Biography of Earl Hooker

The blues artist and singer generally acknowledged by his peers as the finest all-around guitarist in Chicago blues circles, Earl Hooker brought much of a modern flavor to his music while never straying far from his Clarksdale, MS, roots. A cousin of John Lee Hooker and a major disciple of Robert Nighthawk, Hooker's slide guitar work was the most technically advanced of all bluesmen. Adept at a multitude of styles ranging from hillbilly to jazz, Hooker worked as a sideman and leader in more configurations than any other modern bluesman. While his lead guitar work graced the recordings of Muddy Waters ("You Shook Me"), Junior Wells, G. L. Crockett, and others, Hooker's solo career didn't really blossom until the late '60s, by which time the tuberculosis that dogged him throughout his life cut his career short. Perhaps the only traditional bluesman to successfully utilize electronic gimmicks like wah-wah pedals and distortion units without sounding ridiculous in the process, Earl Hooker remains one of the great listening surprises of the blues. ~ Cub Koda