John Lee Hooker was born in Clarksdale in 1917. He recorded several solo albums, and also played with Mose Allison, Albert King, Bonnie Raitt, and the rock group Canned Heat, among others. Earl Hooker was John Lee Hooker's cousin. He was also born in Clarksdale, but spent his childhood in Chicago before returning to Clarksdale to play with Ike Turner. His early influences included Robert Nighthawk and Sonny Boy Williamson. The two Hookers had radically different approaches to the Blues. John Lee's approach involved driving beat and monotonous chords while Earl Hooker specialized in the slide guitar, bending notes to sound like the human voice. Tony Hollins was the oldest of the three, born in Clarksdale in 1900. He wrote some of the music that John Lee Hooker appropriated as his own, including the famous Crawlin' Kingsnake Blues and Traveling Man Blues.
The Peavine Awards were founded at Delta State University in 1998 to honor the memory of the Delta's great Blues musicians. Each year since, they have remembered the work of two to three performers, with special awards for festivals and Blues researchers. For information about this event or the Peavine Awards, contact the Delta Center for Culture and Learning at 662-846-4311.
Roger StolleCat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art
252 Delta Avenue
Clarksdale, MS 38614
662-624-5992
[email protected]
For more information contact All About Jazz.
