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Tracklisting & More Information
John Lee Hooker's style of guitar playing has been imitated but never matched.
The iconic bluesman's 1966 album It Serve You Right to Suffer for Impulse! was unusual because it teamed him with a jazz ensemble rather than a typical blues band. This setup was part of Impulse!'s broader effort to explore and expand the boundaries between jazz, blues, and other genres.
The collaboration was partly driven by the growing interest in the blues among jazz audiences in the 1960s. Hooker's raw, emotional music resonated with the improvisational spirit of jazz. Impulse! wanted to showcase his talents in a new light by pairing him with a sophisticated jazz rhythm section — guitarist Barry Galbraith, bassist Milt Hinton, and drummer Panama Francis. These musicians had deep jazz credentials but were flexible enough to adapt to Hooker's deeply personal and rhythmically unique style.
The producer was Bob Thiele, head of the foundational jazz label Impulse! Records. The idea was to keep the tracklist down to just eight songs and let each one inhabit a mood, unencumbered by commercial demands for a single.
The album combined Hooker's earthy, hypnotic blues sound with the polished backing of the jazz combo. Hooker's deep, gravelly voice and his raw, syncopated guitar riffs stood at the forefront, while the jazz players added a smoother, more textured groove underneath. The result was a unique fusion: it retained the grit and authenticity of Hooker's Delta blues roots but added a subtle, swinging sophistication.
Side A
1. Shake It Baby
2. Country Boy
3. Bottle Up & Go
4. You're Wrong
Side B
1. Sugar Mama
2. Decoration Day
3. Money
4. It Serves You Right to Suffer
LP RECORD
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