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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

JOHN LEE HOOKER - YOU GOTTA SHAKE IT UP AND GO

If there were a Mount Rushmore of the blues, John Lee Hooker would certainly be a candidate to be part of the monument. And in his monumental body of recorded works, here lies what is perhaps his greatest ever r&b track, and when the boogie man says "shake it up and go" one better do as told.

My only question is what's with the off rhythm knocks (hammer taps) that run thru the record? Lends a downright weird edge, but luckily doesn't ruin the track, which is practically bulletproof in its perfection.

The song itself is a variation of the "traditional" song "Bottle Up And Go"; Hooker recorded several variations of this theme throughout his career, and the single was a one-off for Berkeley, CA label Galaxy (an offshoot of Fantasy Records, who were one of the few labels using colored vinyl during the early '60's)

from 1963...

JOHN LEE HOOKER - YOU GOTTA SHAKE IT UP AND GO



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1 comment:

Gerard Herzhaft said...

This title was recorded in Culver City, California in 1961 by john Lee Hooker alone with his guitar. Years after, Galaxy decided to issue a 45 from this solo session and overdubbed a band with horns to the track. The fact is that it works quite well but the original by Mr Hooker alone is also worth to listen to.

April 2, 2013 at 9:47 AM

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