Lightnin' Hopkins - Lightnin' & Co. / Smokes Like Lightnin'

BVLP 1061   Lightnin' Hopkins - Lightnin' & Co.

Billy Bizor (hca, vo) Lightnin' Hopkins (g, vo) Spider Kilpatrick (d)

Houston, TX, February 17, 1962

 

Buster Pickens (p) Lightnin' Hopkins (g, vo) Donald Cooks (b) Spider Kilpatrick (d)

Houston, TX, February 20, 1962

 

Lightnin' Hopkins went from gigging at back-alley gin joints to starring at collegiate coffeehouses, appearing on TV programs, and touring Europe to boot. His once-flagging recording career went right through the roof, with albums for World Pacific; Vee-Jay; Bluesville; Bobby Robinson's Fire label (where he cut his classic "Mojo Hand" in 1960); Candid; Arhoolie; Prestige; Verve; and, in 1965, the first of several LPs for Stan Lewis' Shreveport-based Jewel logo. Hopkins generally demanded full payment before he'd deign to sit down and record, and seldom indulged a producer's desire for more than one take of any song. His singular sense of country time befuddled more than a few unseasoned musicians; from the 1960s on, his solo work is usually preferable to band-backed material. Filmmaker Les Blank captured the Texas troubadour's informal lifestyle most vividly in his acclaimed 1967 documentary, The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins. As one of the last great country bluesmen, Hopkins was a fascinating figure who bridged the gap between rural and urban styles. - AMG

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BVLP 1070   Lightnin' Hopkins - Smokes Like Lightning

Lightnin' Hopkins (g, vo)

Houston, TX, January, 1962

 

Billy Bizor (hca, vo) Lightnin' Hopkins (g, vo) Spider Kilpatrick (d)

Houston, TX, February 17, 1962

 

Buster Pickens (p) Lightnin' Hopkins (g, vo) Donald Cooks (b) Spider Kilpatrick (d)

Houston, TX, February 20, 1962

 

One of the most weirdly compelling elements of Smokes Like Lightnin' is Mack McCormick's liner notes, reproduced from the original 1963 LP. Almost breathtaking in their ferocity, McCormick's notes characterize Hopkins as a spoiled crybaby whose only redeeming quality is his ability to make music. The album, recorded in three 1962 sessions, consists simply of Hopkins and his guitar, except for three songs that are performed with a full band. The sound is spare and very loose, with a re-recording of "T Model Blues" and the dance song "Let's Do the Susie-Q," a musical exhortation that seems unlikely to inspire dancing. A brief and uneven album, Smokes Like Lightnin' is less compelling than Hopkins' '50s recordings, but strikes an appealingly lazy acoustic groove.  - Greg Adams/AMG