John Lee Hooker — Burning Hell (2024 Bluesville Remaster)
Qobuz reissue review (June 2024)
Of the three albums John Lee Hooker made for Orrin Keepnews’ Riverside label, Burning Hell was, at the time of its release, the least notable. Keepnews recorded Hooker twice — once in 1959 with only Hooker and his guitar, and again in 1960 with a full band. The second session (released as That’s My Story) was far more reflective of Hooker’s then-current approach to the blues. Ever since he topped the charts with “Boogie Chillen” in 1948, he was best known for the way he wrapped Delta blues in a more driving, boogie-woogie-oriented style. However, that first 1959 session — reliant on just voice, acoustic guitar, and a peculiar approach to tempo — was indicative of the core sound that Hooker would circle back to throughout his early career.
While he would often play with a full band, Hooker was at his most evocative on his own, especially when he was using an acoustic guitar. Keepnews’ decision to focus on that sound yielded 1959’s The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker, which met with only moderate success. After Hooker’s breakthrough 1962 Vee-Jay album Burnin’ — on which he was backed by the Funk Brothers and nailed another hit with “Boom Boom” smack in the middle of the “blues revival” — Keepnews figured he could coattail a little bit and compiled a dozen cuts from the 1959 solo sessions as a “new” release called Burning Hell. But with its spare approach, it wasn’t exactly what 1964 Hooker crowds were looking for.
Over time, though, Burning Hell has come to be recognized as an essential entry in Hooker’s catalog. Thanks to the high quality of the recording sessions, the haunting intensity of Hooker’s singing and playing is unavoidable, and the entire record feels shockingly intimate and illustrative of his sophisticated musical approach. The inclusion of lesser-known Hooker compositions like “You Live Your Life & I’ll Live Mine,” the title track, and “Graveyard Blues” also makes the set special, while his iconoclastic performances of blues chestnuts like “Smokestack Lightnin’” and “Baby Please Don’t Go” further illustrate Hooker’s unique place in the blues pantheon.
