Boogie Man

The Adventures of John Lee Hooker in the American Twentieth Century

Charles Shaar Murray

• Publisher: Canongate Books
• Year: 2011
• eBook ISBN:
  9780857862044
• Print ISBN:
  9780857862037

'You the funkiest man alive.' Miles Davis' accolade was the perfect expression of John Lee Hooker's apotheosis as blues superstar: recording with the likes of Van Morrison, Keith Richards and Carlos Santana; making TV commercials (Lee Jeans); appearing in films (The Blues Brothers); and even starring in Pete Townshend's musical adaptation of Ted Hughes' story The Iron Man.

His was an extraordinary life. Born in the American deep south, he moved to Detroit and then, in a career spanning over fifty years, recorded hypnotic blues classics such as 'Boogie Chillen', rhythm-and-blues anthems such as 'Dimples' and 'Boom Boom' and, in his final, glorious renaissance, the Grammy-winning album The Healer. Charles Shaar Murray's authoritative biography vividly, and often in John Lee Hooker's own words, does magnificent justice to the man and his music.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Author biography
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Dedication page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Intro
• 1. They Don’t Give This Old Boy Nuthin’
• 2. Bluebird, Bluebird, Take a Letter Down South for Me
• 3. The Real Folk Blues?
• 4. Frisco Blues
• 5. When I First Come to Town, People
• 6. ‘Boogie Chillen’ Came Out Burnin’
• 7. Ghostses on the Highway
• 8. Time is Marchin’ On
• 9. Folk Boom . . .
• 10. . . . Blues Boom
• 11. Motor City is Burning
• 12. Interlude – Dark Room
• 13. Into the Mythic
• 14. Hey, You Just Gotta Make the Change: Iron John and the Healing Game
• Afterword: Saharan Boogie
• Don’t Look Back
• Acknowledgements: Thank you, fellas
• Appendix: Nuthin’ But the Best ’n’ Later for the Garbage
• Index