The Blues is not music it’s a way of life

John Lee Hooker is one of the superstars of blues and he is known as the King of Boogie and the King of Cool. His simple but effective songs has made a huge impact on modern music and artist like The Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds introduced his songs to a new and bigger audience.

John Lee Hooker was a blues singer from Mississippi in USA. He moved to Detroit in 1943 when he started to work on a factory. In  his spare time John Lee visited the Apex Bar on Hasting Street which was the heart of the towns black entertainment district. He bought a electric guitar and started to play in the clubs. He quickly rose to fame and started to put out records in the late 40s.



His first single Boogie Chillen was a instant hit. With it’s driving rhythm the song is considered to be a forerunner of rock’n roll music. Michael "Cub" Koda the author of the books All Music Guide To Blues and Blues for Dummies said that the riff in John Lee’s debut single "Boogie Chillen" launched a million songs. 

- In my career, people in the record business have been rockin' in the same ol' boat. They all crooks - I'll say it clear and loud - especially the big ones. - John Lee Hooker

Like so many other Afro-American musicians John Lee Hooker earned little money from the record sale and had to play in pubs and shacks in order to get some extra money to pay his bills. John Lee had his own style and he only knew maybe two or three cords. It was hard to work with John Lee cause he rarely played with a standard beat and often changed tempo in the songs. Therefore he often worked alone.

In 1958 John Lee met the 12 year old guitar player Leroy Emmanuel who didn’t have a problem with his style of playing and knew how to follow. Leroy was just a kid but he could play and he was happy just to play with anybody. Leroy played with John Lee in various clubs and shacks in Detroit over a 10 year period. But he never did any recordings with him.


Leroy Emmanuel (second left) playing with John Lee Hooker in 1964. Photo: Unknown.

– John Lee Hooker was known but he wasn’t big. We were playing at a place called Blues Unlimited on the Eastside of Detroit. It was only a little shack. We sat there in a corner playing the blues in the dusty little place. John Lee was singing and doing his guitar thing he looked at me and I did all the solo stuff. – Leroy Emmanuel.

Although his record sale was good John Lee still had to struggle to survive. He reached a new audience in 1962 when he made his first ever tour to Europe and he had a huge impact on the blues scene in England. By the end of the decade John Lee played at festivals and rock clubs in Europe. Although he made records and sold many tickets he hardly had enough money to pay his bills.

– I said John Lee you gonna be famous man. I can feel it. You gonna be famous one day. What happened when time went on? Bonnie Rait played with John Lee, Santana played with John Lee all this superstars playing with John Lee and he became really famous. – Leroy Emmanuel.

John Lee Hooker made a album with Canned Heat in 1971 and it was the first of his albums that charted. In the late 70s and 80s John Lee toured Europe and the USA steadily. In 1989 recorded John Lee the Healer with Boonie Rait, Carlos Santana, Canned Heat among others. The Healer and the albums that followed was huge successes and it permitted John Lee Hooker to live the rest of his life in comfort. 

Blues was not only music for John Lee Hooker it was a way of life. John Lee died in his sleep on June 21, 2001 in his home in California at a age of 83 years. But the blues wasn't buried with John Lee. It's still alive and many musicians carries on the blues torch. One of them is Leroy Emmanuel. He has played the blues for 60 years and continues to make records and tour the world.


Leroy Emmanuel playing the blues in 2013. Photo: Mikael Good

The first and Second photo in this article was taken at the Chicago Bluesfest in 1986 by Stevesworldofphotos

Text : Mikael Good

Gungor

Det är två år sedan det amerikanska alternativrockbandet Gungor senast spelade i Sverige. I år var de tillbaka och gjorde två fantastiska spelningar på Gullbrannafestivalen torsdagen den 6 juli. De gjorde en akustisk spelning i konsertlokalen Bryggan på eftermiddagen och en elektrisk i Skeppet på kvällen. Vid bägge tillfällena var Gungor förstärkta med en stråktrio som gav låtarna extra liv och djup. 

Text och Foto: Mikael Good

En världsartist på en armlängds avstånd

Förra veckan hade jag förmånen att fotografera den amerikanska artisten Moriah Peters på Gullbrannafestivalen. Det är alltid kul att fotografera världsartister som bjuder ordentligt på sig själva på mindre scener. Som grädde på moset var ljussättningen i världsklass vilket gjorde mitt uppdrag som festivalfotograf enkelt.

















Jag använde en Sony A7s med ett Sony 70-200/4 och en Sony A77II med ett 16-50/2.8 till bilderna. Sony A77 II är mycket lättjobbad och ställer skärpan snabbare och exaktare än någon annan kamera som jag jobbat med. Jag håller tummarna för att Sony tar fram en efterföljare med 4K och bättre egenskaper på höga ASA.













Text och foto: Mikael Good

Rockfoto - Fotografen är mer Rock’n Roll än bandet

Under min tid på högskolan fotade jag många konserter åt studentkårens tidning. Som så många andra studenter festade jag ganska hårt. På en spelning med Stefan Sundström på studentkåren fällde han följande kommentar om mig när jag satt lutad mot en högtalare med en öl i ena handen och kameran i den andra:
- Fotografen är med Rock’n Roll än bandet.

Tyvärr blev bilderna där efter och det var mer tur än skicklighet om en bild blev användbar eller inte. Oftast resulterade det i en massa underliga bilder som gjorde att bildredaktören slet sitt hår i ren förtvivlan. Sedan 18 år tillbaka är jag nykterist och det har lett till att mina rockfoton blivit betydligt bättre och bilderedaktörerna är numera nöjda med bilderna som jag levererar.

Bilderna på Stefan Sundström är sedan länge försvunna. Men jag hittade den här bilden från början av 1990-talet på sångaren i ett band som spelade punk och garagerock. Jag har skrivit "Lupinejnen" på baksidan av bilden men jag tror att bandet hette något annat.

Text och foto: Mikael Good

Rockfoto - Union Carbide Productions

Ett av mina favoritband är göteborgsbandet Union Carbide Productions. De spelar energiskt driven rockmusik av allra bästa sort som hämtat sin inspiration från band som The Stooges, MC5, New York Dolls med flera. Union Carbide Productions har i sin tur inspirerat en hel del artister både inom som utanför landets gränser. 1993 splittrades UCP. Sångaren Ebbot Lundgren bildade The Soundtrack of Our lives tillsammans med gitarristerna Björn Olsson och Ian Persson (bilden).

Bilden på Ian Persson och Emrik är tagen i början av 1990-talet. Jag använde en Minolta 7000i laddad med Tri-X samt ett 35mm.

Text och foto: Mikael Good