Lightnin' Hopkins - Complete Prestige Bluesville (7 CD BOX SET) - 1991

Biography: Sam Hopkins was a Texas country bluesman of the highest caliber whose career began in the 1920s and stretched all the way into the 1980s. Along the way, Hopkins watched the genre change remarkably, but he never appreciably altered his mournful Lone Star sound, which translated onto both acoustic and electric guitar. Hopkins' nimble dexterity made intricate boogie riffs seem easy, and his fascinating penchant for improvising lyrics to fit whatever situation might arise made him a beloved blues troubadour. Hopkins' brothers John Henry and Joel were also talented bluesmen, but it was Sam who became a star. In 1920, he met the legendary Blind Lemon Jefferson at a social function, and even got a chance to play with him. Later, Hopkins served as Jefferson's guide. In his teens, Hopkins began working with another pre-war great, singer Texas Alexander, who was his cousin. A mid-'30s stretch in Houston's County Prison Farm for the young guitarist interrupted their partnership for a time, but when he was freed, Hopkins hooked back up with the older bluesman. The pair was dishing out their lowdown brand of blues in Houston's Third Ward in 1946 when talent scout Lola Anne Cullum came across them. She had already engineered a pact with Los Angeles-based Aladdin Records for another of her charges, pianist Amos Milburn, and Cullum saw the same sort of opportunity within Hopkins' dusty country blues. Alexander wasn't part of the deal; instead, Cullum paired Hopkins with pianist Wilson "Thunder" Smith, sensibly re-christened the guitarist "Lightnin'," and presto! Hopkins was very soon an Aladdin recording artist. "Katie May," cut on November 9, 1946, in L.A. with Smith lending a hand on the 88s, was Lightnin' Hopkins' first regional seller of note. He recorded prolifically for Aladdin in both L.A. and Houston into 1948, scoring a national R&B hit for the firm with his "Shotgun Blues." "Short Haired Woman," "Abilene," and "Big Mama Jump," among many Aladdin gems, were evocative Texas blues rooted in an earlier era. A load of other labels recorded the wily Hopkins after that, both in a solo context and with a small rhythm section: Modern/RPM (his uncompromising "Tim Moore's Farm" was an R&B hit in 1949); Gold Star (where he hit with "T-Model Blues" that same year); Sittin' in With ("Give Me Central 209" and "Coffee Blues" were national chart entries in 1952) and its Jax subsidiary; the major labels Mercury and Decca; and, in 1954, a remarkable batch of sides for Herald where Hopkins played blistering electric guitar on a series of blasting rockers ("Lightnin's Boogie," "Lightnin's Special," and the amazing "Hopkins' Sky Hop") in front of drummer Ben Turner and bassist Donald Cooks (who must have had bleeding fingers, so torrid were some of the tempos). But Hopkins' style was apparently too rustic and old-fashioned for the new generation of rock & roll enthusiasts (they should have checked out "Hopkins' Sky Hop"). He was back on the Houston scene by 1959, largely forgotten. Fortunately, folklorist Mack McCormick rediscovered the guitarist, who was dusted off and presented as a folk-blues artist; a role that Hopkins was born to play. Pioneering musicologist Sam Charters produced Hopkins in a solo context for Folkways Records that same year, cutting an entire LP in Hopkins' tiny apartment (on a borrowed guitar). The results helped introduced his music to an entirely new audience. Lightnin' Hopkins went from gigging at back-alley gin joints to starring at collegiate coffeehouses, appearing on TV programs, and touring Europe to boot. His once-flagging recording career went right through the roof, with albums for World Pacific; Vee-Jay; Bluesville; Bobby Robinson's Fire label (where he cut his classic "Mojo Hand" in 1960); Candid; Arhoolie; Prestige; Verve; and, in 1965, the first of several LPs for Stan Lewis' Shreveport-based Jewel logo. Hopkins generally demanded full payment before he'd deign to sit down and record, and seldom indulged a producer's desire for more than one take of any song. His singular sense of country time befuddled more than a few unseasoned musicians; from the 1960s on, his solo work is usually preferable to band-backed material. Filmmaker Les Blank captured the Texas troubadour's informal lifestyle most vividly in his acclaimed 1967 documentary, The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins. As one of the last great country bluesmen, Hopkins was a fascinating figure who bridged the gap between rural and urban styles.

