Description
Book SynopsisIn a career that took him from the cotton fields of East Texas to the concert stage at Carnegie Hall and beyond, Lightnin’ Hopkins became one of America’s greatest bluesmen, renowned for songs whose topics effortlessly ranged from his African American roots to space exploration, the Vietnam War, and lesbianism, performed in a unique, eccentric, and spontaneous style of guitar playing that inspired a whole generation of rock guitarists. Hopkins’s music directly and indirectly influenced an amazing range of artists, including Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Tom Waits, and Bob Dylan, as well as bands such as the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and ZZ Top, with whom Hopkins performed.
Mojo Hand follows Lightin’ Hopkins’s life and music from the acoustic country blues that he began performing in childhood, through the rise of 1950s rock ’n’ roll, which nearly derailed his career, to his reinvention an
Trade Review
Mojo Hand covers all the pivotal moments in his fascinating life through narrative punctuated with large, unwieldy chunks of oral history – both from first and secondary sources. Though thoroughly researched, as befits its genesis as the late Tim O’Brien’s dissertation for the University of Houston, it turns Hopkins’ story into an excellent reference tool rather than a thrilling page turner. -- Lois Wilson * Mojo *
The biography maintains a focus centered on Lightnin’ and his music….He has crafted a fascinating, well-researched look at a true blues legend, and helps us understand the social environment that created such powerful music. -- Mark Thompson * Crossroads Blues Society of Northern Illinois *
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Chapter 1. East Texas Cotton Picking Blues
- Chapter 2. Can't Leave Home Blues
- Chapter 3. Bad Luck and Trouble Blues
- Chapter 4. The War Is Over
- Chapter 5. Folksinger Blues
- Chapter 6. Too Many Drivers
- Chapter 7. Vietnam War Blues
- Chapter 8. Heaven, Hell, or Houston
- Chapter 9. Po' Lightnin'
- Chapter 10. Epilogue: Remember Me
- Notes
- Index
