Lightnin' Hopkins (album)

Last updated

Lightnin' Hopkins
Lightnin' Hopkins (album).jpg
Studio album by
Lightnin' Hopkins
Released1959
RecordedJanuary 16, 1959
Studio2803 Hadley St., Houston, Texas
Genre Blues
Length30:55
Label Folkways
FS3822
Producer Samuel Charters
Lightnin' Hopkins chronology
Lightnin' and the Blues
(1960)		Lightnin' Hopkins
(1959)		 Country Blues
(1959)

Lightnin' Hopkins (re-released as The Roots of Lightnin' Hopkins) is an album by blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, recorded in 1959 and released on the Folkways label. [1] [2] [3] [4] The album was first released around the time that the book The Country Blues came out and was an instant success. It gave Hopkin's career a new lease on life.

Contents

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [5]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Record Mirror Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]

AllMusic reviewer Thom Owens stated: "Upon its initial release, it was a pivotal part of the blues revival and helped re-spark interest in Hopkins. Before it was recorded, the bluesman had disappeared from sight; after a great deal of searching, Sam Charters found Hopkins in a rented one-room apartment in Houston. Persuading Lightnin' with a bottle of gin, Charters convinced Hopkins to record ten songs in that room, using only one microphone. The resulting record was one of the greatest albums in Hopkins' catalog, a skeletal record that is absolutely naked in its loneliness and haunting in its despair. These unvarnished performances arguably capture the essence of Lightnin' Hopkins better than any of his other recordings, and it is certainly one of the landmarks of the late-'50s/early-'60s blues revival". [5] The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings awarded the album three stars stating "'Exciting' may not be the word everyone would choose to describe this intimate, unplugged performance, but it was greeted on its original release with considerable enthusiasm, a response moulded by interpretation of the blues as folk music, suspicion of electric guitars, and other views current in the '50s and '60s among the sort of people who bought Folkways albums. It remains an estimable record". [6]

Re-release

The Roots of Lightnin' Hopkins The Roots of Lightnin' Hopkins.jpeg
The Roots of Lightnin' Hopkins

The album was released in the UK by Verve Folkways as VLP 5003 (mono) and SVLP 5003 (stereo) in 1965 as The Roots of Lightnin' Hopkins and re-released in 1972 by Transatlantic Records (XTRA 1127). In 1990, it was re-released on CD under the title Lightnin' Hopkins by Smithsonian/Folkways (SF 40019), and distributed by Rounder Records. The CD was produced by Matt Walters, remastered by Doug Sax and Alan Yoshida at The Mastering Lab in Hollywood, California, and printed in Canada. As cover design the original Folkways LP's artwork by Ronald Clyne with a photograph taken by Samuel B. Charters was used. Charters also wrote the sleeve notes for the CD at the Mansfield Centre, Conn. 1990.

Track listing

All compositions by Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins except where noted

  1. "Penitentiary Blues" (Traditional) – 2:45
  2. "Bad Luck and Trouble" (Hopkins, Mack McCormick) – 3:40
  3. "Come Go Home With Me" (Hopkins, McCormick) – 3:45
  4. "Trouble Stay 'Way from My Door" – 4:00
  5. "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" (Blind Lemon Jefferson) – 2:05
  6. "Goin' Back to Florida" – 3:10
  7. "Reminiscenses of Blind Lemon" – 2:10
  8. "Fan It" – 2:40
  9. "Tell Me, Baby" – 2:30
  10. "She's Mine" – 4:10

Personnel

Performance

Production

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lightnin' Hopkins</span> American singer-songwriter, pianist, and guitarist (1912–1982)

Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.

<i>Smokes Like Lightning</i> 1963 studio album by Lightnin Hopkins

Smokes Like Lightning is an album by the blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, recorded in Texas in 1962 and released on the Bluesville label the following year.

<i>Lightnin and Co.</i> 1962 studio album by Lightnin Hopkins

Lightnin' and Co. is an album by the blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, recorded in Texas in 1962 and released on the Bluesville label. The album was reissued in 1981 on Fantasy Records as a double LP compilation titled How Many More Years I Got, with additional tracks from the sessions.

<i>Lightnin Sam Hopkins</i> 1962 studio album by Lightnin Hopkins

Lightnin' Sam Hopkins is an album by blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins recorded in California in late 1961 and Texas in early 1962 and released on the Arhoolie label.

<i>Autobiography in Blues</i> 1960 studio album by Lightnin Hopkins

Autobiography in Blues is an album by the blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, recorded in 1959 and released on the Tradition label the following year.

<i>Country Blues</i> 1959 studio album by Lightnin Hopkins

Country Blues is an album by the blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, recorded in 1959 and released on the Tradition label.

