John Lee Hooker - Live in Montreal (2002)

The world's greatest blues singer, John Lee Hooker reached legendary status with his deep, weathered voice and distinctive chugging rhythms. His influence spread to an entire generation of blues-tinged rockers, including The Rolling Stones and The Doors. Hooker's music is a lesson in deep blues, and here he revisits some of his most familiar material, including "Boom Boom" and his biggest hit, "I'm in the Mood." Filled with frisky, guitar-driven boogies and heartsick ballads, this is the blues at its very best! Songs: It Serves Me Right to Suffer, One Bourbon One Scotch One Beer, I'll Never Get Out of These Blues Alive, Roll Me Like You Roll a Wagon Wheel, Boom Boom, I'm in the Mood, Look at What You Did to My Life, Chicken and Gravy, We're Gonna Do the Shout.

A Mixed Bag of Boogie

The makers of this DVD tried their dangdest to make this DVD seem more than what it actually is...the case lists 13 tracks with 59 minutes running time, but the first & last tracks are the opening/ending titles & credits, and the 2nd & 3rd tracks are the generic backup band working up some instrumental jams, waiting for John Lee to join them. This leaves *nine* actual tracks with JLH. Hmmmm...

Of those nine tracks, we get some mostly uninspired performances by John Lee Hooker, and he doesn't really hit passing-gear until the tail-end of this short gig. Despite the aforementioned caveats, the confirmed JLH fan *might* want to add this less-than-stellar performance to their collection, just because it's John Lee Hooker. Others will definitely want to pass on this disk.

I give this DVD two stars, just because it's John Lee Hooker, the Sho' Nuff Boogieman, and the living embodiment of Coolness. December 21, 2003

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