John Lee Hooker
Face to Face
(Eagle)
The Music Box's #5 album for 2003
First Appeared at The Music Box, January 2004, Volume 11, #1
Written by John Metzger
In June 2001, at the time of his death at the ripe old age of 83, John Lee Hooker had been recording material for a new album. Much like his 1989 comeback outing The Healer — as well as everything he released in the intervening years — the collection, which appropriately is titled Face to Face, was designed to pair Hooker with a plethora of special guests. Still, it was far from complete, and after his passing it took over two years to put the finishing touches upon the project.
It’s certainly true that most posthumously completed albums of this sort wind up sounding forced, and the "collaborations" frequently feel disconnected and out of place. In other words, there are plenty of places where Face to Face seriously could have gone astray, but credit must be given to his daughter Zakiya Hooker and producer Ollan Christopher Bell, who took painstaking efforts to keep the late bluesman’s voice and vision intact, turning the song cycle into what undoubtedly is the must-have blues album of the year.
In fact, Face to Face actually works better than any of Hooker’s recent celebrity-studded outings. Though the all-star cast of Jack Casady, Johnnie Johnson, George Thorogood, Tony Saunders, Warren Haynes, Dickey Betts, Elvin Bishop, Johnny Winter, and Van Morrison combines its efforts to flavor Hooker’s songs, its collective contributions are wholly unobtrusive. It could be anyone adding the exquisite guitar, bass, and keyboard accompaniments to the album’s 15 tracks; that they happen to be such well-known performers merely makes the album marketable on a broader scale. Rather than undermine the proceedings, the guests largely lurk in the shadows, and as a result, the arrangements perfectly reflect the spirit of Hooker’s decades-long career, allowing the focus to remain exactly where it should — on one of the biggest influences in blues and rock history.
Ever since he made a name for himself in Detroit in the 1940s by redefining
the blues, Hooker’s droning, single-chord vamps have never sounded anywhere near
as drab as one might expect. Instead, they are extraordinarily versatile and sit
quite comfortably in whatever context they happen to be placed. Whether
performed solo or surrounded by a full band, whether relayed with a driving rock
beat or as a funereal back porch moan, what consistently brings his songs to
life is his passionately compelling delivery. Quite frankly, no one sings the
blues like John Lee Hooker, and his unique, soul-stirring expressions burn
brighter than ever on Face to Face as he revisits some old chestnuts and
crafts a few new ones. Though each song explores the blues from a variety of
vastly different perspectives, all are held together by his singularly signature
style as well as his peerlessly emotive and captivating growl. Through his gruff
vocals, he manages to convey the naked emotion of a man rubbed raw by the dark
roads of life, but he also fills them with the rough ’n‘ tough bravado that is a
necessity for surviving the desolate byways of the Deep South where he grew up.
Whether succumbing to the groove of Funky Mabel, wallowing in the
self-pity of It Serves Me Right to Suffer, getting positively soulful on
Loving People, or lamenting love on Six Page Letter, John Lee
Hooker proves time and again why he was one-of-a-kind. Indeed, it would be a
simple matter to dismiss Face to Face as yet another effort that
surrounds a legend with an array of special guests, or worse, one that tries to
capitalize upon his death. However, it’s neither of those things. It’s simply an
awe-inspiring final bow that finds Hooker gracefully joining that great gig in
the sky and loving every minute of it. 
Of Further Interest...
Mississippi John Hurt - The Best of Mississippi John Hurt / Live
George Thorogood & the Destroyers - Bad to the Bone: 25th Anniversary Edition
Face to Face is available from Barnes & Noble.
To order, Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2003 The Music Box