Live at Newport
Although propulsive classics such as "Boogie Chillen" and "Dimples" had already established John Lee Hooker among the most electrifying artists within the blues community, his performances at the Newport Folk Festival in 1960 and '63 found him catering to the biases of a broader, younger (and whiter) audience: folk-revival fans who preferred acoustic to electric and country blues to the modern urban strain. Thus, the Detroit-based Hooker did his best to approximate the styles he'd left behind in his native Mississippi a couple of decades earlier. The brooding narrative balladry of "Tupelo" and "Great Fire of Natchez" benefits from this stripped-down approach, and Hooker feels more at liberty to change tempos and keys throughout. But the unplugged versions of staples such as "Boom Boom" barely approach the sensual swagger of Hooker at his most musically potent. This 17-cut reissue includes three previously unreleased tracks, plus another appearing for the first time on CD.--Don McLeese