Saturday, April 28, 2018

Lightnin' Hopkins - Smokes Like Lightning (Remastered)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:03
Size: 82.5 MB
Styles: Acoustic Texas blues
Year: 1963/1992
Art: Front

[2:48] 1. T Model Blues
[3:24] 2. Jackstropper Blues
[4:17] 3. You Cook All Right
[3:57] 4. My Black Name
[2:38] 5. You Never Miss Your Water
[3:41] 6. Let's Do The Suzie-Q
[5:27] 7. Ida Mae
[5:15] 8. Smokes Like Lightning
[4:32] 9. Prison Farm Blues

Bass – Donald Cooks; Drums – Spider Kilpatrick; Harmonica – Billy Bizor; Piano – Buster Pickens; Vocals, Guitar – Lightnin' Hopkins. Recorded January 1962, except #4 & #7 on February 17, 1962 and #9 on February 20, 1962.

One of the most weirdly compelling elements of Smokes Like Lightnin' is Mack McCormick's liner notes, reproduced from the original 1963 LP. Almost breathtaking in their ferocity, McCormick's notes characterize Hopkins as a spoiled crybaby whose only redeeming quality is his ability to make music. The album, recorded in three 1962 sessions, consists simply of Hopkins and his guitar, except for three songs that are performed with a full band. The sound is spare and very loose, with a re-recording of "T Model Blues" and the dance song "Let's Do the Susie-Q," a musical exhortation that seems unlikely to inspire dancing. A brief and uneven album, Smokes Like Lightnin' is less compelling than Hopkins ' '50s recordings, but strikes an appealingly lazy acoustic groove. ~ Greg Adams

Smokes Like Lightning (Remastered) mc
Smokes Like Lightning (Remastered) zippy

1 comment:

Bob Mac said...

Great album, I had the LP back in the day. Just wanted to point out the harp player is actually Billy Bizor, with an r.