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Lightnin' Hopkins

The Magnificent Goldberg

By The Magnificent Goldberg
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BruceM Newbie

BruceM

Posted
Posted (edited)

I think the idea that Hopkins was just a rural/folk musician was concocted during the folk revival in the early sixties in order to sell records. Unfortunately, most of his recordings follow this trend and can tend to sound alike.

Charlie Musselwhite told a story of going to see Hopkins at a juke joint in the south during the sixties. He plugged his guitar in and proceeded to rip the place apart. Musselwhite said it was one of the most dynamic sets he ever saw.

The Rhino "Very Best of" compilation gives a pretty good overview of his career. If you want to have one CD I'd go for that.

Edited by BruceM
Joe Proficient

Joe

Posted
Posted

Electric Lightnin' -- Track down MOJO HAND and LIGHTNIN' AND THE BLUES

Acoustic Lightnin' -- I'm partial to LIGHTNIN' IN NEW YORK / the Candid date and the sides Sony recently anthologized on HELLO CENTRAL. I wouldn;t necessarily sleep on the Prestige recordings, either. My favorite of these sessions have been compiled on DOUBLE BLUES (I think they may also be available separately as well.) "I'm Going To Build Me A Heaven Of My Own" indeed.

Some of the late 60's / early 70's flirtations with the sounds of the counterculture are interesting -- like the session where Lightnin' is backed by members of The 13th Floor Elevators, FREE FORM PATTERNS, or a set of "previously unreleased" LA recordings Verve put out in the 90's (the title escapes me, sorry) -- but I would not consider them high priorities.

BillF Mentor

BillF

Posted
Posted

I saw Lightnin' Hopkins play during the British blues boom of the sixties. Love his "conversational" vocal style and eight-to-the-bar boogie-style guitar playing. Lovely guitar sound, too. One of my favorite blues artists (along with Jimmy Reed).

John L Community Regular

John L

Posted
Posted

Haven't got any Lightnin' Hopkins. Haven't heard any, as a matter of fact. Have a suspicion that the guy's just too rural to be of interest to me.

Talk to me.

MG

Well, pick up a Lightnin' Hopkins disc and decide for yourself. :) You owe it to yourself.

Lightnin' was very special. He had an exceptional voice for the blues, one of the very best, and a guitar style that went hand-in-glove with it. He is one of the handful of blues artists that everyone interested in the blues needs to come to grips with, one way or another.

Maybe pick up first some of the more raw electric stuff that he did in the mid-50s. It is the most urban of his output, and also some of the very best. The Herald recordings should do the trick. The Modern recordings would as well. Lightnin' was not rural, but he was very downhome in the sense of a Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, or John Lee Hooker.

marcello Newbie

marcello

Posted
Posted (edited)

The cat was from m-f'in Houston, a historically metropolitan port city with a large African-American population. How "rural" is that?

Jim's right.

There's a great story of Lightnin' Hopkins by Grover Lewis.

(Jim you may really dig this)

029270559X.jpg

His blues are a country comes to the big city type, but so was Muddy.

I'm a Crawling Black Snake and Good Morning Little Schoolgirl are bad boy blues. Powerful stuff!

Edited by marcello
paul secor Newbie

paul secor

Posted
Posted

Haven't got any Lightnin' Hopkins. Haven't heard any, as a matter of fact. Have a suspicion that the guy's just too rural to be of interest to me.

Talk to me.

MG

Well, pick up a Lightnin' Hopkins disc and decide for yourself. :) You owe it to yourself.

Lightnin' was very special. He had an exceptional voice for the blues, one of the very best, and a guitar style that went hand-in-glove with it. He is one of the handful of blues artists that everyone interested in the blues needs to come to grips with, one way or another.

Maybe pick up first some of the more raw electric stuff that he did in the mid-50s. It is the most urban of his output, and also some of the very best. The Herald recordings should do the trick. The Modern recordings would as well. Lightnin' was not rural, but he was very downhome in the sense of a Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, or John Lee Hooker.

