John Lee Hooker - Documenting The Sensation Recordings 1948-52 (Ace)

[mjzee]

There's a new 3-CD box from Ace, stating that it is "John Lee Hooker's 1948-1952 recordings made in Detroit, Michigan by Bernard Besman; includes 19 previously unissued versions."  

I bought it because I've been intrigued by these sessions since I saw reissues on United Artists in the early '70's.  Sad to say, Ace was a little loosy-goosy with their wording and promotion.

The accompanying booklet reveals "These three CDs do not contain any sides that appeared in this form on either the United Artist or Greene Bottle releases."

I remembered the Detroit recordings being reissued in a 1-LP, 2-LP, and 3-LP form, with no duplications.  The 1-LP and 3-LP were issued by United Artists; the 2-LP was on Greene Bottle.

This was the 1-LP on UA, "Anywhere, Anytime, Anyplace":

This was the 3-LP on UA, "John Lee Hooker's Detroit":

Both of these LP sets were reissued on this 3-CD set, "Alternative Boogie":

The 2-LP set on Greene Bottle was titled "Johnny Lee"; best I can tell, it has never been issued on CD:

So in order to have the complete Sensation recordings 1948-52, you'd need to have the Ace, "Alternative Boogie," and the Greene Bottle LP.

Ace included a sessionography in their booklet, but only of the titles included in their box.  No clue how the UA or Greene titles fit in there.

[nighthawk68]

Nice summation of the history of these recordings. I was a bit disappointed in the set for the same reasons although quite happy with the sound quality. I wish the notes would have been more in-depth as well. Here's some more details that I wrote down as I plan on spotlighting the Sensation label on my radio program:

Ace acquired a lot of John Lee Hooker sides when they purchased the Sensation label from Bernie Besman. This collection contains all of the Ace-owned Besman John Lee Hooker sides gathered in one place for the first time. Bernie had also sold some sides to United Artists and to Greene Bottle before then. Those previously sold sides showed up on a double LP on Green Bottle titled Johnny Lee in 1972. It was not the first "alternate" Besman issue; Specialty Records and United Artists had already come up with three LPs during 1970-71 (Alone and Goin' Down Highway 51 on Specialty and Coast To Coast Blues Band -Any Where Any Time Any Place on United Artists). In 1973 United Artists issued the three album set, John Lee Hooker's Detroit which which was issued on a 3-CD set in 1995 as Alternative Boogie: Early Studio Recordings 1948-1952 which included additional material.

[mjzee]

Are the Specialty albums available anywhere else?

[nighthawk68]

2 hours ago, mjzee said:

Are the Specialty albums available anywhere else?

You mean, have they been reissued or is the material elsewhere? I'm not sure.

[mjzee]

Looking into this further, I found that there was a Japanese release on P-Vine in 1992 titled "Alone - The Specialty Sessions 1948-1954", which had all the titles on the two Specialty albums plus additional tracks:

https://www.discogs.com/John-Lee-Hooker-Alone-The-Specialty-Sessions-1948-1954/release/13157729

To make sense of all this, I created a spreadsheet with all titles on the Ace, Alternative Boogie, Greene Bottle, and P-Vine releases, and sorted the titles alphabetically.  Of the 38 titles on the P-Vine release, 12 titles are not available elsewhere.  Perhaps the titles on P-Vine that I don't see elsewhere have different titles on another release.  To take an obvious example, "Boogie Chillen 2 (I Gotta Be Comin' Back)" on P-Vine is almost definitely "I Gotta Be Comin' Back" on Alternative Boogie.  The titles only on the P-Vine are "Don't Trust Nobody," "Everybody's Blues," "Four Women In My Life," "I Been Done So Wrong (Takes 1 and 2)," "I Do Like I Please," "I Need Love So Bad," "I'm Mad," "Locked Up In Jail," "Nothin' But Trouble," "Odds Against Me," and "Reach My Goal (Find Me A Woman)."  

None of the other Sensation titles are duplicated on other releases; each appears on only one of the four albums.  The question remains: are there yet more titles that haven't been reissued?

