Anthology

This three-disc, 60-track box collects sides John Lee Hooker cut for Chicago's Vee-Jay Records between 1955 and 1964, along with sides he recorded in a more acoustic vein for Bill Grauer and Orrin Keepnews' Riverside Records in the late '50s. Whether Hooker was paired with a small electric band or was tracked chugging along solo, he always did the same sort of boogie shuffle rhythms, and somehow he always managed to be John Lee Hooker rather than being boring, even if, at times, listening to these 60 cuts sounds like one is lost inside of one huge three-hour country blues song. Hooker was always Hooker. ~ Steve Leggett