<i>Down South Summit Meetin</i> 1960 studio album by Brownie McGhee, Lightnin Hopkins, Big Joe Williams and Sonny Terry

Down South Summit Meetin' is an album by the blues musicians Brownie McGhee, Lightnin' Hopkins, Big Joe Williams and Sonny Terry, recorded in 1960 and released on the World Pacific label.

<i>Walkin This Road by Myself</i> 1962 studio album by Lightnin Hopkins

Walkin' This Road by Myself is an album by the blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, recorded in Texas and released on the Bluesville label.

<i>Down Home Blues</i> (Lightnin Hopkins album) 1964 studio album by Lightnin Hopkins

Down Home Blues is an album by blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins recorded in 1964 and released on the Bluesville label.

<i>Soul Blues</i> (album) 1965 studio album by Lightnin Hopkins

Soul Blues is an album by the blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, recorded in 1963 and released on the Bluesville label.

<i>Lightnin Strikes</i> (Vee-Jay album) 1962 studio album by Lightnin Hopkins

Lightnin' Strikes is an album by the blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, recorded in Texas in 1962 and released on the Vee-Jay label.

<i>Lightnin Strikes</i> (Verve Folkways album) 1966 studio album by Lightnin Hopkins

Lightnin' Strikes is an album by blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins recorded in Los Angeles in 1965 and released on the Vee-Jay label.

<i>My Life in the Blues</i> 1965 studio album by Lightnin Hopkins

My Life in the Blues is an album by the blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, recorded in late 1964 and released on the Prestige label the following year. The album contains Hopkins' performances interspersed with an interview conducted by Samuel Charters.

<i>Something Blue</i> (Lightnin Hopkins album) 1967 studio album by Lightnin Hopkins

Something Blue is an album by blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins recorded in Los Angeles in 1965 and released on the Verve Folkways label in 1967.

<i>Free Form Patterns</i> 1968 studio album by Lightnin Hopkins

Free Form Patterns is an album by the blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins backed by the rhythm section of the 13th Floor Elevators, recorded in Texas in 1968 and released on the International Artists label.

<i>California Mudslide (and Earthquake)</i> 1969 studio album by Lightnin Hopkins

California Mudslide (and Earthquake), also reissued as Los Angeles Blues, is an album by the blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, recorded in California in 1969 and released on the Vault label.

<i>Lightnin!</i> 1969 studio album by Lightnin Hopkins

Lightnin'! is an album by the blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins recorded in California in 1969 and released on the Poppy label as a double LP.

<i>Po Lightnin</i> 1983 compilation album by Lightnin Hopkins

Po' Lightnin' is an album by blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins recorded in California in 1969 and originally released on the Arhoolie label in 1983.

<i>The Swarthmore Concert</i> 1993 live album by Lightnin Hopkins

The Swarthmore Concert, subtitled King of the Blues, is a live album by the blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, recorded at the Swarthmore College Folk Festival in 1965. It was originally released as part of the seven-CD box set Lightnin' Hopkins: The Complete Prestige/Bluesville Recordings, in 1991, before being reissued on Bluesville as a single CD in 1993.

<i>Lightning Hopkins with His Brothers Joel and John Henry / with Barbara Dane</i> 1966 live album by Lightnin Hopkins, Joel Hopkins, John Henry Hopkins and Barbara Dane

Lightning Hopkins with His Brothers Joel and John Henry / with Barbara Dane is an album by blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins recorded in Texas and California in 1964 and released on the Arhoolie label. The original album was split with one side featuring tracks with Hopkins and His Brothers and the other performances with Barbara Dane. In 1991 through Smithsonian Folkways, Arhoolie released the Hopkins Brothers tracks on CD as The Hopkins Brothers: Joel, Lightning & John Henry with additional unreleased recordings, then in 1994 the tracks with Barbara Dane were released as Sometimes I Believe She Loves Me with unreleased tracks.

References

  1. ↑ Smithsonian Folkways: album details, Folkways.si.edu, accessed November 7, 2018
  2. ↑ Both Sides Now: Verve Folkways/Forecast Label Discography, Bsnpubs.com, accessed November 7, 2018
  3. ↑ Wirz' American Music: Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins discography, Wirz.de, accessed November 7, 2018
  4. ↑ O'Brien, T. J. Lightnin' Album of the Week: Week 2 September 4, 2010, Lightninghopkins.wordpress.com, accessed November 7, 2018
  5. 1 2 Owens, Thom. Lightnin' Hopkins: Lightnin' Hopkins [Smithsonian/Folkways – Review] at AllMusic . Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  6. 1 2 Russell, Tony; Smith, Chris (2006). The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. London: Penguin. p. 278. ISBN   978-0-140-51384-4.
  7. ↑ Jones, Peter; Jopling, Norman (February 19, 1966). "Lightin' Hoplins: The Roots Of Lightnin' Hopkins" (PDF). Record Mirror . No. 258. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 1, 2022. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.