John Lee Hooker Chill Out CD

CHILL OUT won a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album.

One of a series of superb Hooker albums recorded in the '90s, CHILL OUT clearly shows that John Lee remains at the top of his game. The opening (and title) track features guitar god and long time Hooker fan Carlos Santana (with his band). Although quite slick sounding, Santana's Latin funk grooves and typically blistering solo fit suprisingly well with John Lee's gutbucket vocals--a testament to the aging blues man's incredible versatility. Roy Rogers (the blues guy, not the cowboy fast food mogul) reveals himself as an adept and sensitive producer and also adds some very tasty slide guitar on four tunes.

CHILL OUT includes several Hooker solo guitar and vocal pieces, some of which are among the best of his career. "Too Young," in particular, is chilling in it's sparseness and intensity. Hooker's voice is in great shape and, for a man known for his "talking" style, he can sing incredibly sweetly and melodically when he wants to. On "Kiddio," which features some truly funky piano from the great Charles Brown, John Lee positively croons. Whether with a full band or all alone, John Lee Hooker's talent burns brightly throughout CHILL OUT.

Chill Out isn't the superstar blow-out of John Lee Hooker's late-'80s albums, yet it retains that flavor. Featuring some extended soloing from Carlos Santana, Chill Out is filled with long blues workouts, all captured in pristine, state-of-the-art technology. Nothing on the disc captures the raw vitality of Hooker's prime material -- it's all relaxed blues-rock jams. The clean, sterile production doesn't help the basically directionless music. Certainly nothing on Chill Out is outright bad; in fact, most of it is pleasant, yet few of the songs on the album warrant repeated listens. [The 2007 Shout! edition features a new remastering overhaul and two bonus tracks.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

It's a bad sign if the first sound on a John Lee Hooker album is icy synths and it's a further problem if the first audible guitar is not Hook's but the distinctive rounded tone of Santana. These are two pretty big tipoffs that 1995's Chill Out isn't a typical John Lee Hooker album, and arriving after the very typical 1992 album Boom Boom that could be seen as a welcome change of pace; after all, that record might have been tight and professional but it never was engaging. Sadly, Chill Out is also far from captivating, living up far too well to the mellow promise of its title. This is the rare Hooker album that exist

Additional Tracks; Special Edition

Recorded at Russian Hill Recording, San Francisco, California; The Plant, Sausalito, California; Dragon Studio, Redwood City, California.

Engineers: Arne Frager, Samuel Lehmer, Bruce Kaphan.

Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocals, guitar, National guitar); John Lee Hooker; Van Morrison (vocals, guitar); Roy Rogers (guitar, slide guitar); Mike Osborn, Billy Friday Johnson, Rich Kirch, Bruce Kaphan (guitar); John Sanders, Charles Brown, Charles Brown (piano); Booker T. Jones, Deacon Jones (organ); Benny Rietveld, Ruth Davies (bass instrument); Gaylord Birch (drums, drum); Kevin Hayes , Scott Mathews, Bowen Brown (drums); Danny Caron, Carlos Santana (guitar); Chester Thompson (keyboards); Raul Rekow (congas); Karl Perazzo (timbales).

Audio Mixers: Samuel Lehmer; Arne Frager; Stephen Hart ; Bruce Kaphan.

Audio Remasterer: Keith Blake.

Liner Note Author: Jas Obrecht.

Recording information: Dragon Studio, Redwood City, CA; Russian Hill Recording, San Francisco, CA; The Record Plant, Sausalito, CA.

Photographer: Anton Corbijn.

Personnel: John Lee Hooker (vocals, guitar, steel guitar); Danny Caron, Rich Kirch, Billy Johnson, Bruce Kaphan (guitar); John Sanders (piano); Chester Thompson (keyboards); Deacon Jones (organ); Ruth Davies, Benny Rietveld, Max Cridlin, Jim Guyett (bass); Scott Mathews, Gaylord Birch, Bowen Brown (drums); Raul Rekow (congas); Karl Perazzo (timbales).

Producers: Carlos SEntertainment Weekly (2/24-3/3/95, p.119) - "...Singing with gruff authority, Hooker could give posturing rockers like the Stones and Aerosmith lessons in aging gracefully....[Hooker] prove[s] that you can be wizened and balding, yet still make compelling rock & roll..." - Rating: A-
Q (3/95, p.101) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...Ultimately, CHILL OUT is an essential genre purchase for Hooker's solo acoustic blues....This man hasn't got the blues, he is the blues."
Down Beat (4/95, p.50) - 4 Stars - Very Good - "...the living legend's latest is yet another triumph. While Hooker rocks a tad, the poised blues singer and cool-hand guitar picker mostly touches deep soul..."
Living Blues (p.58) - "[T]he mambo-driven CHILL OUT stands out as one of the most perfectly crafted pop performances in the Hooker discography."
Jazziz (6/95, p.95) - "...His voice is a rich and rugged treasure that, in the blues context, truly does improve with time....the sound of Hooker singing with his guitar is simply wondrous..."