Earl Hooker, Simply The Best - 1h 15m 55s

Tracks & Durations

1. You Shook Me	2:44
2. Frog Hop	2:27
3. Tanya	3:05
4. Messin' Around With The Blues	3:19
5. Drivin' Wheel	3:19
6. Sweet Home Chicago	2:52
7. Sweet Black Angel	2:31
8. When I Was Drinkin'	2:45
9. Universal Rock	4:08
10. Don't Have To Worry	4:20
11. Come To Me Right Away, Baby	3:43
12. Hookin'	4:21
13. You Got To Lose	5:45
14. Would You Baby	3:45
15. The Sky Is Crying	5:31
16. They Call It Stormy Monday	4:55
17. Farther Up The Road	4:58
18. Drifting Blues	6:36
19. If You Miss 'Im...I Got 'Im...	4:39

Note: The information about this album is acquired from the publicly available resources and we are not responsible for their accuracy.

Review

There's only one complaint to be voiced about this best-of collection, which includes a great deal of material never previously available on CD: the lack of remastering. The scratches and static mar an otherwise crisp and energetic rendition of "Sweet Home Chicago," and may interfere with one's enjoyment of the clean, expressive guitar on "Drivin' Wheel." What can't be denied, however, is the compelling combination of Earl Hooker's virtuosity with an expressiveness that made his guitar solos far more than mere noodling. Just listen to his guitar work on the opening track, Muddy Waters's take on the classic "You Shook Me"--Hooker's guitar complements Waters's smoking vocals perfectly. In addition to much of his own material, chiefly from the late 1960s, this collection also features two tracks recorded with Johnny "Big Moose" Walker, including a slow-burning take on "The Sky Is Crying." He also backs up the late blues-R&B great Charles Brown on "Drifting Blues," and closes with a duet on "If You Miss 'Em... I Got 'Em" with his much more famous second cousin, John Lee. Earl Hooker's never had the name recognition accorded to T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, or others who started trends in the blues or even achieved crossover success. But he's a well-known name among bluesmen themselves, and Simply the Best illustrates why quite handily. --Genevieve Williams

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