The Blues is not music it’s a way of life

John Lee Hooker is one of the superstars of blues and he is known as the King of Boogie and the King of Cool. His simple but effective songs has made a huge impact on modern music and artist like The Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds introduced his songs to a new and bigger audience.

John Lee Hooker was a blues singer from Mississippi in USA. He moved to Detroit in 1943 when he started to work on a factory. In  his spare time John Lee visited the Apex Bar on Hasting Street which was the heart of the towns black entertainment district. He bought a electric guitar and started to play in the clubs. He quickly rose to fame and started to put out records in the late 40s.



His first single Boogie Chillen was a instant hit. With it’s driving rhythm the song is considered to be a forerunner of rock’n roll music. Michael "Cub" Koda the author of the books All Music Guide To Blues and Blues for Dummies said that the riff in John Lee’s debut single "Boogie Chillen" launched a million songs. 

- In my career, people in the record business have been rockin' in the same ol' boat. They all crooks - I'll say it clear and loud - especially the big ones. - John Lee Hooker

Like so many other Afro-American musicians John Lee Hooker earned little money from the record sale and had to play in pubs and shacks in order to get some extra money to pay his bills. John Lee had his own style and he only knew maybe two or three cords. It was hard to work with John Lee cause he rarely played with a standard beat and often changed tempo in the songs. Therefore he often worked alone.

In 1958 John Lee met the 12 year old guitar player Leroy Emmanuel who didn’t have a problem with his style of playing and knew how to follow. Leroy was just a kid but he could play and he was happy just to play with anybody. Leroy played with John Lee in various clubs and shacks in Detroit over a 10 year period. But he never did any recordings with him.


Leroy Emmanuel (second left) playing with John Lee Hooker in 1964. Photo: Unknown.

– John Lee Hooker was known but he wasn’t big. We were playing at a place called Blues Unlimited on the Eastside of Detroit. It was only a little shack. We sat there in a corner playing the blues in the dusty little place. John Lee was singing and doing his guitar thing he looked at me and I did all the solo stuff. – Leroy Emmanuel.

Although his record sale was good John Lee still had to struggle to survive. He reached a new audience in 1962 when he made his first ever tour to Europe and he had a huge impact on the blues scene in England. By the end of the decade John Lee played at festivals and rock clubs in Europe. Although he made records and sold many tickets he hardly had enough money to pay his bills.

– I said John Lee you gonna be famous man. I can feel it. You gonna be famous one day. What happened when time went on? Bonnie Rait played with John Lee, Santana played with John Lee all this superstars playing with John Lee and he became really famous. – Leroy Emmanuel.

John Lee Hooker made a album with Canned Heat in 1971 and it was the first of his albums that charted. In the late 70s and 80s John Lee toured Europe and the USA steadily. In 1989 recorded John Lee the Healer with Boonie Rait, Carlos Santana, Canned Heat among others. The Healer and the albums that followed was huge successes and it permitted John Lee Hooker to live the rest of his life in comfort. 

Blues was not only music for John Lee Hooker it was a way of life. John Lee died in his sleep on June 21, 2001 in his home in California at a age of 83 years. But the blues wasn't buried with John Lee. It's still alive and many musicians carries on the blues torch. One of them is Leroy Emmanuel. He has played the blues for 60 years and continues to make records and tour the world.


Leroy Emmanuel playing the blues in 2013. Photo: Mikael Good

The first and Second photo in this article was taken at the Chicago Bluesfest in 1986 by Stevesworldofphotos

Text : Mikael Good

An Interview With a Guitar Legend

Leroy Emmanuel started his professional career when he was 12 when he played a gig with Sonny Boy Williamson. Since then he has played with some of the greatest entertainers in the history of modern music. Most people have heard Leroys guitar play and his backing vocals. But not so many know who he is or have heard his story. I want to tell Leroys story and I did a long interview with him this summer. A interview that will hopefully be published later this year.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

Kålgården blev grävskopornas rov

Kålgården var ett trevligt innergårdsområde i Jönköping. Det revs tyvärr 1996 för att ge plats för dyra fina bostadsrätter för bättre bemedlade. Innan området blev grävskopornas rov spenderade jag en hel del tid med att gå runt i och dokumentera det för eftervärlden. Så här i backspegeln tycker jag att det är tråkigt att den gamla miljön inte renoverades och införlivades i det nya området för att bevara något av Kålgårdens ursprungliga charm. 

  
  
  
  

Text och foto: Mikael Good

80% av europas romer riskerar att hamna i fattigdom

Andelen människor som lever i fattigdom och extrem fattigdom är procentuellt låg i Europa jämfört med andra världsdelar. Men om man tittar närmare på den procenten ser man att en stor andel av dem som tillhör någon av Europas minoritetsgrupper är bland de allra fattigaste i Europa.

Enligt en EU-studie från 2016 riskerar 17% av Europas befolkning att hamna i fattigdom, bland Europas 14 miljoner romer är den siffran 80%: http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2016/11/daily-chart-20

Text och foto: Mikael Good

  

Den övergivna försvarsbunkern

Runt om i Sverige finns det mängder av övergivna bunkrar från andra världskriget. En av dem finns i en medelstor svensk stad och användes till att försvara oljedepån och hamninloppet.



När andra världskriget bröt ut var Sveriges beredskap allt annat än god och det fanns inte någon försvarplan för en fientlig invasion. Efter det att Danmark och Norge ockuperats av nazityskland började skyndsamt bunkrar att byggas runt om i landet.  De flesta byggdes utmed Skånekusten och i Dalsland där invasionshotet var som störst och försvarslinjer med bunkrar och stridsvagnshinder byggdes. I övriga landet byggdes bunkrar vid speciella objekt som var viktiga att försvara. 



En av alla de drygt 3700 bunkrar som byggdes runt om i Sverige under andra världskriget låg i utkanten av den mellansvenska staden. Den fungerade som ett försvar för den närliggande oljedepån och hamninloppet. 1961 flyttades oljedepån och bunkern förlorade sitt primära syfte. När jag besökte den för första gången i september 1992 var bunkern fortfarande i relativt gott skick. Men på våren 1993 upptäckte traktens ungdomar att den var olåst och för dem blev det en utmärkt festplats. Det ledde till klagomål från omkringboende och det bidrog till att bunkern plomberades.

    

Det har gått 24 år sedan jag senast besökte bunkern men av en tillfällighet cyklade jag förbi den häromdagen och bestämde mig för att stanna och ta ett par bilder.

Text och foto: Mikael Good