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Lightnin' Hopkins - Complete Prestige Bluesville (7 CD BOX SET) - 1991

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Product Description: This is a seven-CD box set that repackages all 11 LPs that Lightnin' Hopkins recorded for Bluesville and Prestige during the first half of the 1960s: Last Night Blues, Lightnin', Blues in My Bottle, Walkin' This Road By Myself, Lightnin' and Co., Smokes Like Lightning, Hootin' the Blues, Goin' Away, Down Home Blues, Soul Blues and My Life in the Blues. The very prolific Hopkins (who was never loyal to any one label) also recorded for Candid, Arhoolie, Fire and Vee Jay during the period! The bulk of My Life in the Blues is actually a lengthy and rather historic interview that Samuel Charters conducted with Hopkins. A special bonus of the set is 13 often exciting tracks from a previously unissued concert at the Swarthmore College Folk Festival. The music throughout the box covers quite a variety of moods and subject matter (with Hopkins being unaccompanied on 34 of the tracks) and definitively sums up the veteran bluesman's later period.

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Lightnin' Hopkins - Complete Prestige Bluesville (7 CD BOX SET) - 1991

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Review: Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins was and still is one of the most under appreciated bluesmen of all time. This box set contains a treasure trove of songs recorded by Lightnin' including the legendary Swarthmore Concert that is worth the price of the box set alone. Fans of "real" blues guitar playing will not be disappointed with anything in this collection delivered with Lightnin's trademark guitar licks and vocal stylings. Highly recommended. ~ Amazon Customer

Track Listing:

CD1

01 - Rocky Mountain - 5:01
02 - Got To Move Your Baby - 4:05
03 - So Sorry To Leave You - 4:23
04 - Take A Trip With Me - 5:07
05 - Last Night Blues - 5:19
06 - Lightnin's Stroke - 4:58
07 - Hard To Love A Woman - 4:04
08 - Conversation Blues - 3:54
09 - Automobile Blues - 4:34
10 - You Better Watch Yourself - 5:01
11 - Mean Old Frisco - 3:43
12 - Shinin' Moon - 4:09
13 - Come Back Baby - 3:30
14 - Thinkin' 'Bout An Old Friend - 5:08
15 - The Walkin' Blues - 3:26
16 - Back To New Orleans - 3:22
17 - Katie Mae - 4:05
18 - Down There Baby - 4:07

CD2

01 - Black Gal - 4:12
02 - Baby Don't You Tear My Clothes - 3:48
03 - Good Morning Little School Girl - 3:10
04 - Coffee Blues - 3:42
05 - Buddy Brown's Blues (98 Degree Blues) - 4:07
06 - Wine Spodee-O-Dee - 3:05
07 - Sail on, Little Girl, Sail on - 4:20
08 - DC-7 - 4:33
09 - Death Bells - 3:54
10 - Goin' To Dallas To See My Pony Run - 3:51
11 - Jailhouse Blues - 3:20
12 - Blues In The Bottle - 3:17
13 - Beans, Beans, Beans - 2:28
14 - Catfish Blues - 4:19
15 - My Grandpa Is Old Too! - 3:04
16 - T Model Blues - 2:52
17 - Jackstropper Blues - 3:28
18 - You Cook All Right - 4:20
19 - You Never Miss Your Water - 2:42
20 - Let's Do The Suzie Q - 3:44
21 - Smokes Like Lightning - 5:14

