Craft Recordings is partnering again with Acoustic Sounds for a reboot of the classic Bluesville Series. The LPs will be pressed by Acoustic Sounds' Quality Record Pressing (QRP) on 180 gram vinyl; Craft is already collaborating with QRP on their Contemporary jazz reissue series. And those LPs have been excellent so far, so there's no reason to believe the Bluesville reissues will be any different. The first release in the series is an ultra-rare and somewhat uncharacteristic acoustic session from bluesman John Lee Hooker, 1964's Burning Hell, which was originally issued on the Riverside label—but only in Europe and in the UK. Hooker made a few early albums with Riverside; Burning Hell was actually recorded in 1959, but as often was the case with Riverside, wasn't released until five years later, and then never in the US market as an LP. 180 gram LPs, CDs, and 24-bit/192kHz high resolution digital files of Burning Hell can be purchased from the Bluesville web store HERE, and the album is also available from a multitude of online retailers or from your local independent record store. And the high resolution digital files for Burning Hell are making their debut on all the major streaming services.
John Lee Hooker (1917?-2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and one of the most prominent practitioners of electrified adaptations of Delta blues traditions. He's believed to have been born in Tutwiler, Mississippi, but there's some speculation as to exactly when and where he was born—he may have been born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and as early as 1911. Hooker was frequently called the "King of the Boogie," and after migrating to Detroit, Michigan, developed a driving, rhythm guitar-based boogie blues style in the 1930s and 40s that was very different from the typical piano-based boogie-woogie blues of the time. Some of his most well known songs include "Boogie Chillen'", "Crawling King Snake", "Dimples", "Boom Boom", and "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" (which was also a huge hit and concert staple years later for blues rocker George Thorogood). Later in his career, he enjoyed both critical acclaim and chart success with several albums, including The Healer (1989), Mr. Lucky (1991), Chill Out (1995), and Don't Look Back (1997), all of which (with the exception of Mr. Lucky) also won Grammy awards in the years they were released.
New lacquers for Burning Hell were cut by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab from the original master tapes. An all analog process was used throughout the mastering chain, and the AAA LP was pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Records Pressing. The reissue features a near-perfect replica of the original's heavy tip-on outer jacket, with crisp album art sourced from Riverside and Craft's vaults, and the jacket sports very cool high-gloss coating that protects it from fingerprints and gives it a very vintage appearance. The LP arrived inserted into a Craft-branded rice paper inner sleeve, which helps free it from static build-up and paper dust accumulation, and guards against scratching. All Bluesville LP releases feature a blue and silver custom OBI strip that touts the Bluesville logo and offers capsules of recording/remastering information, giving the LP a very distinctive appearance that will no doubt enhance its value to collectors.
John Lee Hooker, Burning Hell. 180 Gram LP, Riverside Records, $30.00 MSRP
When John Lee Hooker entered United Sound Systems in Detroit, Michigan in April, 1959, he and producer Bill Grauer had decided on an all-acoustic setting that would focus on his Mississippi Delta roots for his next album, and that would only feature Hooker's voice and guitar. And they were able to record enough material to produce two albums, including Burning Hell, and The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker, the latter of which was released immediately following the recording sessions. While there's no real information available, one can only assume that perhaps The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker didn't sell particularly well, and the label decided to shelve Burning Hell. At least until the point when Hooker was beginning to experience his greatest success in Europe and the UK in the early sixties, where musicians and fans were crazy for American blues, fueling the coming British invasion stateside. And Riverside decided to finally release Burning Hell, but only as a UK pressing—no domestic LP release was ever made available.
John Lee Hooker's playing on this album is superb, and while his dexterity with the acoustic guitar would never gain comparisons with Robert Johnson, Lightning Hopkins, or even Muddy Waters, he definitely holds his own here. His rich and soulful baritone voice combined with some fairly sublime fingerpicking helped produce an intimate album of powerful interpretations of blues standards, along with his own classic tunes (which have rightfully become blues standards, as well!). The album opens with a pair of Hooker originals including "Burning Hell," where he lets you know right away that "Everybody talkin' about that burnin' Hell, ain't no Heaven, ain't no Hell, where I'm goin', cain't nobody tell." "Graveyard Blues" follows, where he laments the passing of a love; Big Joe Williams' classic "Baby Please Don't Go" will be instantly familiar to everyone, and Hooker's understated acoustic version virtually defines the song. Another pair of originals follow, "Jackson, Tennessee" and "You Live Your Life and I'll Live Mine," where Hooker tells his woman he don't need her telling him what to do, and he'll mind his own business as well! Chester Burnett's (aka Howlin' Wolf) classic "Smokestack Lightnin'" closes side one, and features some of Hooker's most intense acoustic guitar work on record.
