John Lee Hooker - The Healer
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John Lee Hooker – vocals (all tracks), guitar (all tracks except A1) [click here to see more vinyl featuring John Lee Hooker]
Vocals Bonnie Raitt (A2)
Guitar – Carlos Santana (A1) [click here to see more vinyl featuring Carlos Santana]
Guitar – Roy Rogers (A2, B2), Robert Cray (A3), Henry Vestine (A4), Cesar Rosas (A5), David Hidalgo (A5), George Thorogood (B1)
Slide Guitar – Bonnie Raitt (A2), Roy Rogers (A4)
Drums – Ndugu Chancler (A1), Scott Matthews (A2-3, B2), Fito de la Parra (A4, B4), Louie Perez (A5),
Bass – Richard Cousins (A3), Larry Taylor (A4, B4), Conrad Lozano (A5), Steve Ehrmann (B2)
Congas – Armando Peraza (A1)
Keyboards, Synthesizer – Chester Thompson (A1)
Timbales – Chepito Areas (A1)
Harmonica – Charlie Musselwhite (A4, B2)
Accordion – David Hidalgo (A5)
Saxophone – Steve Berlin (A5)
Featuring: The Santana Band (A1), Canned Heat (A4), Los Lobos (A5)
Written by John Lee Hooker (all tracks), Carlos Santana (A1), Chester Thompson (A1), Roy Rogers (A1), Bernard Besman (A2), J. Bracken (A3, B1)
1 LP, standard sleeve
Original analog Master tape : YES
Record color : Black
Speed : 33 RPM
Size : 12'’
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : Quality Record Pressings
Label : Craft Recordings
Original label : Chameleon
Track A1 recorded at The Plant, Sausalito, CA (A1), Russian Hill Recording Studios, San Francisco, CA (A2-4, B1-5), Leon Heywood Studios, Los Angeles, CA (A5)
Engineered by Jim Gaines (A1), Sam Lehmer (A2 to B5)
Mixed by Sam Lehmer (A2 to B5)
Produced by Roy Rogers (A2 to B5)
Lacquer cut by Bernie Grundman
Originally released in September 1989
Reissued in December 2022
Tracks:
Side A
- The Healer – feat. Carlos Santana & The Santana Band
- I’m In The Mood – feat. Bonnie Raitt
- Baby Lee – feat. Robert Cray
- Cuttin’ Out – feat. Canned Heat
- Think Twice Before You Go – feat. Los Lobos
Side B
- Sally Mae – feat. George Thorogood
- That’s Alright – feat. Charlie Musselwhite
- Rockin’ Chair
- My Dream
- No Substitute
Awards:
"I'm in the Mood" won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Performance.
Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums – ranked number 424
Reviews:
“Take pure Jhon Lee Hooker, add strong doses of Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Robert Cray, Canned Heat, Los Lobos and George Thorogood (all of whom appear on The Healer), and what do you get? Brilliant, 100-proof blues, that’s what. One of the archetypal postwar Delta-born urban bluesmen, John Lee Hooker has been dispensing his own brand of corrosive blues for more than forty years, influencing the Rolling Stones, the Animals, Bob Dylan, the Doors, Van Morrison and countless others. Possessed of a harsh, primal power, his inimitable deep, dark vocals evoke sex, violence, defiant joy and doomed love in harmonically simple songs driven by rhythmic electric guitar and the clanging, open-tuned chords and foot tapping characteristic of country blues.
On The Healer, Hooker has concocted big, bad medicine. The opening title cut, performed with Santana, is sheer spirit-invoking incantation. Then Hooker enters the realm of the senses, covering his 1951 million seller “I’m in the Mood” in a slow bump-and-grind duet with Bonnie Raitt. As John Lee states his need, Raitt, at her seductive best, sidles up to and curls around each phrase in a sassy moan and response. Song after song lands its ideal groove as Hooker guides his players through an earthy blues cycle that chronicles the rites of carnal knowledge — from the don’t-do-me-wrong pleas of “Baby Lee,” spiked with Cray’s trenchant guitar, to the somber, contemptuous stomp of “Sally Mae,” whammied with Thorogood’s slash ‘n’ trash slide.
Throughout, Hooker’s mellowed-with-age growl reverberates, but his most powerful performances strip bare his soul in slow tombstone blues with stark accompaniment. Tormented by a cheating woman, he sways in sorrowful forgiveness to doomsday bass and Charlie Mussel-white’s wailing blues harp (“That’s Alright”) and rocks with raw despair to dissonant National Steel chords (“Rockin’ Chair”) before he can whisper the record’s last, hushed lesson — there “ain’t no substitute for love.”
Producer-guitarist Roy Rogers of the Delta Rhythm Kings faithfully captures the intimate banter and live-in-the-barroom, Fender-tube-amp quality of authentic blues. But the spirit that animates this album is the ageless voice of John Lee Hooker and his boogie-man blues. He has conjured up a renewed world blues with the canniness of the hoodoo healers and root doctors who first gave birth to the Delta blues.” Janie Matthews, Rolling Stone, October 1989
“The Healer was a major comeback for John Lee Hooker. Featuring a wide array of guest stars, including Bonnie Raitt, Johnnie Johnson, and Los Lobos, The Healer captured widespread media attention because of all the superstar musicians involved in its production. Unfortunately, that long guest list is what makes the album a fairly unengaging listen. Certainly there are moments were it clicks, but that's usually when the music doesn't greatly expand on his stripped-down boogie. The other moments are professional, but not exciting. It's a pleasant listen, but never quite an engaging one.” AllMusic Review by Thom Owens
Ratings :
AllMusic : 2 / 5 ; Discogs : 4.79 / 5