Welcome to Sound Projections

I'm your host Kofi Natambu. This online magazine features the very best in contemporary creative music in this creative timezone NOW (the one we're living in) as well as that of the historical past. The purpose is to openly explore, examine, investigate, reflect on, studiously critique, and take opulent pleasure in the sonic and aural dimensions of human experience known and identified to us as MUSIC. I'm also interested in critically examining the wide range of ideas and opinions that govern our commodified notions of the production, consumption, marketing, and commercial exchange of organized sound(s) which largely define and thereby (over)determine our present relationships to music in the general political economy and culture.

Thus this magazine will strive to critically question and go beyond the conventional imposed notions and categories of what constitutes the generic and stylistic definitions of ‘Jazz’, ‘classical music’, ‘Blues.’ 'Rhythm and Blues’, ‘Rock and Roll’, ‘Pop’, ‘Funk’, ‘Hip Hop’, etc. in order to search for what individual artists and ensembles do cretively to challenge and transform our ingrained ideas and attitudes of what music is and could be.

So please join me in this ongoing visceral, investigative, and cerebral quest to explore, enjoy, and pay homage to the endlessly creative and uniquely magisterial dimensions of MUSIC in all of its guises and expressive identities.

Saturday, June 17, 2017

Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins (1912 –1982): Legendary, iconic, and innovative musician, composer, singer, songwriter, producer, and teacher



SOUND PROJECTIONS
   
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
    
EDITOR:  KOFI NATAMBU
    
SPRING, 2017

VOLUME FOUR         NUMBER TWO  
 
JOHN COLTRANE  
 
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:

EARTH WIND AND FIRE
(May 20-May 26)

JACK DEJOHNETTE
(May 27-June 2)

ALBERT AYLER
(June 3-June 9)

VI REDD
(June 10-June 16)

LIGHTNIN’ HOPKINS
(June 17-June 23)


JULIAN “CANNONBALL” ADDERLEY
(June 24-June 30)

JAMES NEWTON
(July 1-July 7)

ART TATUM
(July 8-July 14)

SONNY CLARK
(July 15-July 21)

JASON MORAN
(July 22-July 28)

SONNY STITT
(July 29-August 4)

BUD POWELL
(August 5-August 11)



http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lightnin-hopkins-mn0000825208/biography


LIGHTNIN’ HOPKINS
(1912-1982)
Artist Biography by 
 

Sam Hopkins was a Texas country bluesman of the highest caliber whose career began in the 1920s and stretched all the way into the 1980s. Along the way, Hopkins watched the genre change remarkably, but he never appreciably altered his mournful Lone Star sound, which translated onto both acoustic and electric guitar. Hopkins' nimble dexterity made intricate boogie riffs seem easy, and his fascinating penchant for improvising lyrics to fit whatever situation might arise made him a beloved blues troubadour. 



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Hopkins' brothers John Henry and Joel were also talented bluesmen, but it was Sam who became a star. In 1920, he met the legendary Blind Lemon Jefferson at a social function, and even got a chance to play with him. Later, Hopkins served as Jefferson's guide. In his teens, Hopkins began working with another pre-war great, singer Texas Alexander, who was his cousin. A mid-'30s stretch in Houston's County Prison Farm for the young guitarist interrupted their partnership for a time, but when he was freed, Hopkins hooked back up with the older bluesman.

The pair was dishing out their lowdown brand of blues in Houston's Third Ward in 1946 when talent scout Lola Anne Cullum came across them. She had already engineered a pact with Los Angeles-based Aladdin Records for another of her charges, pianist Amos Milburn, and Cullum saw the same sort of opportunity within Hopkins' dusty country blues. Alexander wasn't part of the deal; instead, Cullum paired Hopkins with pianist Wilson "Thunder" Smith, sensibly re-christened the guitarist "Lightnin'," and presto! Hopkins was very soon an Aladdin recording artist.

"Katie May," cut on November 9, 1946, in L.A. with Smith lending a hand on the 88s, was Lightnin' Hopkins' first regional seller of note. He recorded prolifically for Aladdin in both L.A. and Houston into 1948, scoring a national R&B hit for the firm with his "Shotgun Blues." "Short Haired Woman," "Abilene," and "Big Mama Jump," among many Aladdin gems, were evocative Texas blues rooted in an earlier era.

A load of other labels recorded the wily Hopkins after that, both in a solo context and with a small rhythm section: Modern/RPM (his uncompromising "Tim Moore's Farm" was an R&B hit in 1949); Gold Star (where he hit with "T-Model Blues" that same year); Sittin' in With ("Give Me Central 209" and "Coffee Blues" were national chart entries in 1952) and its Jax subsidiary; the major labels Mercury and Decca; and, in 1954, a remarkable batch of sides for Herald where Hopkins played blistering electric guitar on a series of blasting rockers ("Lightnin's Boogie," "Lightnin's Special," and the amazing "Hopkins' Sky Hop") in front of drummer Ben Turner and bassist Donald Cooks (who must have had bleeding fingers, so torrid were some of the tempos). 