Side two opens with the Hooker original "How Can You Do It," where he accuses his woman of "throwing around his money like chicken feed!" Next up is a medley that's one of the album's highlights, starting with Sam Hopkins' "I Don't Want No Woman if Her Hair Ain't No Longer Than Mine" that (literally) rolls into the Hooker original "I Rolled and Turned and Cried the Whole Night Long," which is actually a clever reworking of Hambone Willie Newburn's "Rollin' and Tumblin'", which was popularized by Muddy Waters. Hooker's "Blues For My Baby" is followed by Big Bill Broonzy's "Key To The Highway," where Hooker offers another near-definitive performance of a tune immortalized by Little Walter' classic version from a decade earlier. And the album closes with Hooker's harrowing rendition of another Chester Burnett tune, "Natchez Fire," which commemorates a terrible tragedy in 1940 when 200 people perished at the Rhythm Club in Natchez, Mississippi, including all the members of the band that played that night.
Burning Hell gives us John Lee Hooker at his Acoustic Best!
By clicking my name in the header above, you can see the complement of equipment I used to evaluate Burning Hell, as well as all the equipment that resides in my dual audio systems. The 180 gram LP was played on my tube-based, all analog system using my ProJect Classic turntable that's fitted with an Ortofon Quintet Bronze MC cartridge. My PS Audio Stellar phono preamp provides the signal to the PrimaLuna EVO 300 tube integrated amplifier that's been recently upgraded with a new, matched quad of Sovtek 6550 power tubes and a vintage pair of matched NOS Brimar input tubes. My Vanguard Scout standmount loudspeakers and Caldera 10 subwoofer provide a healthy dose of vintage analog realism, and the new tube complement has enhanced the sound from the PrimaLuna amp infinitely.
Burning Hell is an impressively superb sounding album, and provides an auspicious debut for the Bluesville label reboot. The analog master tapes for this session were sixty-five years old, but this all-acoustic album has a level of quiet that's remarkable for tapes of this age! The pressing from QRP is immaculate; when this album arrived, UPS estimated it would show up about 10 am, but it actually didn't make it until after 5 pm on the hottest day of the year. I'd lost track of deliveries I was expecting, and didn't actually know what was coming that day; when the UPS guy handed me the package from his unairconditioned truck, I swear the cardboard box was 120 degrees! When I opened it to discover that it contained Burning Hell, well, that totally made sense, but the very hot LP was perfectly flat, had beautifully glossy surfaces, and the record's grooves were perfectly pristine. Burning Hell showed nary a tick or pop during playback, and with an impressive level of quiet, thanks to the excellent pressing from QRP.
Craft also supplied me with the 24-bit/192kHz high resolution digital files for Burning Hell, and I listened to those over my fully-balanced digital source system. That includes streaming equipment from Euphony Audio, a Gustard DAC and external clock, with my PS Audio preamplifier sending the signal to my Naiu Labs Ella amplifier. A pair of Magneplanar LRS loudspeakers and dual Vanguard Caldera 10 subs provided the sound transmission, which with the high resolution files was astonishingly good, and presented a remarkable illusion of John Lee Hooker live and in my listening room. The sound quality was definitely on par with what I heard from the excellent 180 gram LP over the all-analog system. With digital sound this good, even if LPs aren't your thing, the download will give you everything you need to experience this great album of traditional Delta blues.
This Bluesville Series Title Presents a Rare Opportunity for Collectors
John Lee Hooker's album catalog features predominantly electric blues; Burning Hell allows this acoustic recording to really stand in very stark contrast to what you'd normally expect from the master of electric guitar-based blues boogie! But the recording is a total gem, and is a masterwork of late fifties recording techniques that captures him at his very best, alone in the studio with only his acoustic guitar. The perfect QRP pressing helped present an aural illusion of Hooker's voice and guitar with a level of realism that jumped from my loudspeakers!
This album has never been available as an LP domestically, with the exception of a limited edition Analogue Productions reissue LP in 2009. I only saw a handful of original LPs available on Discogs from abroad, ranging anywhere from copies rated G, G+, VG, and VG+ from $134 to well over $200, with the AP reissue falling in the same price range. That makes this new Craft/Acoustic Sounds Bluesville reissue a tremendous bargain at only $30. I can't recommend Burning Hell highly enough; it's an acoustic glimpse of John Lee Hooker that not many of us this side of the pond have likely ever heard, and it's presented here as a gloriously perfect all-analog LP! And for those who need other playback choices, CDs and the excellent high res digital files are also available. Many thanks to Jacob Mask at Craft Recordings for his assistance and for the opportunity; my expectations for the coming releases in the Bluesville series are very high!
Craft Recordings
All images courtesy of Craft Recordings.
