Drinking Black Coffee and Smoking Cigarettes All Night...

Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive- John Lee Hooker with Van Morrison MP3


T.B. Sheets- John Lee Hooker MP3

4/1/11

beeradvocate rating- B-

Hens Tooth English Ale- Whole Foods Houston St., NYC- 16.9 oz. Bottle into Pub Glass- 6.5% ABV- Another bottle conditioned ale, this one from a brewery in Suffolk, England. After referring to beeradvocate.com before opening this beer I was suprised to learn it had a pretty low rating which was a bit disappointing but hopefully won't make me biased. It poured a translucent, caramel color with a big fat, frothy two finger head. As I poured the head started to level off upwards, sitting well above the rim. It receded at a medium pace and little lacing was left on the glass but some foamy blotches were left behind. Not much aroma to this beer. Some malts and mild dark fruits mixed with a bit of hops but nothing truly distinctive. Light, and fairly watery body which is highly carbonated. This is a pretty bitter beer, not much sweetness going on that I generally associate with some English Ales. I had high hopes for this beer but its pretty unremarkable. As you can see in the picture I posted this bottle had quite a lot of yeast sediment in it and I thought that was a good sign. But this beer is far from complex and I can see why it received a fairly low rating. I want to find something good to say about the beer but there is not much to say. It is pretty drinkable in a sense but it also has a vaguely astringent quality to it. I did like the bottle, label and name of this beer but other than that I don't think I would by this beer again.


Bottle held to light illuminating yeast sediment in bottom of bottle

On the turntable is Never Get Out Of These Blues Again- John Lee Hooker- Recorded in September 1971 at the world class Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco, California for ABC Records. I once heard an interesting thing on an WFMU broadcast. A DJ whose name escapes me at the moment noted that if you come across an unknown record with the band standing in front of their tour bus you should buy it. An interesting motivation to buy a record, right? Well I have tested this theory and it actually is not bad advice. This record doesn't have the band in front of their tour bus but it does have them riding in a bus provided by the Los Angeles Rapid Transit according to the liner notes. This is a pretty sweet record. Despite all of this I would have bought this record regardless of the theory.

I had never seen or heard of this record when I came across it. I was in one of those rare record stores for me where I actually befriended, in a way, one of the proprietors. Unfortunately the store is no more. But when I went in that day he recommended I check a shelf of new records which would be of interest to me. They had yet to be properly sorted and this is where I found this LP. I bought based on the price and the cover alone but when I got it home I realized there was an added bonus... Van Morrison sings a duo on the song Never Get Out Of The Blues Alive! Not only that but Mr. Hooker covers Morrison's truly bluesy song, in both theme and structure, T.B. Sheets. In this treatment dramatic violin lines, which augment gritty organ and guitar accompaniment,lend dramatic crescendo's to an already melancholy, moody piece. This was at the beginning of my Van Morrison fixation and it only intensified it. Beyond the inclusion of Van Morrison on this LP there are top notch session players who include but are not limited to Elvin Bishop on Slide Guitar, Mel Brown on Guitar/Bass and presumably Hooker's kin Robert Hooker on Organ and Fender Rhodes. Bubbling Fender Bass and Wah-Wah guitars give this LP a funky edge I have not come across on any of Mr. Hookers other records.

On a side note the two tunes I posted from this record I remind me of two things:

1. Voodoo Chile on Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix.

2. A great early 80's bootleg I was listening to yesterday called Sweet Home Chicago by The Rolling Stones with Muddy Waters. Muddy and Mick's vocal interplay is very reminiscent of John Lee Hooker's and Van The Man's. There is an energy and joy there shared between the master and the student that escapes literary description. Particularly well illustrated for me on the Stone's boot with Mannish Boy and Champagne & Refer.