This interesting release re-creates the look and contents of the 1964
Kent Records
LP called
Original Folk Blues of John Lee Hooker
right down to the original sleeve art, and ups the ante by including a previously unreleased version of
"Let Your Daddy Ride"
as well as six other additional bonus tracks. Most of these cuts were recorded with
Bernie Besman
in Detroit in fascinatingly primitive fashion between 1948 and 1954, and were then shipped to
the Bihari Brothers
'
Modern Records
imprint for release as singles. Included here are
Hooker
's first versions of
"Boogie Chillen',"
"Crawlin' King Snake,"
and
"Sally Mae,"
each of which is classic
, as rough and raw as a Delta wind blowing shards of glass up the Detroit River. There are some odd experiments, too, like the spooky
"Cold Chills,"
which features an absolutely huge-sounding organ played by
Buddy Johnson
and some eerie, multi-tracked vocals from
, with the whole recording sounding like it was tracked in a massive cavern deep in the earth with a bank of thick fog rolling over everything. These
Modern
releases have appeared time and time again on various
collections, but there is the feel of something special about this particular package. It's all ragged and delightfully unhinged, which is the only way to go with
John Lee Hooker
. ~ Steve Leggett