AMG Review of Best of John Lee Hooker [Tomato Music]

Al Campbell
All Music Guide

This particular best-of John Lee Hooker disc draws from Vee Jay material recorded in the late '50s and early '60s and live sessions recorded for Tomato in the early '70s. While all 14 tracks are extraordinary, the sound quality is a problem. Some performances, mainly the Tomato masters, are fine, but the Vee Jay dates, "Boom Boom" for instance, are extremely muddy. The cleaned-up version of Hooker's Vee Jay material is easily available at a budget price with original cover art and track sequence, to boot, from Collectables. The Tomato albums Alone, Vol. 1 & 2 are also available and definitely worth picking up.