Lightnin' Hopkins [Smithsonian/Folkways]

But Hopkins' style was apparently too rustic and old-fashioned for the new generation of rock & roll enthusiasts (they should have checked out "Hopkins' Sky Hop"). He was back on the Houston scene by 1959, largely forgotten. Fortunately, folklorist Mack McCormick rediscovered the guitarist, who was dusted off and presented as a folk-blues artist; a role that Hopkins was born to play. Pioneering musicologist Sam Charters produced Hopkins in a solo context for Folkways Records that same year, cutting an entire LP, Lightnin' Hopkins, in Hopkins' tiny apartment (on a borrowed guitar). The results helped introduced his music to an entirely new audience. Lightnin' Hopkins went from gigging at back-alley gin joints to starring at collegiate coffeehouses, appearing on TV programs, and touring Europe to boot. His once-flagging recording career went right through the roof, with albums for World Pacific; Vee-Jay; Bluesville; Bobby Robinson's Fire label (where he cut his classic "Mojo Hand" in 1960); Candid; Arhoolie; Prestige; Verve; and, in 1965, the first of several LPs for Stan Lewis' Shreveport-based Jewel logo.

Hopkins generally demanded full payment before he'd deign to sit down and record, and seldom indulged a producer's desire for more than one take of any song. His singular sense of country time befuddled more than a few unseasoned musicians; from the 1960s on, his solo work is usually preferable to band-backed material.

Filmmaker Les Blank captured the Texas troubadour's informal lifestyle most vividly in his acclaimed 1967 documentary, The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins. As one of the last great country bluesmen, Hopkins was a fascinating figure who bridged the gap between rural and urban styles.


Lightnin’ Hopkins: Can’t Hardly Keep From Crying








LightningIll
Illustration by Courtney Spencer
This article appears in the May/June 2015 “Blues Issue,” now available on newsstands.


Listen, if you will, to the first 30 seconds of Lightnin’ Hopkins’ “Moanin’ Blues.” Listen to what happens when the weight of the world and love and loss is too much – if that all could form a pulse, a breath, a ratcheted rhythm, it would be this.  Even before his lips form more than a drawn-out “mmmm,” and even without ever touching on a chorus or repetitive, easy vamp, Hopkins breathes and plucks humanity. ‘I can’t hardly keep from crying,” he sings, with pulls of the strings cutting through like acid tears, the hollow of his guitar a quivering lip. No one else can capture what life feels like – what it really feels like, in all its ache and sadness and uneasy humor – quite this way. Two and a half minutes of “Moanin’ Blues” and we know we all must moan the same: we all, really, get the blues. 


“When you get a sad feelin’, you can tell the whole round world you’ve got nothin’ but the blues,” Hopkins says in the 1967 documentary The Blues According to Lightnin’ Hopkins, and he was the vessel for it. Born Sam John Hopkins, he grew up on a cotton farm in Centerville, Texas, immersed in music from the likes of Alger “Texas” Alexander and other local luminaries – Blind Lemon Jefferson, known for his fast-picking and haunting howl, let the young boy play alongside him on a cigar box with chicken wire strings, becoming an early and deep influence. He went on to develop a style that spoke its own complete language: you can’t describe Lightnin’ Hopkins as “bluesy” so much as you can describe Shakespeare as “Shakespearian.” He was the first and only of his kind. 

When Hopkins died in 1982 at the age of 69, The New York Times called him “perhaps the greatest single influence on rock guitar players,” but the headline referred to him as “blues singer.” That dichotomy says it all – Hopkins played the blues, but his musical style was as important to the evolution of rock and roll as Elvis’ hip shimmy. The way his notes wrapped around the words, not went along with them, informed a whole generation of loose, freewheeling compositions unafraid of using an off-the-tracks rhythm – Jack White owes a lot to Led Zeppelin, but they both owe more to Hopkins, in the same way that so many modern musicians who drive their songs from a place of syncopated emotion, and not predictability, did. And do. The dynamic crush of the Black Keys’ “I’m Not The One” rings pure to Hopkins’ roots, and bands as far ranging as the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Jimi Hendrix to Eric Clapton all owe licks to Lightnin’.

Hopkins made dozens of LPs on many different labels, but they were often just as indicative as he could be live – he rarely recorded multiple takes, and his improvisational style came through loud and clear. Some call him country blues – whatever that means, really – something that Justin Townes Earle once showcased artfully in his cover of “My Starter Won’t Start,” which used the singer’s lead plucks to trace the meeting place between these two genres that, in their essences, sometimes aren’t as far apart as they might seem.

In fact, it’s Hopkins himself that is so difficult to define because his influence is so broad. Rock, blues, jazz, country. It’s all built on his gut-wrenching performances, his heartbreaking lyrics that sometimes take a wink at themselves on his free-form discourse between the guitar and the singer. It’s never quite clear, or important, really, whether it’s the vocal or the melody that’s driving a song; they talk with each other, play, push and pull. Even a heavy-metal solo can find some roots in that – as can anyone who takes a left turn from traditional music patterns (12 bars are just the beginning), starts a song with a single-note lead or makes dissonant sounds scream poetry. 

From traveling in his early days with Alexander to stints on the Chicago blues scene or the ’60s folk revival, Hopkins never wavered, never compromised, and influenced generations past and generations to come. You can tell the whole round world you’ve got nothin’ but the blues, but no one told them like he did, and it’s quite possible no one ever will.




Blues According To Lightnin' Hopkins


Les Blank spent the early part of his thirties, and much of his twenties, putting together industrial movies, basically educational films for the corporate world, movies to promote the venture to investors and employees. Blank called them "insipid" and moved quickly to get his career on a different track. He wasn't fond of wasting his creative output on low rent promotional movies for corporations so he left, set up his own production company, and started making short observations on film. We might call them documentaries and, indeed, few have ever documented better than Blank, but his films are structured in such a beautiful, informal way, they come off as observations by a casual observer, yet are so expertly compiled that only a fool would think it all happened by way of happy accident. The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins was only his second effort and it stands as one of his best, still.
 
