Hopkins Brothers: Lightnin', Joel, & John Henry

Performer: Lightnin' Hopkins
Engineer: Chris Strachwitz
Producer: Chris Strachwitz
Distributor: E1 Distribution (USA)

Notes: Personnel: Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins (vocals, guitar), Joel Hopkins (vocals, guitar), John Henry Hopkins (vocals, guitar). Recorded in Waxahachie, Texas on February 16, 1964 and in Houston, Texas on March 17, 1965. Includes liner notes by Chris Strachwitz. This session was an improvised country blues get-together between "Lightnin'" Hopkins and his brothers Joel and John Henry, featuring a number of solo and duo performances. Personnel: Lightnin' Hopkins (vocals, guitar); Joel Hopkins (vocals, guitar). Recording information: Waxahachie, TX (1964). Photographers: Chris Strachwitz; Wayne Pope. A once-in-a-lifetime meeting of the three Hopkins brothers in Waxahatchie, TX in 1964 produced this marvelous brace of field recordings. The oldest brother was considered the best songster in the family, and certainly his performances here are throwbacks to a more archaic style, although he's an amazingly energetic performer. Middle brother Joel is the crudest of the three, surprising since he's the one of the three who spent the most time around mentor Blind Lemon Jefferson. These are loose, conversational recordings made with a single microphone. They capture three brothers enjoying each other's company immensely. ~ Cub Koda

Some artists are influential because so many followers try to imitate them; others are influential precisely because they cannot be imitated. Lightnin' Hopkins was of the latter variety. With a career that stretched from the 1920s through the '70s, the Texas bluesman was a genre unto himself, a deft guitarist equally at home in a quiet solo performance or fronting an electrified boogie band. He was a free-associating poet who made up entire songs on the spot, and a leathery-voiced singer whose vocals simultaneously communicated a lifetime of misery and an endless reserve of self-confidence.

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