John Lee Hooker's 1989 album, The Healer, finally gave the great bluesman the well-deserved commercial success that allowed him to live out his final years in comfort.
The album featured collaborations with Carlos Santana, Charlie Musselwhite, Los Lobos and Bonnie Raitt, among others.
When it came time to record its follow-up album, Mr. Lucky, Ry Cooder stepped in as co-producer with the aim of following the same successful formula. He assembled a diverse crew of notable guest and session musicians, including Keith Richards and Johnny Winter.
Around that same time, Hooker and Cooder played a handful of shows together, performing a mix of classics and new offerings from the latest record. In the clip below, you can see one of those appearances in full.
The performance, which was recorded at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, in 1992, was part of the All Our Colors: The Good Road Concert, a benefit show to help Native Americans. That day, the pair teamed up to play some great renditions of "Lonely Man," "Serves Me Right to Suffer," "Hobo Blues" and "Crawlin' King Snake."
Jonathan Graham is an ACM UK graduate based in London studying under the likes of Guthrie Govan and Pete Friesen. He is the creator of ForgottenGuitar.com, a classic-guitar media website, and is completing his debut album, Protagonist, due for release in 2016. Updates also can be found at Graham's YouTube channel.
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