Encyclopedia Of Detroit
Hooker, John Lee
Guitarist and singer John Lee Hooker launched his career while living in Detroit, but he was raised in the heart of blues country. Born near Clarksdale, Mississippi on August 22, 1917, his father, William, a sharecropper and part-time preacher, did not approve of his son’s interest in blues music. When his parents separated, Hooker chose to live with his mother and stepfather, Will Moore, a Southern rural blues musician and sharecropper who greatly influenced his rhythmic style.
Hooker left home at 14 years old to find work during the Great Depression, and began blending his rural blues background with the urban blues he discovered in different cities. After spending time in Memphis and Cincinnati, Hooker came to Detroit in 1943. Jobs were plentiful in the Arsenal of Democracy and he found work as a janitor in an auto factory.
For several years he played at clubs and rent-parties, and in 1948 was offered a recording session by Bernie Besman, owner of Sensation Records. This first studio taping at United Sound saw the creation of the hit song “Boogie Chillen,” using the term “creation” deliberately; John was illiterate and came up with his music and lyrics in his head every time he played. His producer, Besman, remarked once that he “never sang the same song twice the same way.”
“Boogie Chillen” hit number one on the R&B charts in 1949, and placed Hooker on the musical map. Claims that one million copies were sold were disputed by Besman, who said a quarter of a million was closer to reality. The song was also recorded in 1959 as “Boogie Chillun.” Despite his loose and impromptu style, John was prolific, and recorded under several pseudonyms such as the Boogieman and Texas Slim. His discography, called “one of the most confusing in blues history” includes well over a dozen labels and hundreds of songs with classics like “Crawling King Snake” and the chart-topper “I’m In the Mood.” His recording and performing career continued into the 21st century.
The popularity he had gained from his work in Detroit carried Hooker through the next decades, and he moved to California by 1970. Earning fame on college campuses, and with rock performers who worshipped the blues, he worked with various bands, including the Animals, Canned Heat and Van Morrison. His appearance in the movie The Blues Brothers sealed his legendary status. John Lee Hooker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and “Boogie Chillun” and “Boom Boom” were included as two of the Hall’s 500 songs that shaped rock and roll. He won five Grammy Awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000, and in 2016 his recording “Boom Boom” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
John Lee Hooker died on June 21, 2001 in California, still involved in the music industry he entered while working at the auto plants of Detroit.
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