Lightnin' Hopkins
Lightnin’ Hopkins. 1966. A Sixties compilation on the cheapo Saga label, cashing in on the post-Rolling Stones Blues Boom in the UK. People like Lightnin’ were struggling before skinny British white kids ‘discovered’ their music. All through the Sixties black Blues musicians (most of them in their 40s or older) suddenly found themselves revered as Gods in Europe, touring, staying in top hotels, appearing on TV, getting paid proper money for the first time ever. Unlike in the good ol’ US of A…
Lightnin’ Hopkins was a country blues guitarist, usually playing solo on his guitar, developing lead and rhythm riffs and licks with a talking-blues style vocal over the top. Raw and earthy. His voice is folkie and deep and slurred. Images of sittin’ on the porch spring to mind. This album is from the Sixties and is more Rhythm & Blues, with two amazing musicians backing him. Earl Palmer basically invented Rock n Roll drums, playing on Little Richard’s ‘Tutti Frutti’ and Fats Domino’s ‘The Fat Man’ amongst other sacred texts. Jimmy Bond, the bassist, played with everyone from Charlie Parker to Frank Zappa. These cats could jam with anyone. So, what you get here is Lightnin’s guitar picking and strumming and singing locked in with a rhythm section that keeps the whole thing tight but loose. The rambling-ness of solo Hopkins is sympathetically reined in. On up-tempo tunes like ‘Goin’ to Louisiana’ the bass and drums shuffle and bounce, letting Lightnin’ fly loose on his guitar. Slower blues like ‘Cryin’ the Blues’ is smooth flow. You can feel the bass and drums following Hopkins, letting his voice roll over the top. Sho’ nuff…
Lightnin' Hopkins
Lightnin’ Hopkins. 1966. A Sixties compilation on the cheapo Saga label, cashing in on the post-Rolling Stones Blues Boom in the UK. People like Lightnin’ were struggling before skinny British white kids ‘discovered’ their music. All through the Sixties black Blues musicians (most of them in their 40s or older) suddenly found themselves revered as Gods in Europe, touring, staying in top hotels, appearing on TV, getting paid proper money for the first time ever. Unlike in the good ol’ US of A…
Lightnin’ Hopkins was a country blues guitarist, usually playing solo on his guitar, developing lead and rhythm riffs and licks with a talking-blues style vocal over the top. Raw and earthy. His voice is folkie and deep and slurred. Images of sittin’ on the porch spring to mind. This album is from the Sixties and is more Rhythm & Blues, with two amazing musicians backing him. Earl Palmer basically invented Rock n Roll drums, playing on Little Richard’s ‘Tutti Frutti’ and Fats Domino’s ‘The Fat Man’ amongst other sacred texts. Jimmy Bond, the bassist, played with everyone from Charlie Parker to Frank Zappa. These cats could jam with anyone. So, what you get here is Lightnin’s guitar picking and strumming and singing locked in with a rhythm section that keeps the whole thing tight but loose. The rambling-ness of solo Hopkins is sympathetically reined in. On up-tempo tunes like ‘Goin’ to Louisiana’ the bass and drums shuffle and bounce, letting Lightnin’ fly loose on his guitar. Slower blues like ‘Cryin’ the Blues’ is smooth flow. You can feel the bass and drums following Hopkins, letting his voice roll over the top. Sho’ nuff…