Early on in his documentary career, Les Blank had a radical idea. Rather than show a bunch of still images or talking heads, complete with captions to let us know who we're listening to, why not actually just document a culture, a person, an activity? That such a concept in the history of documentary filmmaking would seem radical just goes to show how far off course many documentaries have travelled. Blank simply filmed the culture in action and later, in the editing booth, put the pieces of the puzzle together in a way that not only documented but enlightened. From start to finish, The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins, does nothing but show Hopkins perform, talk and fish and yet, by the end, we have a full picture of the man and his music.

Throughout his career, Lightnin' Hopkins, born Sam John Hopkins, was prolific. Starting at an early age, he began playing with such legends as Blind Lemon Jefferson at church but, despite a few tries, could never break into the music business. Finally, in 1946, at the age of 34, he recorded his first album, twelve songs with pianist Wilson Smith, and the two were renamed Lightnin' and Thunder. From there, Hopkins kept recording dozens and dozens of records until it was estimated he exceeded 1,000 recordings. By the sixties, blues historians pointed to him as one of the greatest carriers of the blues tradition in existence.
 
Hopkins settled in Houston, Texas and after the fifties, rarely left it. Despite all his success with recording the blues, and his later international fame, Hopkins never lived anything more than a simple existence, driven by his passion for the blues, a musical form and emotional state that were both something he felt strongly anyone could understand. He was also a great storyteller, outside of music, and a highlight in the movie occurs when he tells a tale about swerving to miss a pig in the road that has, as its punchline, a moral about looking out for oneself because good deeds rarely go unpunished.

Les Blank spent the rest of his career fascinated with documenting the culture, often through examining the different American musical styles of the South, from the blues to zydeco. After his early successes in 1968, he never returned to the sterile world of industrial filmmaking and the rest of the world can be grateful. His examinations into the culture have left works that are themselves now cultural landmarks. Not surprisingly, his documentary, Burden of Dreams, about the making of famed director Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo, is probably more seen than the narrative film it documents. And Blank's passion for finding the truth inside the everyday led to some of the most engaging documentaries in the realm of cinema. Without talking heads giving their "expert" opinion or endless still photographs accompanied by solemn narration, Blank manages to inform more in one documentary short than a year's worth of feature length documentaries could hope to do. Lightnin' Hopkins says during the course of the film, "When I play the guitar, I play it from my heart." The same could be say of Les Blank when he makes a movie. It shows in every frame.

By Greg Ferrara

http://www.wherelightninstrikes.com/

Where Lightnin' Strikes
A Film by Mark Susman and Mike Snow

The Film



Houston-based Fast Cut Films, in association with Sunset Productions, is working on a documentary feature film, “Where Lightnin’ Strikes,” about the life and times of Houston blues legend Sam “Lightnin’” Hopkins (1912-1982). The enduring musical journey of Sam Lightnin’ Hopkins began on a cotton farm in Centerville,Texas in 1912. He was drawn to the music he heard played by an older brother. After meeting up with Dallas bluesman Blind Lemon Jefferson, Sam left the hardscrabble life of the Texas cotton fields, determined to play his way to better circumstances. Possessing a sharp wit and a unique ability for endless improvisation, Lightnin became a master storyteller. He was able to convey profound truths about the human condition via poetic imagery. The “Po’ Lightnin” that inhabited his tales of struggle and misery became the “Everyman” that black audiences identified with and white audiences flocked to performances to experience. Whether playing on a street corner on Dowling Street or at Carnegie Hall his style defined Texas blues. He sounded like no one else yet influenced every one. His unique musical style influenced generations of blues, rock, country and soul musicians as well as filmmakers, writers and painters. Over the course of his 60-year career, Lightnin’ Hopkins recorded more music than any other blues artist. His discography includes more than 100 albums for more than twenty different recording labels. He made Houston his home in the 1940s. In 1982, his funeral drew more than 4,000 devoted fans and musicians to the city to celebrate and honor him.

WHY THIS FILM IS IMPORTANT

The blues is a response to a legacy of deprivation, and a tribute to the belief that “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Hopkins struggled to exist while living on the sporadic and meager income generated while playing clubs and anywhere else he could be heard. He always kept moving forward to rise above his early life. “Where Lightnin’ Strikes” will tell Hopkins’ story of survival and of his contributions to the landscape of music, the arts, and humanity itself. This rich story needs to be told before the memories are lost.


COMMUNITY IMPACT

Lightnin’ was famous worldwide and, arguably, the most historically significant musician from Houston. During the 1960s, Lightnin’s music brought together disparate cultures, once separated by color and circumstance, in a communal human experience. “Where Lightnin’ Strikes” will examine how Hopkins’ music is colorblind and unifying. The film will reveal how his music inspired people of different cultures in unpredictable ways. This documentary is an exploration and celebration of the life of a unique and talented individual. His life was a humble one but the impact of his music and the poetry of his lyrics went beyond the borders of Houston, reaching around the world inspiring all that heard him.

Lightnin’s story is an important part of Houston’s heritage as he made Houston’s historically black Third Ward home. Regrettably, no public acknowledgment of Lightnin’ or his contribution to Houston’s heritage and culture can be found in Houston. This documentary will educate the community on Lightnin’s life and preserve his memory.

