Few artists define a genre of music, but one of them without a doubt was Sam John “LIghtnin’” Hopkins (1912-1982) who was one of the pioneers of electric and country blues, with his unique finger picking style able to play bass, lead, rhythm, percussion and wild harmonies as if he were a spider with eight arms. The Texas born Hopkins is well represented on these two boxed sets f 3 discs each, with Hopkins singing, playing a bit of piano and playing the boogie blues on the guitar like he invented it. Oh, yeah, he DID!
The collection starts with his earliest sessions from the Alladin label in Hollywood, California with Hopkins setting the tone on “ I Feel So Bad” in 1946 and a couple takes of “Short Haired Woman” from ’47. Most of the time here he’s simply accompanying himself on guitar, and his axe has an orchestral feel to it on “Rollin’ Blues” and “So Long”. His fingers dance through “Lightnin’ Blues” and the R&B hits “T Model Blues”, “Tim Moore’s Farm” and “Shotgun Blues” are all included on the folksy first volume.
The second volume has Hopkins teamed with a bassist (usually Donald Cooks) as on “Bald Headed Woman” as well as drummer Connie Krall to form a trio on “Highway Blues” and “Cemetery Blues in 1954.Harmonica man Sonny Terry joins in on some earthy pieces like “So Sorry To Leave You” and “Hard To Love A Woman” all the way through 1960 for “Last Night Blues” before things close out with Billy Bizor on the harp for “Mojo Hand”, with popular juke box hits “Coffee Blues” and “Give Me Central 209” filling out this richly blue toned anthology. Earth toned blue.