“Like father, like son” goes the English phrase.  

And in many ways that is true for leading blues artists John Lee Hooker and his son, John Lee Hooker Jr., as they both share similar values and have led extraordinary lives.   

Tracks like ‘Boogie Chillen' (1948), ‘Boom Boom’ (1962), and ‘One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer’ (1966) made John Lee Hooker famous, and earned him double-Grammy success and induction into both the Blues and the Rock n Roll halls of fame. Hooker is without doubt one of the key pioneers in the history of Delta blues and rock n roll music.  

John Lee Hooker Junior’s blues, on the other hand, has a much more contemporary feel. Tracks like Blues ain’t nothing but a pimp (2004) have led him to two Grammy nominations, and to share stage with stars of the calibre of the Rolling Stones, BB King and ZZ Top.    

John Lee Hooker Jr. gives an interview to Guitars Exchange where he talks about his father’s legacy and his own incredible life, from San Quentin prisoner to preacher man, and much besides.  

It is 59º F in California in mid-March 2018, John Lee is at his home, and he is constantly being interrupted by family members, workers and musicians, but he is always entertaining, humble and polite, despite all the activity and apparent brouhaha that surrounds him…    



GE: What have you been up to recently?  

JLH: I’ve been preaching, singing the gospel, and doing the work of God.  

On 16th September 2017 I opened for the Rolling Stones in Spielberg, Austria. It went very well, it was delightful; 90,000 people. I’ll send you a picture of me and Keith Richards.  

GE: I was listening again last night to your fantastic ‘Blues ain’t nothing but a pimp’. What were you feeling when you wrote that?  

JLH: I was probably in a different state of mind. [It is about the idea that we] work hard and we are awakened in the morning to go to work…  

GE: You’ve had quite a life… you have been a prisoner, homeless, a drug addict, a musician, received Grammy nominations, a preacher – has the blues always been important for you in each of those moments?        

JLH: Yes, I’ve had an incredible life, Sir. Yes, the blues helped me… God gave me the blues music to help me to stay focused. He changed my life. Now I don’t sing the same lyrics that I used to sing; now I sing and tell stories about God and testify. Now I am a new creature.  

GE: Who are the bluesmen you most admire?  

JLH: BB King, the Rolling Stones, and Buddy Guy.  



GE: And who do you consider the greatest?  

JLH: Jesus. Hallelujah! Yes Sir.  

GE: What is your opinion of ZZ Top, for example, who molded their sound using your father's music?  

JLH: ZZ Top are rock n roll singers; I opened for them in Finland. I think it’s okay that they used my father’s music, that’s what we do, we establish a relationship. My dad came to this earth to be a blessing to [people] and he helped me get started. So it’s okay, we don’t think it’s theft; we are just grateful that he was able to be used.  

GE: Going back to your childhood, you once said you were ‘baptised into the blues’; what was your first musical memory of you and your father?  

JLH: When I was eight years old… I sat on his lap in Detroit at the radio station and they let me sing. That was my first encounter with that genre of music.  



GE: Your dad walked out of his home with just a guitar when he was 14, and never returned. Does that same spirit run in your family?  

JLH: That’s right he went to Memphis, Tennessee. He ran away to Memphis and he worked in movie theatres as an usher. I also tried to get a job when I was 14. In terms of loving people, exemplifying his talent, in terms of being a hard worker, yes [I also have that spirit].  We don’t give up. He went through discrimination. He went through a lot to get to where he was: [having to hear] the ‘N’ word, using the back doors, he was a determined man - correct.  

GE: How would you describe your blues sound in comparison with your father?   

JLH: My dad was an itinerant musician, he did what he did sometimes in front of small crowds, and sometimes large. Sometimes with a four or five piece band, and sometimes by himself - but me, I am always with a big band. I am modern and contemporary. I’ve got big horns.  

GE: If you had to choose three favourites from your father’s songs, which would you choose?

JLH: House Rent Boogie – first; then, Boom Boom Boom; and Boogie with the Hook.  

GE: Turning to guitars, do you have any of your father’s; one of his Epiphone guitars perhaps?  

JLH: Yeh, you wanna buy one? (laughs)  



GE: Actually I’d really like a video of you, with one of your father’s guitars.   

JLH: I got one that he played.  

GE: Could you do a ten second video with the guitar and send it to me?  

JLH: You want me to send you a ten second video? (laughs) This is something else! I’m out working Paul. I’ll do it later okay? Okay Paul, I’ll get that to you. God bless you Sir.  

GE: And to you. Thank you!    

The interview closes with John Lee Hooker explaining what he has planned for the rest of 2018. In August, he says, he is going to be honoured with the Bobby “Blue” Bland lifetime achievement award in Mississippi.  

John Lee also says “we’ll be recording soon, the name of the album is called ‘My God is Holy’”, and that he’ll be touring as well in Europe, covering everything from blues music to gospel. “That’s what’s going on with me, brother,” he concludes, with a friendly laugh. “Give me a promoter and we are ready to come back to Barcelona, Madrid, and all over!”.