Graveyard Blues (CD)

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Much of Hooker's best-loved work was recorded for independent Chicago labels like Vee-Jay in the '50s and '60s, but the bluesman's long, prolific career began in the late '40s in Detroit. During that time, as chronicled on Graveyard Blues, Hooker refined the doomy, foot-stomping boogie style that would become his trademark. The Hooker of '49-'50 sounds less tormented, lacking the existential edge of his later recordings. Instead, there's a light-heartedness and almost peppy swing to these tunes.

Hooker's voice is a touch higher and less throaty, but his guitar is cutting, and he'd already mastered his patented boogie beat. Hooker achieved no small amount of success with his recordings from this era, including one of his most famous songs, "Boogie Chillen," heard here in an alternate version. Graveyard Blues offers a glimpse of an important, formative period in Hooker's career.

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