Synopses & Reviews
With John Lee Hookers death in June 2001 the world lost one of the last great Mississippi Delta bluesmen. Acclaimed writer Charles Schaar Murrays
Boogie Man is the authorized and authoritative biography of this musician whose extraordinary career spanned over fifty years and included over one-hundred albums and five Grammy Awards. Murray was given unparalleled access to Hooker, and lets him tell his own story in his own words, from life in the Deep South to San Francisco, from the 1948 blues anthem “Boogie Chillen” to the Grammy-winning album
The Healer nearly a half-century later.
Boogie Man is far more than merely a brilliant biography of one man; it also gives the story of the music that inspired him. “When I die,” Hooker said, theyll bury the blues with me. But the blues will never die.” Here is the book that does him and his music full justice.
Review
"(A) meticulously researched portrait...Hooker comes to life as a petulant, triumphant figure: complex and sometimes just unknowable, but as a genius for whom blues is as vital as a heartbeat."—
Rolling Stone"Surely the most exhaustive biography of any bluesman."—Chicago Tribune
Synopsis
The authorized and authoritative biography of the last of the Mississippi Delta bluesmen
Award-winning rock critic Charles Shaar Murray explores the life and times of a legend whose career has spanned more than half a century. The result is an unforgettable portrait of John Lee Hooker, as well as a comprehensive and compelling history of the blues and the southern black experience in America. Hits like "Boogie Chillen" and the bestselling album Hooker 'n' Heat assured Hooker's reputation as the foremost blues musician of the era. In 1989 came the Grammy-winning The Healer, featuring Carlos Santana and Bonnie Raitt among other luminaries.
Murray ferreted out every available source, interviewing everyone from Pete Townshend to Hooker's ex-brother-in-law, and, most remarkably, convinced Hooker himself to speak about nearly every aspect of his life.
About the Author
Charles Shaar Murrays previous book,
Crosstown Traffic: Jimi Hendrix and the Postwar Rock n Roll Revolution, was called by
Entertainment Weekly “the best book on Hendrix,” and rode their A-list for over two months before winning the prestigious Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award. He lives in England.