Lightnin' Hopkins

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A Quiet Rebuke to Life in the Fast Lane.

People today don't have the patience for music that moves at the snail's pace of "Penitentiary Blues," the first track on this 1959 solo gem from Texas bluesman Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins (1912–1982). It lumbers slowly along, and those who expect concision from their blues troubadours may find themselves exasperated by the wearysounding Hopkins, who began recording in the late '40s. He wanders. He digresses. He doesn't stick to blues form—in the great tradition of Son House and others, Hopkins stretches out the chords of the blues, changing them at his whim. That's even true of the somber instruction "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean," a key tune in the solo blues repertoire, which Hopkins alters in sly, subtle ways.

This short set—just nine songs plus Hopkins's reminiscence about Blind Lemon Jefferson—was recorded in Hopkins's Houston apartment by musicologist Sam Charters. Hopkins had spent several years lying low; after recording steadily for small labels, he'd pawned his guitar and was barely involved in music. Charters got the guitar, and convinced Hopkins to record by bringing along a bottle of gin. In the liner notes, Charters explains that he held the microphone in his hand, positioning it near the guitar's tone hole during solos and moving it when Hopkins began singing. He captured an intimate, unadorned slice of the blues, a glimpse of "Lightnin' " moving with glacial slowness, rebuking everything fancy and highfalutin about the form.

Genre: Blues
Released: 1959, Folkways
Key Tracks: "Penitentiary Blues," "Bad Luck and Trouble," "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean"
Catalog Choice: Mojo Hand; Blues Kingpins
Next Stop: Son House: Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: Son House
After That: Blind Lemon Jefferson: King of the Country Blues
Book Page: 367

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Comments:

#1 from Timothy O'Brien, Houston, TX - 01/02/2009 2:42

You should feature this selection because of Lightnin’ Hopkins influence on American popular music. Who else influenced Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Stevie Ray Vaughan and many many more?

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