CD3

01 - How Many More Years I Got To Let You Dog Me Around - 3:02
02 - Black Cadillac - 3:41
03 - Walkin' This Road By Myself - 4:54
04 - The Devil Jumped The Black Man - 4:14
05 - My Baby Don't Stand No Cheating - 2:09
06 - You Is One Black Rat - 2:31
07 - The Fox Chase - 3:20
08 - Mojo Hand - 3:23
09 - Mama Blues - 5:18
10 - My Black Name - 4:01
11 - Ida Mae - 5:30
12 - Prison Farm Blues - 4:35
13 - Worried Life Blues - 2:58
14 - Happy Blues For John Glenn - 5:24
15 - Sinner's Prayer - 3:48
16 - Angel Child - 3:36
17 - I Got A Leak In This Old Building - 5:23
18 - Pneumonia Blues - 3:32
19 - Have You Ever Been Mistreated - 4:04

CD4

01 - Blues Is A Feeling - 8:03
02 - Me And Ray Charles - 3:37
03 - In The Evening - 3:22
04 - Ain't It Crazy - 2:27
05 - Last Night I Lost The Best Friend I Ever Had - 4:37
06 - Everything - 3:00
07 - I Work Down On The Chain Gang - 5:13
08 - Meet Me In The Bottom - 2:31
09 - Business You're Doin' - 3:21
10 - Wake Up Old Lady - 4:27
11 - Stranger Here - 5:53
12 - Don't Embarrass Me, Baby - 3:24
13 - Little Sister's Boogie - 3:34
14 - Goin' Away - 5:49
15 - You Better Stop Her - 4:42
16 - I'm Wit' It - 4:03
17 - Let's Go Sit On The Lawn - 4:16
18 - I Woke Up This Morning - 5:53

CD5

01 - Baby, Please Don't Go [#] - 4:25
02 - My Black Cadillac [#] - 5:49
03 - It's Crazy [#] - 4:34
04 - Mojo Hand [#] - 3:40
05 - My Babe [#] - 3:41
06 - Short Haired Woman [#] - 5:04
07 - Mean Old Frisco [#] - 2:29
08 - Trouble In Mind [#] - 3:24
09 - The Twister [#] - 3:45
10 - Green Onion [#] - 3:02
11 - Sun Goin' Down [#] - 3:39
12 - Come Go Home With Me [#] - 3:40
13 - I'm A Stranger [#] - 4:22
14 - I Got Tired - 4:40
15 - I Like To Boogie - 3:54
16 - I Asked The Bossman - 6:47
17 - I'm Taking A Devil Of A Chance - 3:57
18 - Just A Wristwatch On My Arm - 3:35

CD6

01 - I Was Standing On 75 Highway - 5:11
02 - Get It Straight - 1:31
03 - I'm Going To Build Me A Heaven Of My Own - 5:59
04 - My Babe - 3:24
05 - Too Many Drivers - 3:32
06 - I'm A Crawling Black Snake - 4:52
07 - Rocky Mountain Blues - 3:54
08 - I Mean Goodbye - 3:03
09 - The Howling Wolf - 3:56
10 - Black Ghost Blues - 3:33
11 - Darling, Do You Remember Me? - 3:41
12 - Lonesome Graveyard - 5:32
13 - I Don't Want To Do Nothing To You - 2:35
14 - You Is One Black Rat - 3:12
15 - Got Nowhere To Lay My Head - 6:29
16 - Just Boogyin' - 2:25
17 - Take Me Back - 2:12
18 - I Was Down On Dowling Street - 5:11

CD7

01 - I Growed Up With The Blues - 5:07
02 - My Family - 4:29
03 - I Learn About The Blues - 6:21
04 - I First Come Into Houston - 3:23
05 - I Meet Texas Alexander - 5:17
06 - They Was Hard Times - 6:10
07 - I Do My First Record And Get My Name - 5:24
08 - My Thoughts On The Blues - 5:24 Personnel:

Lightnin' Hopkins - Primary Artist, Guitar, Vocals
Billy Bizor - Harmonica
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Harmonica
Leonard Gaskin - Bass
Samuel Charters - Track Performer
Donald Cooks - Bass
Belton Evans - Drums
Herb Lovelle - Drums
Buster Pickens - Piano
Spider Kilpatrick - Drums