21 Boogie	P-Vine (Specialty)
Alberta	DTSR (Ace)
Alberta	P-Vine (Specialty)
Alberta (Alt Take)	DTSR (Ace)
Alberta Part 2	DTSR (Ace)
Alberta Pt. 2	P-Vine (Specialty)
Baby Please Don't Go	Alternative Boogie
Baby, I Prove My Love To You	Greene Bottle
Black Cat Blues	DTSR (Ace)
Black Cat Blues	P-Vine (Specialty)
Bluebird Blues	DTSR (Ace)
Boogie Chillen 2 (I Gotta Be Comin' Back)	P-Vine (Specialty)
Boogie Chillen'	DTSR (Ace)
Boogie Chillen' #2	DTSR (Ace)
Boogie Chillen' #2 (Aka 21 Boogie) (Extended Version)	DTSR (Ace)
Boogie Chillen' #2 (Take 1)	DTSR (Ace)
Boogie Chillen' #2 (Take 2)	DTSR (Ace)
Boogie Chillen' #2 (Take 4)	DTSR (Ace)
Build Myself A Cave	P-Vine (Specialty)
Build Myself A Cave (Aka The World Is In A Tangle) (Take #1)	DTSR (Ace)
Build Myself A Cave (Specialty LP Version)	DTSR (Ace)
Build Myself A Cave (Take #2)	DTSR (Ace)
Build Myself A Cave (Take #3)	DTSR (Ace)
Burnin' Hell	DTSR (Ace)
Burnin' Hell	P-Vine (Specialty)
Can I Say Hello	Alternative Boogie
Canal Street Blues	DTSR (Ace)
Canal Street Blues	P-Vine (Specialty)
Come Back Baby	Alternative Boogie
Crawlin' King Snake	DTSR (Ace)
Crazy 'Bout That Woman	Greene Bottle
Crying All Night	Alternative Boogie
Do My Baby Think Of Me	P-Vine (Specialty)
Do My Baby Think Of Me?	DTSR (Ace)
Don't Trust Nobody	P-Vine (Specialty)
Dream A Number	Greene Bottle
Drifting From Door To Door	DTSR (Ace)
Everybody's Blues	P-Vine (Specialty)
Forgive Me	Alternative Boogie
Four Women In My Life	P-Vine (Specialty)
Give Me Your Phone Number (Alt Take)	DTSR (Ace)
Goin' Down Highway 51	P-Vine (Specialty)
Goin' On Highway #51	DTSR (Ace)
Graveyard Blues	DTSR (Ace)
Graveyard Blues	P-Vine (Specialty)
Grinder Man	DTSR (Ace)
Grinder Man	P-Vine (Specialty)
Hastings Street Boogie	P-Vine (Specialty)
Hastings Street Boogie (Extended Version)	DTSR (Ace)
He Got Assassinated	Greene Bottle
Henry's Swing Club	DTSR (Ace)
Henry's Swing Club	P-Vine (Specialty)
Hobo Blues	DTSR (Ace)
Hoogie Boogie (Instrumental)	DTSR (Ace)
How Can You Do It	DTSR (Ace)
How Long Can This Go On	Alternative Boogie
Howlin' Wolf	DTSR (Ace)
Huckle Up Baby	DTSR (Ace)
Huckle Up Baby	P-Vine (Specialty)
Hummin' The Blues	Alternative Boogie
I Been Done So Wrong (Take 1)	P-Vine (Specialty)
I Been Done So Wrong (Take 2)	P-Vine (Specialty)
I Come To You Baby	Alternative Boogie
I Cried The Whole Night	Greene Bottle
I Did Everything	Alternative Boogie
I Do Like I Please	P-Vine (Specialty)
I Don't Be Welcome Here	Alternative Boogie
I Got Drunk (Take I)	Greene Bottle
I Got Drunk (Take II)	Greene Bottle
I Got Drunk (Take III)	Greene Bottle
I Got Eyes For You	DTSR (Ace)
I Got Eyes For You (Take 2 Or Take 5)	DTSR (Ace)
I Got The Key (Aka Key To The Highway)	DTSR (Ace)
I Gotta Be Comin' Back	Alternative Boogie
I Had A Dream	Alternative Boogie
I Met The Grindin' Man	Alternative Boogie
I Need Love So Bad	P-Vine (Specialty)
I Need Lovin'	P-Vine (Specialty)
I Need Lovin' (Aka Tease Me Over Baby)	DTSR (Ace)
I Rule My Den	Alternative Boogie
I Was Beggin' My Baby	Alternative Boogie
I Work For Her Every Day	Greene Bottle
I'm Going Away	Alternative Boogie
I'm Gonna Whip Ya Baby	Alternative Boogie
I'm In The Mood (Alt One Voice)	DTSR (Ace)
I'm In The Mood (Humming Version)	DTSR (Ace)
I'm In The Mood (Three Voice)	DTSR (Ace)
I'm In The Mood (With Harmonica Overdub)	DTSR (Ace)
I'm Mad	P-Vine (Specialty)
If You Need My Lovin' Baby	Greene Bottle
It Hurts Me So	DTSR (Ace)
It Hurts Me So (Alt Take)	DTSR (Ace)
It's A Crime And A Shame	Alternative Boogie
It's Time For Lovin' To Be Done	DTSR (Ace)
John L's House Rent Boogie (Aka House Rent Boogie)	DTSR (Ace)
John L's House Rent Boogie (Fragment) (Alt Incomplete Take)	DTSR (Ace)
Johnny Lee And The Thing	Alternative Boogie
Johnny Lee's Mood	Alternative Boogie
