Product Description:
Personnel: John Lee Hooker, Mark Skyer (vocals, guitar); Bob Hite (vocals, harmonica); Chris Morgan (guitar); Ronnie Barron (piano); Richard Hite (bass); Adolfo De La Parra (drums).
The Chambers Brothers: Willie Chambers, Lester Chambers, George Chambers, Joe Chambers (background vocals).
Recorded live at The Fox Venice Theatre, Venice, California.
Despite the equal cover billing, this 1981 live recording is much more Heat than Hooker--the aging but still fiery Delta blues guitarist plays and sings only on the last three tracks. However, the band matches the guitarist's idiosyncratic style surprisingly well, and backing vocals by soul legends the Chambers Brothers are more than welcome, making it a fine document of good-old-fashioned music in the style that Hooker himself termed "boogie" in his first classic recording.
By the late '50s, Hooker and other traditional blues artists such as Mississippi Fred McDowell were "rediscovered" by folk audiences eager to hear this rapidly disappearing style of music. This led to the British blues boom of the mid-'60s, which effectively crossbred traditional blues with rock & roll. Things eventually came back to the United States with the success of the Yardbirds and Cream, who inspired American blues-rockers like Canned Heat. This recording closes the circle.