SCOPE

The film, currently in production, includes on-camera interviews with family members, band members, historians, eyewitnesses and musicians influenced by Lightnin’s work. Additionally the film will explore Lightnin’s influence on artists outside of music including painters, sculptors and writers. These interviews will be combined with archival photographs, newsreels, and performance footage.


http://www.guitarworld.com/deep-john-lee-hooker-and-lightnin-hopkins 

In Deep with Blues Masters John Lee Hooker and Lightnin' Hopkins


In Deep with Blues Masters John Lee Hooker and Lightnin' Hopkins

The blues is ripe for endless and constant reinvention. Through the decades, it has developed in many different incarnations.


These include plantation field hollers; the acoustic guitar playing and songwriting mastery of Charlie Patton, Blind Blake, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie McTell and Robert Johnson; the Chicago, Memphis and Texas blues of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and T-Bone Walker; and the mid-to-late-Sixties blues-rock revolution spearheaded by

Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

 
Today, bands such as the North Mississippi All-Stars, the Black Keys and Alabama Shakes continue to explore new ways to navigate the dark, swampy sounds honed through this long tradition of blues interpretation. In this edition of In Deep, we’ll be taking a look at the guitar work of two essential early blues guitar masters: John Lee Hooker and Lightnin’ Hopkins.
 
John Lee Hooker was born in 1917 in Coahoma County, Mississippi, and learned to play guitar from his stepfather, Willie Moore, who, conveniently for John Lee, was friends with Blind Lemon Jefferson and Charlie Patton. Hooker went on the road at age 14, joining legendary bluesman Robert Nighthawk in Memphis.
In 1948, Hooker began his recording career in style, cutting two incredible tunes—“Boogie Chillen’ ” and “Sally Mae”—at his first sessions, cut in Detroit. The songs were released on the Modern label, owned by the Bihari Brothers (who also recorded B.B. King’s earliest sides), and Hooker’s ascent to blues superstardom was underway.

Hooker performed and recorded a great many tunes on both acoustic and electric guitar in open A tuning (low to high, E A E A C# E), oftentimes using a capo at the first, second or third fret to perform in different keys. He picked with his fingers, primarily using his thumb to strike the bass strings and index finger to pluck the higher strings, and achieved a warm and very percussive sound, often performing alone or with another guitarist for accompaniment.


FIGURE 1 illustrates a rhythm figure along the lines of “Boogie Chillen’.” Though written in 4/4, this figure is played with a triplet, or swing-eighths, feel, which means that notes indicated as pairs of eighth notes are actually sounded as a quarter note followed by an eighth note within a triplet bracket.

Throughout this passage, the thumb and index finger alternate striking the lower and higher strings, with a quick, rolling double hammer-on occurring at the end of each bar. In bar 1, the hammer-on begins on the fourth fret and moves chromatically (one fret at a time) up to the sixth fret. In bar 2, the hammer-on starts on the second fret and moves up chromatically to the fourth fret. In bar 3, rapid slides up to the third fret are executed with an index-finger barre across the top two strings.


One of the fascinating aspects of Hooker’s open A playing was that he often used only two primary chords, the “I” (one) and the “IV” (four), forgoing the use of a “V” (five) chord that is common to the majority of blues music. In open A tuning, Hooker would use a standard C “cowboy” chord grip as his four chord, which yields an unusual Dadd9/C sound, as illustrated in FIGURE 2.



Another interesting aspect of Hooker’s solo work is that he would often shift from a swinging triplet feel to the use of even, or “straight,” eighth notes, which provides great rhythmic contrast and tension. As shown in FIGURE 3, I begin with straight eighths on a sliding A7 chord voicing and then move back to the swinging feel when the initial riff is restated in bars 5–7.



Hooker also often used the D7/A voicing shown in FIGURE 4 for his four chord: with the index finger barred across the top three strings at the fifth fret, the pinkie is added and removed from the high E string’s eighth fret. Robert Johnson often used this pattern to great effect as well.


Hooker devised some great and very distinct licks in open A tuning, a few of which are presented in FIGURE 5. Following index-finger slides on the top two strings, different A and A7 voicings are followed by great single-note and double-stop licks played on the middle strings using a bit of rhythmic syncopation. You can hear Hooker play riffs like these on his classic song “Sally Mae.” ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons is a Hooker fanatic, and you can hear many of these kinds of licks on Top classics like “La Grange” and “Jesus Just Left Chicago.”


Combining open strings with single-note riffs is a central element of Hooker’s style, made more effective with fingerpicking. FIGURE 6, inspired by “Crawling Kingsnake,” and FIGURE 7, a nod to “Tease Me,” offer a few more examples of how Hooker would combine a catchy melody with an insistent root-note, open-string pedal tone.


In later years, Hooker relied more often on standard tuning, while still using the capo on the first few frets for changing keys. A great example of his playing style in standard tuning can be heard on “Boom Boom Out Go the Lights.” FIGURE 8 offers an example in this style, marrying a repeated melody, based on E minor pentatonic (E G A B D) to an alternating bass line.

Lightnin’ Hopkins was born in 1912 in Centerville, Texas. Like Hooker, he learned directly from encounters with Blind Lemon Jefferson. He began his recording career in 1946 and went on to become one of the most influential blues guitarists ever. Elements of his style are clear in the playing of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughan and just about everyone that played or plays blues guitar.


Hopkins often performed unaccompanied acoustic guitar (or amplified acoustic), picking with his fingers in a manner similar to Hooker but with the use of a thumb pick.  

FIGURES 9 and 10 offer examples of a mid-tempo swinging 12/8 blues played in his style, akin to his take on the blues classic “Goin’ Down Slow.”



