Mr. Lucky (Hooker album)
Encyclopedia
Mr. Lucky is a 1991 album by American
blues
singer, songwriter
and guitar
ist John Lee Hooker
. Produced by Ry Cooder
, Roy Rogers
and Carlos Santana
under the executive production of Mike Kappus, the album assembled a diverse range of notable guest and session musicians, including Keith Richards
, Blues Hall of Fame
inductee Johnny Winter
; and three inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
, Van Morrison
, Booker T. Jones
and Johnnie Johnson
.
Released on Virgin Records
"Classic" label, it peaked at #101 on the "Billboard 200
".
, an album which paired him with a number of notable guests, including Keith Richards and Bonnie Raitt
, with whom Hooker shared a Grammy Award
for "Best Traditional Blues Recording" for the track "In the Mood". With Mr. Lucky, producers Cooder, Rogers and Santana follow the same successful formula, to mixed critical reviews; Rolling Stone
praised the album as a refinement over its predecessor with an "all around...sharper fit", its notable guests serving as "superb sidemen for a great bluesman". Entertainment Weekly
, by contrast, described the album as essentially "a tribute album" where "most of the tunes...don't sound like Hooker at all". In spite of mixed reception, the album charted well, reaching #101 on the "Billboard 200" chart in 1991 and also enjoying international sales success. It was nominated for, but did not win, a Grammy.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
singer, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
. Produced by Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
, Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
and Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
under the executive production of Mike Kappus, the album assembled a diverse range of notable guest and session musicians, including Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
, Blues Hall of Fame
Blues Hall of Fame
The Blues Hall of Fame is a listing of people who have significantly contributed to blues music. Started in 1980 by the Blues Foundation, it honors those who have performed, recorded, or documented blues.-1980:*Big Bill Broonzy*Willie Dixon*John Lee Hooker...
inductee Johnny Winter
Johnny Winter
John Dawson "Johnny" Winter III is an American blues guitarist, singer, and producer. Best known for his late 1960s and 1970s high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances, Winter also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters...
; and three inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
, Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, Booker T. Jones
Booker T. Jones
Booker T. Jones is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. and the MGs. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, earning him a Grammy Award for lifetime...
and Johnnie Johnson
Johnnie Johnson
Johnnie Johnson may refer to:*Johnnie Johnson *Johnnie Johnson *Johnnie Johnson See also:*Johnny Johnson *John Johnson...
.
Released on Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
"Classic" label, it peaked at #101 on the "Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
".
History
In 1989, John Lee Hooker achieved commercial and critical success with The HealerThe Healer (album)
The Healer is a blues album by John Lee Hooker, released in 1989. The album features collaborations with Bonnie Raitt, Charlie Musselwhite, Los Lobos and Carlos Santana, among others. The Healer peaked at number 62 on the Billboard 200 and won a Grammy award.-Track listing:All songs were written by...
, an album which paired him with a number of notable guests, including Keith Richards and Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
, with whom Hooker shared a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for "Best Traditional Blues Recording" for the track "In the Mood". With Mr. Lucky, producers Cooder, Rogers and Santana follow the same successful formula, to mixed critical reviews; Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
praised the album as a refinement over its predecessor with an "all around...sharper fit", its notable guests serving as "superb sidemen for a great bluesman". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, by contrast, described the album as essentially "a tribute album" where "most of the tunes...don't sound like Hooker at all". In spite of mixed reception, the album charted well, reaching #101 on the "Billboard 200" chart in 1991 and also enjoying international sales success. It was nominated for, but did not win, a Grammy.
Track listing
Except where otherwise noted, all songs composed by John Lee Hooker.- "I Want to Hug You" (Hooker, Al Smith) – 2:52
- "Mr. Lucky" (Hooker, Al SmithAl SmithAlfred Emanuel Smith. , known in private and public life as Al Smith, was an American statesman who was elected the 42nd Governor of New York three times, and was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928...
) – 4:38 - "Back Stabbers" (Hooker, Smith) – 5:01
- "This Is Hip" – 3:23
- "I Cover the WaterfrontI Cover the Waterfront (song)"I Cover the Watefront" is a 1933 popular song and jazz standard composed by Johnny Green with lyrics by Edward Heyman.The song was inspired by Max Miller's 1932 best-selling novel I Cover the Waterfront...
" – 6:39 - "Highway 13" – 6:32
- "Stripped Me Naked" (Hooker, Benny Rietveld, Carlos SantanaCarlos SantanaCarlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
, Chester ThompsonChester ThompsonChester Cortez Thompson is an American drummer and session musician.-Biography:Thompson made his name as a session drummer, going on to play in Frank Zappa's touring band and with Weather Report...
) – 4:18 - "Susie" – 4:23
- "Crawlin' King Snake" (Tony Hollins, Bernard Besman, Hooker) – 3:20
- "Father Was a Jockey" – 4:58
Production
- Carol Bobolts – designGraphic designGraphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
- Ry CooderRy CooderRyland Peter "Ry" Cooder is an American guitarist, singer and composer. He is known for his slide guitar work, his interest in roots music from the United States, and, more recently, his collaborations with traditional musicians from many countries.His solo work has been eclectic, encompassing...
– producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Arne Frager – engineerEngineerAn engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
, mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Mike Kappus – executive producer, concept, talent coordinator
- Samuel Lehmer – engineer, mixing
- Roy RogersRoy RogersRoy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
– producer - Steve Samiof – art directionArt directorThe art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
- Carlos SantanaCarlos SantanaCarlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
– producer - Allen Sides – engineer