Volume CXXXIII, Number 16 February 15, 2002 f

Hooker appeals to wide crowd
CONOR WILLIAMS
STAFF WRITER

Born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, John Lee Hooker collaborated with Carlos Santana, Bonnie Rait, and Charlie Musselwhite on his new album The Healer. (photorazzi.com)

"When Adam and Eve first saw each other, that's when the blues started…No matter what anybody says, it all comes down to the same thing: a man and a woman, a broken heart, and a broken home-you know what I mean?"-John Lee Hooker, Liner Notes from The Healer

As far as the blues is concerned, 'The Hook' was one of the world's foremost authorities. He was an active participant in the Chicago, national, and international blues scenes until his death last June, pioneering new, eclectic styles that departed from the traditional 12-bar structure. Hooker often remains in a single chord throughout a piece, making simple adjustments to keep it interesting. This is an understatement, however; he is innovative, challenging, and unique in his music.

The Healer is a compilation CD, putting together many of Hooker's greatest compilations and classics. It includes work with Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Charlie Musselwhite, and many other notable modern bluesmen. After kicking off with the title track, a classy world-blues tune with Santana, Hooker moves through the gamut of his abilities. Showcasing his depth and versatility, he draws from his Clarkesdale, Mississippi roots, as well as his Memphis and Detroit influences, alternately blending and asserting himself with the background. He mixes well with Raitt on a sensual duet, but has plenty of energy for Musselwhite's rockaboogie harmonica.

Raw and unaltered, this is music from a grittier era, where image really was nothing, where "iced out wrists," body tattoos, and barely-there body suits were unnecessary to showcase style. He is a man of devotion, of singular love, committed for quality, not quantity, where women are concerned. Still, Hooker is a man's man, a tough guy with a deep yet throaty voice whose passions are unashamedly presentable to the world. A throwback from an overlooked element of an era in American history, he is strong by virtue of the pain he acknowledges.

So, as a less-than-lucky romantic with Valentine's Day coming, I decided to sit down for a little "healing" session. With sun streaming through the late morning window, I lay back as the music stretched through the lonely room. "Blues is the healer/It healed me, it can heal you…" sings Hooker. And later, in "Rockin' Chair," "I ain't gonna be…yo fool no more/I'm so tired, so tired baby, bein' yo slave night and day/Sittin' here rockin', rockin', rockin', tryin' to rock these blues away."

As I study the ceiling and focus on the lyrics, Hooker softly mumbles out his hurt. He is strong in his despair, but not angry. She's gone, it hurts, enough said. She's giving me the blues, but "that's alright, baby/I know you done me wrong, baby/but that's alright." His greatness is here; when wounded, he simply walks away, moving on, carrying his blues. Wisdom comes with age, with experience, and Hooker gives an aura of sagacity very few musicians can claim. Nothing fancy, he is simply honest with his feelings, blunt about his losses.

The Healer is musically interesting and therapeutically powerful. John Lee Hooker is a huge figure American in music, influencing Santana, the Rolling Stones, Foghat, and nearly all blues artists of the last half-century. An inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Hooker does his legacy justice here, powerfully asserting himself in spite of the dual nature of most of the album.

"My songs are like poetry. Some are pretty heavy-so heavy I can hardly carry them…Sometimes on stage, when I'm singing them, it gets so sad and deep and beautiful, I have to wear dark glasses to keep the people from seeing me crying. I'm not kidding. The tears just start running. With the words that I'm saying and the way I sing them, sometimes I give my own self the blues."