Lightnin' finally strikes for blues icon

by Andrew Dansby
February 7, 2013
Houston Chronicle


Though born in Centerville, Sam "Lightnin' " Hopkins lived in Houston for years.

More than 60 years after he made his first recordings, Houston's Sam "Lightnin' " Hopkins will be honored this week by the Recording Academy, the organization that stages the annual Grammy Awards.

The late bluesman will be honored at an invitation-only ceremony Saturday in Los Angeles, then will be acknowledged Sunday during the 55th annual Grammy Awards telecast at the Staples Center. Along with music stars, pioneers and innovators such as the Temptations, Carole King, Charlie Haden, Glenn Gould, Patti Page and Ravi Shankar, Hopkins will receive the organization's Lifetime Achievement Award.

The accolade is long overdue for the iconoclastic blues legend. Self-described in some of his songs as "poor ol' Lightnin'," Hopkins for years failed to attract the same national attention as other 20th-century blues greats. He's yet to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

On video: See Hopkins in action and watch others pay tribute to the bluesman

But in his New York Times obituary for Hopkins, who died in 1982 at age 69, the late, great music critic Robert Palmer called him "perhaps the greatest single influence on rock guitar players."

"What's such a blessing to me is that even after all these years, this recognition he's receiving is something he deserved," said Bertha Kelly, one of Hopkins' granddaughters. "To know there are people who appreciated his form of singing and playing, that's why I'm so excited about this award."

Eccentric style

Hopkins' influence can be heard not only in contemporary blues but in some jazz, soul, rock, folk and country as well. In a genre of rigid regional traditions, Hopkins was an anomaly with his laconic but expressive drawl and a unique feel for time. Whether playing electric or acoustic guitars, Hopkins' sensibility on the instrument was singular.
He played fast and loose with the usual 12-bar blues format, his spidery fingers producing remarkable combinations of lead licks along with rhythm and bass.

"He played unpredictably quick lead runs while simultaneously keeping a train-like, behind-the-beat rhythm going underneath," said guitar great Doyle Bramhall II, "in songs that capture the true nature of Texas folklore."
The prickly, odd country quality of his blues may have been part of the reason Hopkins was slower to receive recognition than other players.

"The Chicago sound, Muddy Waters' band, Howlin' Wolf and his band - those you could hear the direct link to rock 'n' roll," said blues historian Roger Wood, author of "Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues." "You could hear them and easily understand how blues and rock were related.

"Lightnin's personal choices and the style he played were so individualistic and eccentric. It's possible they just didn't register the same way. Those other guys had a bigger sound that was such an easy-glove fit with the classic rock sound."
Hopkins also didn't benefit from a career resurgence in his autumn years as Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker did. Both of those players made comeback recordings with younger musicians they had influenced. Hopkins had stopped recording years before esophageal cancer claimed him.

Another factor: His discography is something of a mess, due in part to his preference for being paid up front in cash for recording sessions. Business wasn't Hopkins' strong point. Thus his music is spread across numerous record labels - a few of them reputable, many now obsolete. He died without the assurance of a large company tending to his legacy.

Local, national impact

Hopkins was born in Centerville in 1912. He received early tutoring from Blind Lemon Jefferson and Alger "Texas" Alexander, and began playing music as a child. Hopkins lived in Houston briefly in the 1930s and settled in the Third Ward permanently around 1946, which is when he made his first recording sessions in Los Angeles for the Aladdin label. A year later, he cut some of his most enduring work in Houston for Bill Quinn's Gold Star Records.

The 1960s blues revival and its relationship to a burgeoning folk music clearly show part of Hopkins' impact. Houston's folk and coffee-house scene produced numerous players who'd go to see him perform, then take what they heard and create their own songs with Hopkins' fingerprints all over them. Townes Van Zandt was perhaps the greatest Hopkins acolyte, but he wasn't alone. Musicians such as Eric Taylor, Steve Earle and Ray Wylie Hubbard all recall the profound effect of seeing him play.

Hubbard says Hopkins' "playing was perfection in taste and speed, and the beautiful anguish of his vocal is still haunting to this day."

Musicians like Dusty Hill and Frank Beard of ZZ Top, or Rex "Wrecks" Bell, owner of the Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe, backed him up at performances.

Influenced generations

Hopkins' reach with these musicians was inestimable, and they in turn passed it along. In the liner notes to one of his albums, Lyle Lovett attributed a guitar lick in one of his songs to Taylor, as Taylor heard it played by Hopkins. Van Zandt was a mentor to a young Steve Earle, whose son, Justin Townes Earle, knows Hopkins' discography intimately.
Outside of Houston, Hopkins still carries sway with discerning musicians. Eric Clapton is among his more prominent fans, as is the young guitar virtuoso Gary Clark Jr. Erykah Badu referenced Hopkins in a song's lyrics. And Bramhall has Hopkins' image tattooed on his forearm.

Historical marker

As well regarded as Hopkins is in Houston - his visage appears on the logo for the Houston Blues Society - it nevertheless took tireless work by one fan, Eric Davis, to get Hopkins a Texas Historical Marker in 2010. (Crockett beat Houston in this regard, putting up a statue of Hopkins in 2002.) Prior to its placement at Dowling and Francis Streets, where Hopkins used to catch the city bus, the only monument tying Hopkins to Houston was his headstone at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery.

