Just received a copy of All Hooked Up, the new cd/dvd release by John Lee Hooker Jr. which will be available on September 18, 2012. This is a pretty trick recording with a styling sound. It has a lot of roots in a lot of places. Track one Tired Of being A Housewife, has many of the attributes of JG Watson and Albert King with horns, a little bit of a rap rhythm and a great guitar solo from Alvon Johnson. Jr. has great skills as a vocalist and this recording is quite different from anything that Sr. ever did... but that's good. There's nothing like the early Sr. work and Jr. is cutting his own path. You Be My Hero is another blues funk track and it is as smooth as silk... think about JG Watson with no disco influence. Listen To The Music has a strong New Orleans twist and really moves along well. John Burr lays down some real nice piano work on this track. I Surrender comes on strong with horns... Jr. and Betty Wright working an R&B fashioned track and the Curtis Mayfield sound. Hard Times, a soul oriented blues track along the lines of Johnny Jenkins, starts off with some real nice guitar work from John Garcia and nice harp punctuation from Dave Barrette. This track has a great guitar solo digging deeper into the blues. Very nice! Let Me Be another swinging blues track has a lot of horns which really punch up the impact. Jeffrey Horan rips a pretty slick solo on guitar on this track. It Must Be The Meds gets back into the Johnny Guitar Groove with the funky talking guitar but the track has a personality of all it's own. I really like this. Michael Rogers (drums) and Frank Thibeaux (bass) have a lot to do with setting the tempo for this track. The title track, All Hooked Up, brings Walter Wolfman Washington to mind in delivery and James Brown to mind in composition. Eddie Minnfield honks out a cool sax solo on this track. I Know That's Right is a pretty straight R&B track with solid horns and vocals. Pay The Rent takes a hard turn down jazz alley with sparkling key work from Will "Roc" Griffin and horns on punctuation. It's a swingin' blues track that could easily capture airplay due to it's universal timeless appeal. The recording is completed by Tears In My Eyes, another track down the jazz highway but this time more heavily influenced by the blues. Part way through the track the tempo changes and it's in full swing. Jr. demonstrates over and over that he's a great singer with vast potential. John Garcia rips a pretty strong guitar solo on this track as well. This recording falls outside of what I typically hear... and that's good. I think it's a powerful recording from a new master not following in his fathers footsteps.
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Couldn't find a track from the new cd but this is a good representation of JLH Jr. at work.
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