The Blues

VINYL FORMAT. After years spent traveling and playing music across the South, towards the end of WWII, Hooker, like so many other Delta-born bluesmen, ended up working in the factories of Detroit's booming automotive industry. After a few years spent playing the blues in the back alleys of Motor City and purchasing his first electric guitar, Hooker began rising up through the ranks of the legendary Hastings Street scene. In 1948, the 31-year-old blues guitarist finally got his first big break. With the help of agent Bernie Besman, and L.A.'s Modern Records, Hooker's first single, Boogie Chillen, unexpectedly went to #1 on the R&B charts - a rare occurrence in the music business, but undoubtedly testimony to his equally rare talent. The next few years (1948-1952), documented here, were a whirlwind of hits for Hooker, who began spreading his own brand of raw, foot-stomping Delta blues across America, and eventually the world, becoming one of the most idolized and imitated musicians in the history of blues, and paving the way for the blues-based rock & roll explosion of the 1960s. 180 gram virgin vinyl.