Hopkins has garnered some notice since, particularly last year during his centennial. Rolling Stone included him in its 100 greatest guitarists issue, though its comment that he was "as unpredictable as John Lee Hooker" understates Hopkins' cunning way with a song.

Hopkins still has family in Houston, including his cousin guitarist Milton Hopkins, who remains a lively traditional blues performer.

Granddaughter Kelly, 65, and three of her four children will attend the ceremonies this weekend. She said she gravitated toward gospel more than blues, "but we still have many, many good memories together." Her son, Andre Kelly, plays piano because of Hopkins' encouragement.

"Granddaddy is the one who asked me if there was anybody in the household that was playing," Kelly said. "I told him no, and he said, 'I want you to get an instrument in the house. Because music is in our bloodline.' "

THE MUSIC OF LIGHTNIN' HOPKINS: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH LIGHTNIN' HOPKINS:

Lightnin' Hopkins--"Baby, Please Don't Go":  

Lightnin' Hopkins performs Baby, Please Don't Go. From his Vestapol DVD collection Lightnin' Hopkins - Rare Performances 1960-1979 (http://www.guitarvideos.com/products/...


 

Sam 'Lightnin' Hopkins--"Mojo Hand":

 

You can find one hour of 
Lightnin' Hopkins rare live performance 1960/1979 here: http://www.guitarvideos.com/products/...

Lightnin Hopkins - Live 1964:

T-Bird Lounge
Houston, TX

 

Lightnin' Hopkins ‎– 'Soul Blues' --[Full Album]:

 

Tracklist:
01. 00:00 • I'm Going to Build Me a Heaven of My Own
02. 05:59 • My Babe
03. 09:22 • Too Many Drivers
04. 12:54 • I'm a Crawling Black Snake
05. 17:46 • Rocky Mountain Blues
06. 21:41 • I Mean Goodbye
07. 24:44 • The Howling Wolf
08. 28:39 • Black Ghost Blues
09. 32:12 • Darling, Do You Remember Me
10. 35:53 • Lonesome Graveyard

Lightnin' Hopkins - 'Walk The Blues'-- [Full Album]:

 

Lightnin' Hopkins - 'Country Blues' (Full Album):

 

1. 0:00 Long Time
2. 1:36 Rainy Day Blues
3. 4:47 Baby!
4. 7:55 Long Gone Like A Turkey Through The Corn
5. 11:40 Prison Blues Come Down On Me
6. 15:07 Backwater Blues (That Mean Ol' Twister)
7. 17:55 Gonna Pull A Party
8. 21:36 Bluebird, Bluebird
9. 23:04 See, See Rider
10. 26.18 Worrying My Mind
11. 29:49 Till The Gin Gets Here
12. 30:53 Bunion Stew
13. 32:53 You Gotta Work To Get Your Pay
14. 35:25 Go Down Old Hannah
15. 39:00 Hear My Black Dog Bark

Lightnin' Hopkins - Portrait of a Blues Legend:

 

Tracklist :
00:00 - Automobile
02:45 - Mojo Hand
05:48 - Moanin' Blues
08:14 - Conversation Blues
12:05 - I'm Beggin' You
14:40 - Penitentiary Blues
17:34 - Last Night Blues
22:51 - Baby Don't You Tear My Clothes
26:34 - Katie Mae Blues
29:34 - Baby Please Don't Go
32:23 - Give Me Central 209
35:20 - Contrary Mary
38:00 - Fan It
40:44 - Shotgun Blues
43:24 - Lonesome Dog Blues
46:03 - Santa

Lightnin' Hopkins (Folkways)--1959:

 

Track listing:
0:00 Penitentiary Blues
3:05 Bad Luck and Trouble
6:51 Come and Go With Me
10:45 Trouble Stay 'Way From My Door
14:52 See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
17:02 Goin' Back To Florida
20:14 Reminiscences of Blind Lemon
22:31 Fan It
25:16 Tell Me, Baby
27:54 She's Mine

From cassette, Texas Blues 1959

Blues Legend Lightnin' Hopkins - 1967 Documentary:

The Blues According To Lightnin' Hopkins,  Directed by Les Blank:
 
 

Lightnin' Hopkins - The Complete Herald Singles Full Album:

 

On Electric guitar:   1954 
Tracklist: 

1 I Love You Baby
2 Shine On Moon
3 Lightnin's Boogie
4 Lonesome In Your Home
5 Remember Me
6 Sittin' Here Thinkin'
7 Lightnin's Special
8 Please Don't Go Baby
9 Don't Think 'Cause You're Pretty
10 Life I Used To Live
11 Grandma's Boogie
12 My Baby's Gone
13 Early Mornin' Boogie
14 Sick Feeling Blues
15 Moving On Out Boogie
16 Hopkins' Sky Hop
17 Evil Hearted Woman
18 Don't Need No Job
19 Blues For My Cookie
20 Had A Gal Called Sal
21 They Wonder Who I Am
22 Nothin' But The Blues
23 That's All Right Baby
24 Finally Met My Baby
25 My Little Kewpie Doll
26 Wonder What Is Wrong With Me

Lightnin' Hopkins - 'Blues In My Bottle'-- 1961:

 

 Tracklist:


1 - "Buddy Brown's Blues" (Alger "Texas" Alexander) 2 - "Wine Spodee-O-Dee" (Stick McGhee, J. Mayo Williams) 3 - "Sail On, Little Girl, Sail On" (Traditional) 4 - "DC-7" (Hopkins) 5 - "Death Bells" (Hopkins) 6 - "Goin' to Dallas to See My Pony Run" (Traditional) 7 -"Jailhouse Blues" (Traditional) 8 - "Blues in My Bottle" (Traditional) 9 - "Beans, Beans, Beans" (Traditional, Hopkins) 10 - "Catfish Blues" (Traditional) 11 - "My Grandpa Is Old Too!" (Hopkins)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightnin%27_Hopkins