Johnny Lee's Original Boogie	Alternative Boogie
Johnny Says Come Back	Alternative Boogie
Jump Chillun	Greene Bottle
Just Like A Woman	Alternative Boogie
Key To The Highway	DTSR (Ace)
Let Your Daddy Ride	DTSR (Ace)
Locked Up In Jail	P-Vine (Specialty)
Long, Long Way From Home	Alternative Boogie
Lord Taketh My Baby Away	Alternative Boogie
Lord What More Can I Do	Alternative Boogie
Louisiana Blues For You	Alternative Boogie
Me And A Woman	Alternative Boogie
Miss Eloise, Miss Eloise	Alternative Boogie
Miss Sadie Mae	DTSR (Ace)
Miss Sadie Mae	P-Vine (Specialty)
Momma Poppa Boogie	DTSR (Ace)
Momma Poppa Boogie	P-Vine (Specialty)
Moon Is Rising	Alternative Boogie
Moon Is Rising (Alt Take)	DTSR (Ace)
Movin' On Down The Line	Greene Bottle
My Baby She's Long And Tall	Alternative Boogie
My Baby's Got Somethin'	DTSR (Ace)
My Baby's Got Somethin'	P-Vine (Specialty)
My Own Boogie	Greene Bottle
No Mortgage On My Soul	Alternative Boogie
No Place To Stay	Greene Bottle
Nobody To Talk To Me	Alternative Boogie
Nothin' But Trouble	P-Vine (Specialty)
Numbers Blues (Aka She Ain’t Good For Nothin’)	DTSR (Ace)
Odds Against Me	P-Vine (Specialty)
Out The Door I Went	Alternative Boogie
Please Have Mercy	Greene Bottle
Queen Bee	DTSR (Ace)
Reach My Goal (Find Me A Woman)	P-Vine (Specialty)
Rock Me Mama (Take I)	Greene Bottle
Rock Me Mama (Take II)	Greene Bottle
Rock Me Mama (Take III)	Greene Bottle
Roll 'N' Roll (Alt Take)	DTSR (Ace)
Rollin' Blues	DTSR (Ace)
Rollin' Blues	P-Vine (Specialty)
Sail On Little Girl	DTSR (Ace)
Sail On Little Girl	P-Vine (Specialty)
Sailing Blues	P-Vine (Specialty)
Sailing Blues (Aka Drifting Blues)	DTSR (Ace)
Sally Mae	DTSR (Ace)
See, See Baby	Greene Bottle
She Ain't Good For Nuthin'	Greene Bottle
She Left Be Myself	Alternative Boogie
She Quit Me	Alternative Boogie
She Was In Chicago	Alternative Boogie
Slow Down Your Chatter Baby	Alternative Boogie
Snap Them Fingers Boogie	Alternative Boogie
Someone To Love - Take 1	Alternative Boogie
Someone To Love - Take 2	Alternative Boogie
Sometime	Alternative Boogie
Streets Is Filled With Women	Alternative Boogie
Strike Blues	P-Vine (Specialty)
Strike Blues (Extended Version)	DTSR (Ace)
T.B's Killin' Me	Alternative Boogie
Tease Me Baby	Greene Bottle
Tease Me Baby (Aka Tease Me Over Baby)	DTSR (Ace)
Tell You A Story	Greene Bottle
That's All Right	DTSR (Ace)
That's All Right Boogie (Under Dub)	DTSR (Ace)
The Great Disaster Of 1936	Alternative Boogie
The Moon Above	Greene Bottle
The Story Of A Married Woman	Alternative Boogie
The Story Of A Married Woman (Alt Take)	DTSR (Ace)
The Sweetest Girl I Know	Greene Bottle
The Winding Highway	Alternative Boogie
There's A Day Comin' Baby	Alternative Boogie
Three Long Years Today	DTSR (Ace)
Three Long Years Today	P-Vine (Specialty)
Three Voice Original Mood	Alternative Boogie
Throw My Money Around	Alternative Boogie
Throw This Old Dog A Bone	Alternative Boogie
Troubles In My Home	Greene Bottle
Turn Over A New Leaf	DTSR (Ace)
Turnin' Grey Blues	Alternative Boogie
Two Voice Original Mood	Alternative Boogie
Walkin' This Highway	DTSR (Ace)
Walkin' This Highway	P-Vine (Specialty)
War Is Over (Goodbye California)	P-Vine (Specialty)
War Is Over (Goodbye California) (Alt Extended Version)	DTSR (Ace)
War Is Over (Goodbye California) (Alt Take)	DTSR (Ace)
War Is Over (Goodbye California) (Extended Version)	DTSR (Ace)
We Might As Well Say We're Through	Greene Bottle
Wednesday Evening	DTSR (Ace)
Weeping Willow Boogie	DTSR (Ace)
Welfare Blues	Alternative Boogie
Well I Got To Leave	Alternative Boogie
Whistle Done Blown	Alternative Boogie
Women In My Life (Aka Goin' Away Baby)	DTSR (Ace)
You Sure Look Good To Me	Greene Bottle
You've Got Another Man	Greene Bottle

