Tag Archives: Jailhouse Rock

April 30 in music history

Happy birthday Willie Nelson (read more)

We create our own unhappiness. The purpose of suffering is to help us understand we are the ones who cause it.
~Willie Nelson

He [Willie Nelson] takes whatever thing he’s singing and makes it his. There’s not many people who can do that. Even something like an Elvis tune. You know, once Elvis done a tune, it’s pretty much done. But Willie is the only one in my recollection that has even taken something associated with Elvis and made it his. He just puts his sorta trip on it…
~Bob Dylan (28 April 1993)

willie-nelson
 McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 – April 30, 1983), known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the “father of modern Chicago blues”. He was a major inspiration for the British blues explosion in the 1960s, and was ranked No. 17 in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.  muddy waters
 John Gale “Johnny” Horton (April 30, 1925–November 5, 1960) was an American country music and rockabilly singer most famous for his semi-folk, so-called “saga songs” which began the “historical ballad” craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s.  Johnny_Horton
 Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (born April 30, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and the frontman for Bon Iver.  justin vernon
 Leslie Conway “Lester” Bangs (December 13, 1948 – April 30, 1982) was an American music journalist, author, and musician. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines and was known for his deft and influential rock music criticism.  Lester_Bangs
Elvis Presley recorded “Jailhouse Rock” April 30 1957.

“Jailhouse Rock” is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller that first became a hit for Elvis Presley. The song was released as a 45rpm single on September 24, 1957, to coincide with the release of Presley’s motion picture, Jailhouse Rock.

The song as sung by Elvis Presley is #67 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

Elvis Presley - Jailhouse_rock

Spotify Playlist – April 30

Today: The late John Lee Hooker was born in 1917 – 96 years ago

John Lee Hooker

I don’t think about time. You’re here when you’re here. I think about today, staying in tune.
~John Lee Hooker

I don’t play a lot of fancy guitar. I don’t want to play it. The kind of guitar I want to play is mean, mean licks.
~John Lee Hooker

When they say true blues, pure blues, John Lee Hooker is as close to it as anyone I’ve ever heard.
~B.B. King

One bourbon, one scotch, and one beer
Hey mister bartender come here
I want another drink and I want it now
~John Lee Hooker (One bourbon, one scotch, and one beer)

JLH was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. Here from the ceremony he performs “In The Mood” together with Bonnie Raitt:

From Wikipedia:

Born August 22, 1917
Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States
Died June 21, 2001 (aged 83)
Los Altos, California, United States
Genres Blues, talking blues, country blues
Occupations Singer-songwriter, Musician, Songwriter
Instruments Guitar, vocals
Years active 1943–2001
Labels Vee-Jay, Chess, Bluesway, ++
Associated acts Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King,Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Canned Heat

John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1917 – June 21, 2001) was a highly influential American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally a unique brand of country blues. He developed a ‘talking blues’ style that was his trademark. Though similar to the early Delta blues, his music was metrically free. John Lee Hooker could be said to embody his own unique genre of the blues, often incorporating the boogie-woogie piano style and a driving rhythm into his blues guitar playing and singing. His best known songs include “Boogie Chillen'” (1948), “I’m in the Mood” (1951) and “Boom Boom” (1962), the first two reaching R&B #1 in the Billboard charts.

From Allmusic (Bill Dahl):
He was beloved worldwide as the king of the endless boogie, a genuine blues superstar whose droning, hypnotic one-chord grooves were at once both ultra-primitive and timeless. But John Lee Hooker recorded in a great many more styles than that over a career that stretched across more than half a century.
Read more -> allmusic.com

 

Awards and recognition

  • A Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
  • Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980
  • Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991
  • Two of his songs, “Boogie Chillen” and “Boom Boom” were named to the list of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
  • “Boogie Chillen” was included as one of the Songs of the Century.
John Lee’s style has always been unique, even among other performers of the real deep blues, few of whom remain with us today. While retaining that foundation he has simultaneously broken new ground musically and commercially. At the age of 80, John Lee Hooker received his third and fourth Grammy Awards, for Best Traditional Blues Recording (Don’t Look Back) and for Best Pop Collaboration for the song “Don’t Look Back” which Hooker recorded with his long time friend Van Morrison.
~johnleehooker.com

 

Grammy Awards:

  • Best Traditional Blues Recording, 1990 for I’m in the Mood (with Bonnie Raitt)
  • Best Traditional Blues Recording, 1998 for Don’t Look Back
  • Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, 1998, “Don’t Look Back” (with Van Morrison)
  • Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000

Boom! Boom!:

One Bourbon, one Scotch, one Beer:

Album of the day – John Lee Hooker Plays & Sings The Blues (1961):

John Lee Hooker Plays and Sings the Blues

John Lee Hooker Plays and Sings the Blues back

Other August-22:

Continue reading Today: The late John Lee Hooker was born in 1917 – 96 years ago

Today: The late John Lee Hooker was born in 1917 – 95 years ago

One bourbon, one scotch, and one beer
One bourbon, one scotch, and one beer
Hey mister bartender come here
I want another drink and I want it now

From Wikipedia:

Born August 22, 1917
Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States
Died June 21, 2001 (aged 83)
Los Altos, California, United States
Genres Blues, talking blues, country blues
Occupations Singer-songwriter, Musician, Songwriter
Instruments Guitar, vocals
Years active 1943–2001[2]
Labels Vee-Jay, Chess, Bluesway, ++
Associated acts Carlos SantanaBonnie RaittB.B. King,Van MorrisonBob DylanCanned Heat

John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1917 – June 21, 2001) was a highly influential American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally a unique brand of country blues. He developed a ‘talking blues’ style that was his trademark. Though similar to the early Delta blues, his music was metrically free. John Lee Hooker could be said to embody his own unique genre of the blues, often incorporating the boogie-woogie piano style and a driving rhythm into his blues guitar playing and singing. His best known songs include “Boogie Chillen’” (1948), “I’m in the Mood” (1951) and “Boom Boom” (1962), the first two reaching R&B #1 in the Billboard charts.

From Allmusic (Bill Dahl):

He was beloved worldwide as the king of the endless boogie, a genuine blues superstar whose droning, hypnotic one-chord grooves were at once both ultra-primitive and timeless. But John Lee Hooker recorded in a great many more styles than that over a career that stretched across more than half a century.

Read more -> allmusic.com

Awards and recognition

  • A Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
  • Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980
  • Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991
  • Two of his songs, “Boogie Chillen” and “Boom Boom” were named to the list of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
  • “Boogie Chillen” was included as one of the Songs of the Century.

Grammy Awards:

  • Best Traditional Blues Recording, 1990 for I’m in the Mood (with Bonnie Raitt)
  • Best Traditional Blues Recording, 1998 for Don’t Look Back
  • Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, 1998, “Don’t Look Back” (with Van Morrison)
  • Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000

Hobo Blues – 1965:

One Bourbon, one Scotch, one Beer:

Album of the day – John Lee Hooker Plays & Sings The Blues (1961):

Other August-22:

Continue reading Today: The late John Lee Hooker was born in 1917 – 95 years ago