Lightnin' Hopkins

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Lightnin' Hopkins
Background information
Birth name Sam John Hopkins
Born March 15, 1912 Centerville, Texas, U.S.
Died January 30, 1982 (aged 69) Houston, Texas, U.S.
Genres Electric blues, country blues, Texas Blues
Occupation(s) Guitarist, singer-songwriter
Instruments Guitar, piano, organ, vocals
Years active 1946–1982
Labels Aladdin, Modern, RPM, Gold Star, Sittin' in With/Jax, Mercury, Decca, Herald, Folkways, World Pacific, Vee-Jay, Arhoolie, Bluesville, Tradition, Fire, Candid, Imperial, Prestige, Verve, Jewel

Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982)[1] was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist, and occasional pianist, from Centerville, Texas. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 71 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.[2]

The musicologist Robert "Mack" McCormick opined that Hopkins is "the embodiment of the jazz-and-poetry spirit, representing its ancient form in the single creator whose words and music are one act".[3]

Contents

 

 

Life

 

Hopkins was born in Centerville, Texas,[4] and as a child was immersed in the sounds of the blues. He developed a deep appreciation for this music at the age of 8, when he met Blind Lemon Jefferson at a church picnic in Buffalo, Texas.[5] That day, Hopkins felt the blues was "in him".[citation needed] He went on to learn from his older (distant) cousin, the country blues singer Alger "Texas" Alexander.[5] (Hopkins had another cousin, the Texas electric blues guitarist Frankie Lee Sims, with whom he later recorded.[6]) Hopkins began accompanying Jefferson on guitar at informal church gatherings. Jefferson reputedly never let anyone play with him except young Hopkins, and Hopkins learned much from Jefferson at these gatherings.
In the mid-1930s, Hopkins was sent to Houston County Prison Farm; the offense for which he was imprisoned is unknown.[5] In the late 1930s, he moved to Houston with Alexander in an unsuccessful attempt to break into the music scene there. By the early 1940s, he was back in Centerville, working as a farm hand.

Hopkins took a second shot at Houston in 1946. While singing on Dowling Street in Houston's Third Ward (which would become his home base), he was discovered by Lola Anne Cullum of Aladdin Records, based in Los Angeles.[5] She convinced Hopkins to travel to Los Angeles, where he accompanied the pianist Wilson Smith. The duo recorded twelve tracks in their first sessions in 1946. An Aladdin executive decided the pair needed more dynamism in their names and dubbed Hopkins "Lightnin'" and Wilson "Thunder".

Gold Star promotional photograph, 1948

Hopkins recorded more sides for Aladdin in 1947. He returned to Houston and began recording for Gold Star Records. In the late 1940s and 1950s he rarely performed outside Texas, only occasionally traveling to the Midwest and the East for recording sessions and concert appearances. It has been estimated that he recorded between eight hundred and a thousand songs in his career. He performed regularly at nightclubs in and around Houston, particularly on Dowling Street, where he had been discovered by Aladdin. He recorded the hit records "T-Model Blues" and "Tim Moore's Farm" at SugarHill Recording Studios in Houston. By the mid- to late 1950s, his prodigious output of high-quality recordings had gained him a following among African Americans and blues aficionados.[citation needed]

In 1959, the blues researcher Mack McCormick contacted Hopkins, hoping to bring him to the attention of a broader musical audience engaged in the folk revival.[5] McCormack presented Hopkins to integrated audiences first in Houston and then in California. He made his debut at Carnegie Hall on October 14, 1960, alongside Joan Baez and Pete Seeger, performing the spiritual "Mary Don't You Weep". In 1960, he signed with Tradition Records. The recordings which followed included his song "Mojo Hand" in 1960.

In 1968, Hopkins recorded the album Free Form Patterns, backed by the rhythm section of the psychedelic rock band 13th Floor Elevators. Through the 1960s and into the 1970s, he released one or sometimes two albums a year and toured, playing at major folk music festivals and at folk clubs and on college campuses in the U.S. and internationally. He toured extensively in the United States[3] and played a six-city tour of Japan in 1978.

Hopkins was Houston's poet-in-residence for 35 years. He recorded more albums than any other bluesman.[3]

Hopkins died of esophageal cancer in Houston on January 30, 1982, at the age of 69. His obituary in the New York Times described him as "one of the great country blues singers and perhaps the greatest single influence on rock guitar players."[7]

References in popular culture

 

A statue of Hopkins sits in Crockett, Texas.[8]
Hopkins is mentioned in Erykah Badu's 2010 "Window Seat": "I don't want to time-travel no more, I want to be here. On this porch I'm rockin', back and forth like Lightnin' Hopkins."
R.E.M. included the song "Lightnin' Hopkins" on their 1987 album Document.
Hopkins's song "Back to New Orleans (Baby Please Don't Go)" was performed by the fictional country singer Cherlene in the FX television comedy Archer (season 5, episode 1).
A statue in the shape of a lightning bolt, dedicated to Hopkins, rests in the Historic West End District of Deep Ellum in Dallas, Texas.

