John Lee Hooker Don't Turn Me From Your Door 180g LP

TAS Rated 4/5 Music, 4/5 Sonics in the July/August 2022 Issue of The Absolute Sound!

John Lee Hooker is not only a mystery but also an interesting man to study. Some, like the author Jacques Demêtre called the musician from Mississippi "the most raw and African of all blues players from a musical point of view", while the critic Net Hentoff was awestruck by Hooker's unfiltered power of expression that could scare the pants off a listener taken unawares. The numbers on this LP bear witness to the fact that Hooker's musical language could stir one's emotions deeply, even without the meaty 'boom boom'. Each title is like a raw diamond, which is intentionally uncut and is to be perceived with directness. With a stutter and a slur in his speech, the singer declaims his song over a twangy guitar, which is driven along by the rhythmic meter. A final farewell is taken sluggishly and sullenly in the forthright text of "You Lost A Good Man", and even a song without words ("Misbelieving Baby") ponders a question in a purely instrumental monologue. Apart from a dash of boogie ("Pouring Down Rain") Hooker avoids all manner of sweet sounds and harmonies. He remains austerely raw, mercilessly honest, occasionally unforgiving and denies all thoughts of any kind regarding going 'back to the roots'. This sound IS the root of it all.

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

Recording: 1953 in Cincinnati (OH) and July 1961 in Miami (FL)
Production: Henry Stone

...the only bad Hooker is no Hooker at all.

It's easy to imagine that, if that essential American music we call the blues could be reduced to its bare-bones quintessence, John Lee Hooker would be the result. He delivers his lyrics in a way that seems almost casual, and it can escape the attention of casual listeners what a fine vocalist Hooker really was. Meanwhile the guitar backing moves between hypnotic bass lines, off-beat chord riffing, and stinging, unpredictable stabs of melody... This particular collection dates from sessions made in 1953 and 1961, but holds together brilliantly. Also released under the title Detroit Special, this is as good a John Lee Hooker record as one can find. Speakers Corner always does a great job with remastering, and you really hear it here.