a habit of showing up well after his first set was supposed to begin, and the bartender – awoman named either Willow or Willa – would regularly cock her finger like a gun, point at him, and scold the bluesman: “Boom boom, you’re late again.” Eventually he realised there might be a song in that rhythmic declaration, and Hooker began playing around with a start-stop composition. Always behind schedule, he didn’t actually record it until nearly 20 years later, but “Boom Boom” became one of his biggest hits and arguably his most enduring composition.