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Lightnin' Hopkins
Lightnin’ Hopkins embodied the blues. His singing, guitar playing, his physical appearance, personality, and demeanor, were the blues. One of the most recognizable bluesmen to come out of Texas, Lightnin’ Hopkins went on to stake out an enduring and productive career with his own spontaneous and eclectic style of haunting vocals and accompanying guitar.
Sam Lightnin’ Hopkins was born in Centerville, Texas, on March 15, 1912. After his father died in 1915, the family (Sam, his mother and five brothers and sisters) moved to Leona. At age eight he made his first instrument, a cigar-box guitar with chicken-wire strings. By ten he was playing music with his cousin, Texas Alexander, and Blind Lemon Jefferson, who encouraged him to continue. Hopkins also played with his brothers, blues musicians John Henry and Joel.
By the mid-1920s Sam had started jumping trains, shooting dice, and playing the blues anywhere he could. He married sometime in the 1920s, and had several children, but by the mid-1930s his wife, frustrated by his wandering lifestyle, took the children and left Hopkins. He served time at the Houston County Prison Farm in the mid-1930s, and after his release he returned to the blues-club circuit. In 1946 he had his big break and first recording�"in Los Angeles for Aladdin Recordings. On the record was a piano player named Wilson (Thunder) Smith; by chance he combined well with Sam to give him his nickname, Lightnin’. The album has been described as “downbeat solo blues” characteristic of Hopkins’s style. Aladdin was so impressed with Hopkins that the company invited him back for a second session in 1947. He eventually made forty-three recordings for the label, which are highly regarded and available as “The Complete Aladdin Recordings.”
Over his career Hopkins recorded for nearly twenty different labels, including Gold Star Records in Houston. These were reissued under Arhoolie as “The Gold Star Sessions.” On occasion he would record for one label while under contract to another. In 1950 he settled in Houston, but he continued to tour the country periodically. Though he recorded prolifically between 1946 and 1954, his records for the most part were not big outside the black community, and buried by the onslaught of rock and roll. It was not until 1959, when Hopkins began working with legendary producer Sam Chambers that his music began to reach a mainstream audience. Hopkins switched to an acoustic guitar and became a hit in the folk-blues revival of the 1960s. He was signed by Chris Strachwitz for his new Arhoolie label in this period, which really propelled his popularity in the genre.
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Lightnin' Hopkins: Glory Be
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by Ian Patterson
Texas blues singer/guitarist Sam Lightnin Hopkins could lay claim to the authentic blues, having worked in the cotton fields for years. He turned electric in the 1950s, and toggled between acoustic and electric guitar with the blues boom and folk revival of the 1960s, influencing everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Stevie Ray Vaughan. But it is with the acoustic blues, soulful and heartfelt, that he forged his way in the 1940s, recording classic blues singles for a large number of ...
read moreLightnin' Hopkins: King of Dowling Street
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by Scott Gudell
Lightnin' Hopkins was Laidback, mildly mysterious and the epitome of street corner cool" according to informative liner notes. Well, there is a lot of Hopkins (1912--1982) music coming at you on The King of Dowling Street, a generous, smartly packaged three-disc, '100 proof' triple strength blues collection. Dowling Street was THE Houston street if you wanted to step out in style in the middle of the 20th century. Numerous regional and national musicians performed there, including Houston-based Hopkins ...
read moreLightnin' Hopkins: Straight Blues
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by AAJ Staff
Cobbled together from three sessions, these sides have nothing in common – nothing but Lightnin’ and a mighty hard blues. He can sound weary, but not here: the strings bite and the notes sneak up, soft with a nasty edge. “Black Gal” has been cruel, but she’ll get hers: “You know, just like you treat poor Lightnin’/ Someone treat you the same way too.” The backing fits: bass string throbbing under twisting top notes. A lonely despair, and you hear ...
read moreGrammy 2013 Lifetime Achievement Winners: Ravi Shankar, Lightnin' Hopkins, Carole King and More
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The Recording Academy this morning announced its 2013 Special Merit Awards recipients. This year's Lifetime Achievement Award winners are Glenn Gould, Charlie Haden, Lightnin' Hopkins, Carole King, Patti Page, Ravi Shankar who died yesterday just hours before the nomination, and the Temptations. Trustees Award winners are Marilyn and Alan Bergman, Leonard and Phil Chess, and Alan Livingston. Ikutaro Kakehashi, Dave Smith and Royer Labs are Technical Grammy Award recipients. The Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award honors performers who have made ...
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