[nighthawk68]

Impressive work! I don't really have anything to add to this. One of the many confusing things about Hooker's early discography is that it seems the titles are sometimes named different for the same songs depending on the the release.

For my upcoming radio show I digitized the Green Bottle LP. I threw it up on Dropbox if anyone's interested: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/oz530zex4bk66t8/AAB59QrqE5jZjtZMdtDTJjnaa?dl=0

There is also a very detailed Hooker discography online that was last updated in 2019: http://www.angelfire.com/mn/coasters/HookerSessionDiscography.pdf

Edited July 1, 2020 by nighthawk68

[John L]

,This is a very good release.  it has better sound quality than any previous releases of this music, and contains a dozen or so tracks that have never been released before in any form, and are not included in existing discographies.   I highly recommend this set. 

I agree that it is unfortunate that they left off the Besman alternate sides previously released on Greene Bottle and United (Capitol),.  

All of these sides did appear on CD in the 12-CD French release of all the (then known) Detroit John Lee Hooker sides on Body and Soul records.  The Body & Soul set also includes recordings from the time that were released on other labels like King, Gotham, Chance, and Savoy. 

This new set plus the Body & Soul discs plus "The Unknown John Lee Hooker" on Flyright will give you all the known early John Lee Hooker except maybe a few tracks (see below). 

For the tracks released on Specialty listed above that don't appear on Ace, Greene Bottle, or United (Capitol), I don't believe that Ace deliberately excluded Specialty-released tracks from the new set.  Most of the tracks listed above that are only on the P-Vine release date from 1954, and were not even recorded by Besman.  The new set only goes up to May, 1952.  That said, the omission of Reach My Goal from the new set would seem to be a mistake.  It was recorded in 1951 and has been included on a previous Ace CD.  

All of these tracks issued on P-Vine would appear to be on the Body & Soul set except for (curiously) the second take of I Been Done So Wrong.    

 

 

Edited July 1, 2020 by John L

[John L]

Actually, I just noticed that the new set is even less complete than I thought it was.  Quite a few Modern tracks recorded for Besman that belong to Ace (i.e. not on Greene Bottle or UA) are not here.  In some cases, they substituted alternates for the masters,    

[John L]

I just communicated with someone who was involved in producing this set.  He says that quite a lot of material was sold to United Artists, including some of the masters .    He verified that this set plus the Greene Bottle and UA releases include all of the recordings made for Besman.  Of course, there were a lot of recordings from the time, as well as after 1952, that were not made for Besman.  

[AllenLowe]

so where does the stuff issued on Savoy originate? I love that period.

[John L]

11 hours ago, AllenLowe said:

so where does the stuff issued on Savoy originate? I love that period.

Allen - Almost all of the tracks released on Savoy were recorded by Elmer Barbee, who was Hooker's first manager, and began recording him even before Besman.   The best come from a very early session in November, 1948 (Grievin' Blues, Shady Grove Blues, Landing Blues, Goin' Mad Blues...).   Barbee made some other great recordings at the time in the same vein that he sold to King records - some of Hooker's best (IMO).  

There is also a very good down home 1961 session with a band released on Savoy called Sad and Lonesome.  

John 

Edited July 4, 2020 by John L

[AllenLowe]

thanks, yeah, Grievin' Blues is the deepest stuff I've ever heard. Beware the original Savoy CD reissue where they really botched the sound - I found a Euro version in which they didn't go crazy on denoising.