portrait of this blog's author - by Stephen Blackman 2008

Thursday, August 22, 2024

Remembering the blues legend John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001)| Don's Tunes



“We all like money, don't get me wrong, but it's not the greatest thing in the world, though we have to have it. Friendship, love, peace of mind, and health are the greatest things in the world. You have to have money to survive, but – and a lot of us do – we can't let money get in the way of friendship and love and the people that put you where you are. People put me where I'm at today. If it weren't for those people, John Lee wouldn't be sitting on top of the ladder – I'd be sitting down below.


“And who put me there? The working people – people go out and work five or six days a week, and come out to see me and buy my albums, and stuff like that. Young kids. Old people. They're the people that got me there. Some stars seem to forget the people that blazed the path for them, the people that put them there. If there wasn't any people, you wouldn't be there. 


“I love to go into little clubs, funky bars, and get up there singing. I walk into a lot of little clubs, and they're surprised to see me in there. They say, 'What're you doing in here?' And I say, 'I'm just like you. I'm here to have some fun and get down with you.' I don't think about the fact that I'm a big star, or that I have money. I don't think about that. I'm out there at a place where I like to get down and have a beer with you. I don't look at myself as a big star. I really don't.”

Another classic interview from Jas Obrecht

Don's Tunes


Photo courtesy of Getty Images 


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