John Lee Hooker

London. Photo copyright marc marnie.

John Lee Hooker

The boogie master. John Lee played the hard blues, and dug right down to the raw core of the music to do it. But let him tell it: "Ain't nobody plays the blues like me. The blues is love and jealousy between man and woman. It's about being human, see? Everybody gets the blues. Even a rich man gets the blues sometime. My stepfather, Will Moore, taught me his style, and I took it and played it my way. Ain't nobody plays like me. They try to, but nobody plays like me" (from an interview, February 1997). Born: 1920, in Clarksdale, Mississippi.
Kenny Mathieson

One of the all time great blues men, Hooker has enjoyed a huge resurgence in popularity through two particularly commercial albums - 'The Healer' and 'Mr Lucky'. Despite his advanced years he got up and danced around the stage moments after I took this picture.
marc marnie