Earl Hooker

Last session we covered pianist Pinetop Perkins. And during the course of that session we played two tracks of Perkins supporting slide guitarist Earl Hooker. That provides us with an excellent reason to cover more fully the work of that man, today

As a slide guitarist Earl Hooker was one of the best – a ‘musicians musician’ some called him.

“Earls playing was unique for a number of reasons- he was incredibly fast and accurate, but he also got a clear clean tone from his guitars. He had the uncanny ability to make his guitars weep and moan and talk just like a person, but had a three things going against him during a career that spanned the 50’s and 60’s Chicago scene.

Firstly was his surname – he was overshadowed by his much more famous cousin John Lee – world wasn’t big enough for two Hookers.

Secondly were his rather limited vocals – JLH’s biographer Charles Shar Murray comments “If Earls singing had been anywhere near the equal of his guitar work he would have been a star.”

Finally and perhaps most significantly was the tuberculosis that took his life at the young age 40 in 1970.

Track recorded with Pinetop Perkins in Memphis in July 1953, in Sam Phillips Sun Studio:

1. Guitar Rag – 1953 – Two Bugs – Tk 13 – 2.59

Earl Zebedee Hooker was born in Clarksdale, Miss, in either 1929 or 1930, the same town as, but approx 13 years later than his cousin John Lee Hooker. Their fathers were brothers. His parents moved to Chicago when he was a child and reportedly did it pretty tough in the poorest of neighborhoods.

Music came naturally as his parents were both playing musicians. He started playing guitar about 1945 after meeting slide guitarist Robert Nighthawk. Nighthawk had already cut records under the name of Robert Lee McCoy for the Bluebird label, and had been an accompanist for John Lee (Sonny Boy) Williamson on some of his sides for Bluebird.

He ran away from home at age 13, journeying to Mississippi. After another stint in Chicago, he returned back to the Delta again, playing with another Clarksdale son - Ike Turner, and Sonny Boy Williamson. Hooker made his first recordings in 1952 and 1953 for Rockin', King, and Sun labels. At the latter, he recorded some terrific sides with pianist Pinetop Perkins incl the one we led in with today


Back in Chicago again, Hooker's skills were showcased on singles for Argo, C.J., and Bea & Baby during the mid-to-late '50s before he joined forces with producer Mel London in 1959.

Instrumental track recorded for Chess subsidiary Argo in 1956

2. Frog Hop – 1956 – Simply The Best – Tk 2 – 2.27

One commentator wrote of EH’s guitar style in the late 60s: “Earls playing was unique for a number of reasons- he was incredibly fast and accurate, but he also got a clear clean tone from his guitars. He had the uncanny ability to make his guitars weep and moan and talk just like a person. Hooker also had a liking for ‘one of a kind’ guitars and he pioneered the use of double neck guitars and also had the first wah-wah pedals and fuzz boxes in the Chicago blues scene.”

For the next four years, he recorded both as sideman and band leader for Mel London, backing Junior Wells and others. Instrumental track recorded with Junior Wells in 1960, B side to Wells hit Messin’ With The Kid, Earl Hooker on slide:

3. Universal Rock – 1960 – Calling all Blues – Tk 14 – 2.31

Hooker recorded regularly with Wells during this period and Wells was quoted as saying “Earl Hooker could do more with a guitar than a monkey could do with a coconut.”

He also contributed great slide work to Muddy Waters' 1962 Chess track "You Shook Me". He was apparently the only slide player on a Muddy Waters recording besides Muddy himself.

4. You Shook Me – 1962 – Simply The Best – Tk 1 – 2.44

Interesting story about this song – originally written by Willie Dixon and JB Lenoir] - it was recorded by EH and producer Mel London as an instrumental in May 1961. More than 12 months later, in June 1962, Dixon took it to Chess where MW overlaid the vocals, and it was issued as a Chess single. Another Earl Hooker instrumental had the same treatment and became Muddy’s track You Need Love. And to round out the story – both these were lifted by Led Zepplin who claimed them as their own compositions in the late 1960s

Opportunities to record grew sparse after the Age label folded in the mid 60s but Earl was constantly on the road, traveling between Chicago and the South.

In the late 60s blues fan and Arhoolie lablel owner Chris Strachwitz asked Buddy Guy to suggest some Chicago guitar players who should be recorded. Guy immediately suggested EH, and even gave Strachwitz Hooker’s address.

The resulting Arhoolie album was named Two Bugs and a Roach, a dig at the TB that would claim his life two years later. Here is the title track, with Pinetop Perkins on piano, and talking with Chicago vocalist Andrew Odom:

5. Two Bugs and a Roach – 1968 – Two Bugs – Tk 1 – 4.19 (fade out…)

One source suggests that Hooker caught TB from living in the crowded Chicago slums in the 1940s

Even though Buddy was very complimentary about Hooker to CS, he wasn’t always so kind. According to BG EH was something of a thief – he would take the valves or speakers out of your amp if he liked the sound of them. “I never did see him drinking or do nothing. He had no bad habits other than stealing your stuff” Guy said.

Track from 1969 with cousin John Lee – listen out for Earls work on the wah wah pedal, which supposedly influenced Jimi Hendrix:

6. Messin Around With The Blues – 1969 – Simply The Best – Tk 4 – 3.19

In the late 60’S he cut LPs for ABC-BluesWay, and Blue Thumb that didn't equal what he'd done at Age, but they did serve to introduce Hooker to an audience outside Chicago.

A few tracks from this period:

Firstly – another track with Andrew Odom on vocals - listen out for Earl’s fine guitar solos:

7. Come to Me Right Away Baby – May 1969 – Simply The Best – Tk 11 – 3.43

Robert Johnson track where the wah wah pedal and fuzz box get a fine workout, again from may 1969. Ike Turner on piano

8. Sweet Home Chicago – 1969 – Simply The Best – Tk 6 – 2.52

Track from an album titled Brownie McGhee/Sonny Terry and EH. Typical ST & BMcG number with EH guitar overtones:

9. When I was Drinkin – Sept 1969 – Simply The Best – Tk 8 – 2.45

In late 1969, Earl traveled to Europe to play in the American Folk Blues Festival, along with Magic Sam, Carey Bell, Clifton Chenier and others. By this time though, he was quite ill with advancing tuberculosis, and after returning to the USA, was admitted to a Chicago sanitarium where he died in April 1970 just as the Blues Revival of the late sixties and early seventies was reaching full volume. He was just 41.

Close out with the title track of a JL and Earl collaboration album from 1970. This is a kind of novelty track, where John Lee recounts an incident in a bar on 47th street, where they were hassled by a patron – ‘don’t mess with the Hookers” says John Lee.

10. If You Miss Him, I Got Him – Sept 1969 – Simply The Best – Tk 19 – 4.40