I began listening to Lightnin' Hopkins in late August 2024. Hopkins recorded for many labels during the late 1940s and early 1950s, including Aladdin, Gold Star, Sittin' In With, Modern/RPM, Mercury, Decca, and Herald (all listed in rough chronological order), making it hard to listen to everything he recorded in his early career and also difficult to distill all of it onto one compilation. I decided to cover his first recordings at Aladdin, then move to his work with Sittin' In With, then jump to his work with Herald in 1954. These felt like appropriate stops to cover because they showcased developments in his backing band. Finally, Lightnin' Hopkins was his first album of the folk revival era and kickstarted another prolific period for the artist, with one or two studio albums coming out every year after. I decided not to cover that period although I'm sure quite a bit of it is worthwhile.
The Complete Aladdin Recordings (1991): A
Hello Central: The Best of Lightnin' Hopkins (2004): A-
Lightnin' and the Blues: The Herald Sessions (2001): A-
Lightnin' Hopkins (1959): B+
The Complete Aladdin Recordings (1991):
Although Texas doesn't have nearly as many country blues legends as Mississippi does, young Sam Hopkins (born 1912) didn't have to travel far from his home in Centerville, Texas to meet and mentor under another Texas blues great, Blind Lemon Jefferson. By 1946, when he was discovered by an Aladdin Records talent scout who insisted upon a name change to "Lightnin'" Hopkins, the guitarist was well-versed in Texas blues indeed. In what could have been a cruel twist of fate, the talent scout paired him up with a stranger for his first studio session but he and pianist Wilson "Thunder" Smith unexpectedly prove to have excellent chemistry and make a natural pairing. When Hopkins's "Katie May" found commercial traction, Hopkins began frequently returning to Aladdin's studios but these follow-up sessions were recorded without Smith or any other accompaniment (ignoring "Let Me Play Me With Your Poodle," which is inexplicably his only song during this time to feature drums). In total, he recorded an incredible forty-three sides with Aladdin from 1946 to 1948 and this two-CD compilation The Complete Aladdin Recordings collects them all. This compilation even includes the songs Smith took lead on. Smith's slimy vocals and forceful boogie piano on "Can't Do Like You Used to," "West Coast Blues," "L.A. Blues," and "Big Mama Jump" reveal a powerful and under-appreciated blues artist who unfortunately was far less successful in booking subsequent recording sessions and died in 1963 with a criminally small discography. Although Hopkins quickly shed his early recording compatriot, he moves to untethered blues with startling ease. His solo boogie electric guitar conjure the same eerie vibe of John Lee Hooker's Modern Records sides but are arguably even more impressive for their utmost consistency over a larger collection of songs. A
Hello Central: The Best of Lightnin' Hopkins (2004):
If his prolific recording with Aladdin was not enough, Lightnin' Hopkins was also recording with Gold Star Records during the same time period and produced even more cuts with them, putting his complete late 1940s discography at an incredible ninety-one songs. Although these songs are available via streaming as the two volumes of The Gold Star Sessions, it's an incredible amount of extra listening to material that doesn't deviate too much from his Aladdin output. This compilation of his 1950 and 1951 recordings with the Sittin' In With label is a better place to pick up with Hopkins's discography because he started recording with a bassist during this time. The bass--occasionally joined by Hopkins's percussive footing tapping--is a nice touch and showcases a new facet in Hopkins's music, particularly on "Gotta Move," "Buck Dance Boogie," "Coffee Blues," "Why Did You Get Mad at Me?," "Happy New Year," "Tap Dance Boogie," and "Tell Me Boogie (Mad As I Can Be)." While some songs remain unaccompanied and are pretty much in the same style as his Aladdin recordings, Hopkins continues to show he has more to offer in this lane. A-
Lightnin' and the Blues: The Herald Sessions (2001):
Like John Lee Hooker, Lightnin' Hopkins recorded some of best music completely unaccompanied. But although Hooker could never quite figure out performing with other musicians, Hopkins found immediate chemistry with a pianist he never met for his initial recordings, seamlessly moved to solo blues shortly after, and quickly found his footing with a bassist in the early 1950s. Now in 1954 with Herald Records, he suffers no growing pains either as he utilizes a bassist and a drummer for a rock'n'roll session to remember. Lightin' and the Blues was originally released as a twelve song LP in 1960 but this 2001 reissue collects four more great songs for an album that conservative collects only about half of the recordings he did with Herald. Although there are surely greats songs from this session that are missing on this sixteen song track-list--the one notable exclusion is "Hopkins' Sky Hop," which Stevie Ray Vaughan repurposed for "Rude Mood" on his debut album in 1983--this sampler gives a short and sweet taste of arguably his most energetic and amplified recording session. A-
Lightnin' Hopkins (1959):
Although his recordings opportunities seemed quite endless when his career started, Lightnin' Hopkins was hardly playing at all when Sam Charters rediscovered him in Houston in 1959. The folk revival was slowly picking up steam around this time in New York City, but the blues revival was only just getting started and Hopkins was going to be at the forefront of helping it along its way. In the same year that Folkways released Charters's home recordings of Hopkins, they released Charters's influential compilation The Country Blues, which accompanied his book of the same name. Including some of the earliest research on blues legends like Blind Willie Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Robert Johnson, the book and compilation practically kicked off the entire blues revival and for those entranced by the music coming from Charters's compilation, there was the recently recorded Lightnin' Hopkins right next to it. With this fortune, the Hopkins album became a classic in his discography and rightly began a revival in his career. While Hopkins could competently play nearly any style of blues, the burgeoning folk revival meant that Hopkins was given an acoustic guitar for these recordings and billed as a "folk blues" guitarist for the next several years. Of course, as an always versatile blues player and certainly one that had already proved excellent without accompaniment, Hopkins took the task in stride and delivered with ease. It's not exactly charting new ground in the Hopkins's discography, but it's another worthwhile stop for its laid-back setting, its sharp recordings, and its solid track-list--including a few words on Hopkins's memories of Blind Lemon Jefferson. B+