Style

 

Hopkins's style was born from spending many hours playing informally without a backing band. His distinctive fingerstyle technique often included playing, in effect, bass, rhythm, lead, and percussion at the same time.[citation needed] He played both "alternating" and "monotonic" bass styles incorporating imaginative, often chromatic turnarounds and single-note lead lines. Tapping or slapping the body of his guitar added rhythmic accompaniment.

Much of Hopkins's music follows the standard 12-bar blues template, but his phrasing was free and loose. Many of his songs were in the talking blues style, but he was a powerful and confident singer.[citation needed] Lyrically, his songs expressed the problems of life in the segregated South, bad luck in love and other subjects common in the blues idiom. He dealt with these subjects with humor and good nature. Many of his songs are filled with double entendres, and he was known for his humorous introductions to songs.[citation needed]

Some of his songs were of warning and sour prediction, such as "Fast Life Woman":

You may see a fast life woman sittin' round a whiskey joint,
Yes, you know, she'll be sittin' there smilin',
'Cause she knows some man gonna buy her half a pint,
Take it easy, fast life woman, 'cause you ain't gon' live always...[3]

Selected discography

  • Lightnin' and the Blues (Herald), 1955
  • Lightnin' Hopkins Strums the Blues (Score), 1959
  • Lightnin' Hopkins (Folkways), 1959
  • Country Blues (Tradition Records), 1960
  • Last Night Blues (Bluesville Records), 1960
  • Lightnin' (Bluesville), 1960
  • Lightnin' in New York (Candid Records), 1960
  • Autobiography in Blues (Tradition), 1961
  • Blues in My Bottle (Bluesville), 1961
  • Walkin' This Road By Myself (Bluesville), 1962
  • Mojo Hand (Fire Records), 1962
  • Lightnin' and Co. (Bluesville), 1962
  • Lightnin' Strikes (Vee-Jay Records), 1962
  • Blues Hoot, with Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, and Big Joe Williams, recorded live at The Ash Grove, 1961 (Vee-Jay Records), 1963
  • Smokes Like Lightnin' (Bluesville), 1963
  • Goin' Away (Bluesville), 1963
  • Down Home Blues (Bluesville), 1964
  • Coffee House Blues, with Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee (VJ Records VJLP-1138 stereo), 1964
  • Hootin' the Blues (Bluesville), 1965
  • Lightnin' Strikes (Tradition), 1965
  • The Roots of Lightnin' Hopkins (Verve Folkways), 1965
  • Soul Blues (Bluesville), 1966
  • My Life in the Blues (Bluesville), 1967
  • Original Folk Blues (Kent Records), 1967
  • Lightnin'! (Arhoolie Records), 1967
  • Freeform Patterns (International Artists), 1968
  • California Mudslide (and Earthquake) (Vault Records slp129), 1969
  • Swarthmore Concert Live, 1964, 1991
  • Sittin' In with Lightnin' Hopkins (Mainstream Records), 1991
  • The Hopkins Bros., with his brothers Joel and John Henry (Arhoolie Records), 1991
  • The Complete Aladdin Recordings (EMI Blues Series), 1991
  • Lonesome Life (Home Cooking/Collectables), 1992
  • It's a Sin to Be Rich (Gitanes Jazz Productions), 1992
  • Mojo Hand: The Lightnin' Hopkins Anthology (Rhino Records), 1993
  • Texas Blues (Arhoolie Records), 1994
  • Po' Lightning, 1995
  • The Very Best of Lightnin' Hopkins (Rhino Records), 1999
  • Dirty House Blues (Not Now Music), 2012
  •  

Films

 

  • The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins (1968), directed by Les Blank and Skip Gerson (Flower Films & Video)
  • The Sun's Gonna Shine (1969), directed by Les Blank with Skip Gerson (Flower Films & Video)
  • Sounder (1972), directed by Martin Ritt (the soundtrack includes Hopkins singing "Jesus Will You Come by Here")
  • As of 2010, a film documentary on Hopkins, Where Lightnin' Strikes, was in production with Fastcut Films of Houston.
  • His song "Once a Gambler" is on the soundtrack of the 2009 film Crazy Heart.

 

Books

  • Mojo Hand: An Orphic Tale, by J.J. Phillips (Serpent's Tail)
  • Lightnin’ Hopkins: Blues Guitar Legend, by Dan Bowden
  • Deep Down Hard Blues: Tribute to Lightnin', by Sarah Ann West
  • Lightnin' Hopkins: His Life and Blues, by Alan Govenar (Chicago Review Press)
  • Mojo Hand: The Life and Music of Lightnin' Hopkins, by Timothy J. O'Brien and David Ensminger (University of Texas Press)

See also

References

Inline citations




  • Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues: A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. p. 294. ISBN 978-0313344237.

  • "Lightnin' Hopkins | Rolling Stone Music | Lists". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2010-08-09.

  • Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books. p. 64. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.

  • Nicholas, A. X. (1973). Woke Up This Mornin': Poetry of the Blues. Bantam Books. p. 87.

  • Allmusic biography

  • Dahl, Bill. "Frankie Lee Sims: Biography". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 2010-10-19.

  • Saxon, Wolfgang (February 1, 1982). "Obituary: Sam (Lightnin') Hopkins, 69; Blues Singer and Guitarist". New York Times. Retrieved November 11, 2012.


    1. Russell, pp. 145–146.
    Further reading
    • Stambler, Irwin; Landon, Grellun (1983). The Encyclopedia of Folk, Country & Western Music (2nd ed.). St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-24818-0.
    • Liner notes to the CD Country Blues, Ryko/Tradition Records.

     

    External links