John L's got it right. If you pick up Jake Head Boogie (Ace) - Modern recordings, The Herald Recordings Vol. 1 & 2 (Collectables), and perhaps an Arhoolie - maybe Lightnin' or Texas Blues - for later Lightnin', you'll have the foundation of a good Lightnin' Hopkins collection.

The Gold Star Sessions 1 & 2 (Arhoolie) or The Complete Aladdin Sessions (EMI) could substitute for the Ace/Modern volume, but Jake Head Boogie would be my personal choice.

The Herald material was issued on a great single CD, Remember Me, on the Ember label. Its o/p, but since it was a UK label, it might turn up there in a used store, or somewhere on the net. I don't have the Collectables issues, but given that label's rep for occasional sketchiness, you might try and go for the Ember, if it turns up.

Lightnin' recorded a lot, especially in later years - it's not an overstatement to say that he was over recorded - so I find it best to be very choosy with his later recordings.

Harold_Z Newbie

Harold_Z

Posted
Posted

With Lightnin' you can dive in anywhere. You'll know if you like him or not right away. my bet is you'll like him. There is a ton of his stuff around - I would opt for something in good sound for a starter.

Lightnin' would mess with the changes - where the changes would come may not come with Lightnin'. Not an accident - he may toss in an extra bar here and there, maybe an extra turnaround. By no means is this ineptitude. He just was doing it his way. If there was a bass and drums they had to be on their toes. There was an interview in (I think) Guitar Player magazine many years ago. the famous quote was "Lightnin' change when Lighnin' wants to change."

Big Beat Steve Experienced

Big Beat Steve

Posted
Posted

Agree with John L and Paul Secor re- his early 50s recordings (Modern, Gold Star, etc.).

The must be a huge number of compilations of his work so I'll leave recommendations to those more familiar with what is and has ben available but Ace should always be a safe bet.

If you want vinyl, some nice ones (compiled with the lover sof more energetic blues in mind) are these (rec. 1954, mostly Herald material):

Bad Boogie - Diving Duck DD 4308

Flash Lightnin' - Diving Duck DD 4307

Alexander Newbie

Alexander

Posted
Posted

I've got "Mojo Hand" on LP and the Rhino best-of on CD, and I think that both are great. Also, Hopkins' "Happy New Year Blues" is great. It's available on the great "Where Will You Be Christmas Day" compilation on D-T-D.

kh1958 Mentor

kh1958

Posted
Posted

The OBCs are worth getting.

Lightnin' was the first blues performer I ever saw. He was quite drunk and was playing with a backup band of amateurs, who I assume agreed to play for free.

It took a number of years to want to hear him again on record, but I got over it and like him now.

The Magnificent Goldberg Newbie

The Magnificent Goldberg

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks to everyone. I've really found it difficult to sort out Hopkins - he recorded so much and there are fifty million compilations from unknown sources out there.

I'll see if I can get the Aladdin set and then go for some of the Ace Modern material.

Always wanted to get into him - he was a big influence on Melvin Sparks.

MG

AllenLowe Proficient

AllenLowe

Posted
Posted (edited)

my favorite Lighting recordings are the Gold Stars, late 1940s, I think, released by Arhoolie - I was trying to write out one of his solos one day for a group piece I was doing and I gave up - thinking, 'jeez, this is like a Sonny Rollins solo' - rhythmically, I mean, and I think Lightning shows this side of himself best on his electric pieces -

Edited by AllenLowe
WorldB3 Newbie

WorldB3

Posted
Posted

Thanks to everyone. I've really found it difficult to sort out Hopkins - he recorded so much and there are fifty million compilations from unknown sources out there.

I'll see if I can get the Aladdin set and then go for some of the Ace Modern material.

Always wanted to get into him - he was a big influence on Melvin Sparks.

MG

Give him a go and let us know, he is one of my all time favorite artists.

I mostly listen to the Bluesville sides these days but the Aladdin and Ace stuff is also great.

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