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- Date Released: January 1, 1981
- Genre: Blues
- Style: Chicago Blues, Traditional Blues, Delta Blues, Jazz/Blues
- Label: Jewel-Paula Records
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We Say...
Mississippi-born and Chicago-bred bluesman Earl Hooker is largely unknown to the public, in large measure because he succumbed to tuberculosis in 1970 at the age of 41, just as the blues boom was peaking. Other guitarists knew him very well, though: Muddy Waters hired him to play slide, Jimi Hendrix considered him the master of the wah-wah pedal and B.B. King called him the best guitar player he ever heard.
Born in Clarksdale, MS — also home to Muddy Waters and Hooker's first cousin, John Lee Hooker — Earl made his bones in Chicago, where his slide playing was an enormous influence on Buddy Guy. But although he cut several sides for Chess, including the classic instrumental "Tanya," Hooker spent most of his career bouncing from label to label, rarely able to stretch out and make albums. Part of the reason was Hooker's inability to sing, and some of the tracks collected on Blue Guitar, such as Lillian Offtitt's "Will My Man Be Home Tonight," were actually sideman dates. He was also a steady-touring artist, constantly hitting clubs with his band the Roadmasters, which left him to pick up recording dates in studios around the country.
It's impossible to say what Hooker would be up to musically if he hadn't passed away so young, but his mastery of slide technique never limited him, and Blue Guitar, with its broad range of material, demonstrates the affinity he felt and mastery he achieved in such diverse forms as jazz and country & western. Yet it's the title track, with its late-night, gut-bucket ambiance, that stands as Hooker's epitaph: bluesman par excellence. -
They Say...
The slide guitar wizard's immaculate fretwork was never captured more imaginatively than during his early-'60s stay with Mel London's Age/Chief labels. 21 fascinating tracks from that period include Hooker's savage instrumentals "Blue Guitar," "Off the Hook," "The Leading Brand," "Blues in D Natural," and "How Long Can This Go On," along with tracks by A.C. Reed, Lillian Offitt, and Harold Tidwell that cast Hooker as a standout sideman.
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| 01. |  |
Will My Man Be Home Tonight (Vocal by Lillian Offitt) |
2:38 |
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| 02. | |
Oh Mama (Vocal by Lillian Offitt) |
2:47 |
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| 03. | |
Calling All Blues |
2:34 |
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| 04. | |
Swear To Tell The Truth (Vocal by Harold Tidwell) |
2:34 |
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| 05. | |
Galloping Horses A Lazy Mule |
2:34 |
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| 06. | |
Blues In D Natural |
2:13 |
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| 07. | |
Universal Rock |
2:32 |
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| 08. | |
Apache War Dance |
2:18 |
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| 09. | |
Rocking With The Kid |
2:08 |
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| 10. | |
Rockin' Wild |
2:07 |
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| 11. | |
This Little Voice (Vocals by A.C. Reed) |
2:21 |
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| 12. | |
Blue Guitar |
2:41 |
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| 13. | |
How Long Can This Go On |
2:13 |
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| 14. | |
These Cotton Pickin' Blues |
2:46 |
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| 15. | |
That Man |
2:32 |
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| 16. | |
Win The Dance |
2:04 |
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| 17. | |
Crying Blues |
2:00 |
|
| 18. | |
The Bright Sound |
2:15 |
|
| 19. | |
Off The Hook |
1:42 |
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| 20. | |
Lotta Lovin' (Vocals by A.C. Reed) |
2:48 |
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| 21. | |
The Leading Brand |
2:34 |
|
21 Total Tracks, 50:21 Total Length
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Credits
- Earl Hooker - Guitar // Earl Hooker - Main Performer // A.C. Reed - Vocals // A.C. Reed - Vocals // A.C. Reed - Performer // A.C. Reed - Performer // Lillian Offitt - Vocals // Lillian Offitt - Performer // Harold Tidwell - Vocals // Harold Tidwell - Performer
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