Mr. Lucky | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1991 | |||
Recorded | Ocean Way Recording Studios, Hollywood Plant Recording Studios, Sausalito Russian Hill Recording, San Francisco | |||
Genre | Blues | |||
Length | 46:04 | |||
Label | Virgin Records (Charisma, PointBlank, Classic) [1] / Silvertone (UK) | |||
Producer | Ry Cooder, Mike Kappus, Roy Rogers, Carlos Santana | |||
John Lee Hooker chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Robert Christgau | A− [3] |
Entertainment Weekly | B− [4] |
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings | [5] |
Rolling Stone | [6] |
Mr. Lucky is a 1991 album by American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist John Lee Hooker. Produced by Ry Cooder, Roy Rogers and Carlos Santana under the executive production of Mike Kappus, the album featured musicians including Keith Richards, Blues Hall of Fame inductee Johnny Winter; and three inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Van Morrison, Booker T. Jones and Johnnie Johnson. And also Chester D. Thompson, who once played with Santana, on keyboards, has collaborated on writing a song on the album. Released on Virgin Records, including on its imprint label Classic Records, Mr. Lucky peaked at #101 on the "Billboard 200". Chester D. Thompson should not be mistaken with Chester Cortez Thompson, a drummer who also played with Santana, Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, Weather Report, Genesis and Phil Collins .
In 1989, John Lee Hooker achieved commercial and critical success with The Healer , an album which paired him with musicians including Carlos Santana [7] and Bonnie Raitt, with whom Hooker shared a Grammy Award for "Best Traditional Blues Recording" for the track "In the Mood". [8] With Mr. Lucky, producers Cooder, Rogers and Santana follow the same successful formula, to mixed critical reviews; Rolling Stone praised the album as a refinement over its predecessor with an "all around...sharper fit", its notable guests serving as "superb sidemen for a great bluesman". [9] Entertainment Weekly , by contrast, described the album as essentially "a tribute album" where "most of the tunes...don't sound like Hooker at all". [10] In spite of mixed reception, the album charted well, reaching #101 on the "Billboard 200" chart in 1991 and also enjoying international sales success. [11] [12] It was nominated for, but did not win, a Grammy. [13]
All songs composed by John Lee Hooker (except where noted).
Chart (1991) | Peak position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA Charts) [14] | 22 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA) [15] | Gold | 35,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he developed in Detroit. Hooker often incorporated other elements, including talking blues and early North Mississippi hill country blues. He developed his own driving-rhythm boogie style, distinct from the 1930s–1940s piano-derived boogie-woogie. Hooker was ranked 35 in Rolling Stone's 2015 list of 100 greatest guitarists, and has been cited as one of the greatest male blues vocalists of all time.
Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that reflect characteristics of the human singing voice. It typically involves playing the guitar in the traditional position with the use of a slide fitted on one of the guitarist's fingers. The slide may be a metal or glass tube, such as the neck of a bottle, giving rise to the term bottleneck guitar to describe this type of playing. The strings are typically plucked while the slide is moved over the strings to change the pitch. The guitar may also be placed on the player's lap and played with a hand-held bar.
David Kent Hidalgo is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Los Lobos. Hidalgo frequently plays musical instruments such as accordion, violin, 6-string banjo, cello, requinto jarocho, percussion, drums and guitar as a session musician on other artists' releases.
Ryland Peter Cooder is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.
Supernatural is the eighteenth studio album by American rock band Santana, released on June 15, 1999, on Arista Records. After Santana found themselves without a label in the mid-1990s, founding member and guitarist Carlos Santana began talks with Arista president Clive Davis, who had originally signed the group to Columbia Records in 1969. Santana and Davis worked with A&R man Pete Ganbarg, as Santana wanted to focus on pop and radio-friendly material. The album features collaborations with several contemporary guest artists, including Rob Thomas, Eric Clapton, Eagle-Eye Cherry, Lauryn Hill, Dave Matthews, Maná, and CeeLo Green.
Shaman is the nineteenth studio album by Santana. Shaman was released on October 22, 2002, and debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 298,973. It was certified Double Platinum by the RIAA and Gold in Greece.
Milagro is the seventeenth studio album by Santana, released in 1992. Milagro, which means "miracle" in Spanish, was dedicated to the lives of Miles Davis and Bill Graham, and was Santana's first album on the Polydor label after twenty-two years with Columbia Records. The album reached 102 in the Billboard 200.
Spirits Dancing in the Flesh is the sixteenth studio album by Santana. It reached eighty-five in the Billboard 200.
Beyond Appearances is the fourteenth studio album by Santana, released in 1985.
Paradise and Lunch is the fourth album by roots rock musician Ry Cooder, released on June 8, 1974 on Reprise Records. The album is composed of cover versions of jazz, blues and roots standards and obscurities recorded at the Warner Brothers Studios. The final track, "Ditty Wah Ditty," showcases a duet between Cooder and jazz pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines. It was produced by Russ Titelman and Lenny Waronker. The album reached #167 on the Billboard 200.
The Healer is a blues album by John Lee Hooker, released in 1989 by Chameleon. The album features collaborations with Bonnie Raitt, Charlie Musselwhite, Los Lobos and Carlos Santana, among others. The album was a critical and commercial success and was important for Hooker's later career.
Come See About Me: The Definitive DVD is a 2004 film featuring concert performances by American blues artist John Lee Hooker. The program was produced by Ravin' Films for Eagle Rock Entertainment and was directed and edited by Bob Sarles and produced by Christina Keating. It is the first video released by his estate and includes video footage from 1960 to 1994 and interviews with Hooker and other musicians. Allmusic called it "a tremendous primer for the novice [and] an extraordinary two-hours-plus of documentary footage for the fans".
Bop Till You Drop is Ry Cooder's eighth album, released in 1979. The album was the first digitally recorded major-label album in popular music, recorded on a digital 32-track machine built by 3M.
Don't Look Back is an album released by blues singer-songwriter John Lee Hooker in 1997 that was co-produced by Van Morrison and Mike Kappus. Van Morrison also performed duets with Hooker on four of the tracks. The album was the Grammy winner in the Best Traditional Blues Album category in 1998. The title duet by Hooker and Morrison also won a Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.
Borderline is an album by Ry Cooder, released in 1980. "The Way We Make a Broken Heart" is a cover of the John Hiatt song.
The discography of Carlos Santana, a Mexican-American rock guitarist, consists of seven studio albums, three live albums, six compilation albums and five singles.
Chill Out is a 1995 album by John Lee Hooker featuring Van Morrison, Carlos Santana, Charles Brown, and Booker T. Jones. It was produced by Roy Rogers, Santana and Hooker himself, and executive produced by Mike Kappus. Tracks 1 to 11 were recorded and mixed at Russian Hill Recording, San Francisco and The Plant, Sausalito, California. The album reached No.3 in the US Blues chart and was awarded a W. C. Handy Award for Traditional Blues Album of the Year. Chester D. Thompson who plays keyboards is not to be mistaken with Chester Cortez Thompson who played drums with Phil Collins, Genesis and Weather Report.
The Supernatural Now Tour was a concert tour by American rock band Santana, commemorating the 20th anniversary of their pivotal 1999 album Supernatural and their appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969. The tour also supports their most recent album, Africa Speaks.
The Spirits Dancing in the Flesh Tour was the twenty-fourth concert tour by Santana in 1990, supporting the Spirits Dancing in the Flesh album.
A 25–Year Celebration Tour was the twenty-fifth concert tour by Santana in 1991, celebrating their 25th anniversary as a band.