Texas bluesman Lightnin’ Hopkins profession was each lengthy and fruitful. He carried out dwell for six a long time and recorded for over 30 years, amassing a list that was bigger than virtually any of his contemporaries. Not solely was he prolific, however he was additionally an excellent raconteur and an excellent dwell performer with an act honed to perfection at pre-war dances and events.
Born Sam Hopkins on March 15, 1912, his father was a musician who died when Sam was very younger. The household moved to Leona in Texas the place he grew up; in 1920 he watched Blind Lemon Jefferson at a picnic in Buffalo, Texas, which impressed him to make a “cigar box” guitar. His older brother Joel taught him to play the home made guitar earlier than his mom, Frances, inspired him to play organ at her residence church providers. Nonetheless, he was drawn to the music performed by his older brothers Joel and John Henry. He quickly dropped out of faculty and began work on a plantation. “I did a little plowin’ – not too much, chopped a li’l cotton, pulled a li’l corn. I did a little of it all.” He, like many different bluesmen, started taking part in at picnics and dances at native farms on a Friday and Saturday night time; later he took to hoboing all through Texas.
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By the tip of the 1920’s he fashioned a partnership together with his cousin, Texas Alexander, and the 2 of them performed on road corners for suggestions. Their partnership continued till the mid 1930’s when Hopkins was despatched to Houston County Jail Farm, for some unknown offense. After his launch, he rejoined Alexander working at picnics, events, and juke joints, in addition to working outdoors of music. He would journey round Texas, usually on buses, the place the drivers would even let him experience without spending a dime so long as he performed for the passengers.
In 1946, Hopkins and Alexander got the prospect to document by an Aladdin File’s expertise scout, inexplicably solely Hopkins adopted up the supply when Lightnin’ made the journey out west to Los Angeles on November 4, 1946. He lower “Katie Mae Blues,” with pianist Wilson “Thunder” Smith; they had been billed as Thunder and Lightnin’. It was a success within the Southwest, so Aladdin bought him again into the studio a 12 months later and he recorded “Short Haired Women,” which bought round 40,000 copies. In 1948 he bought over twice that many information together with his recording of “Baby Please Don’t Go,” virtually all of them across the Houston space and his residence state.
Concurrently recording for Aladdin, he lower information for Goldstar in Houston. Typically it was the identical songs. Actually, he would go on to make information for over twenty totally different labels throughout his lengthy recording profession. If he was not probably the most prolific blues recording artist, his discography was actually probably the most advanced to unravel. He made the R&B charts in 1949 with “Tim Moore’s Farm”; over the course of the following three years he had 4 extra hits, the largest was “Shotgun Express,” which made No.5.
Hopkins took a hiatus from recording between 1954 and 1959, though he did make a few information in 1956. With the rise and rise of Chess Information’ electrical blues, Hopkins appeared old style. In 1959 he was “rediscovered” by folklorist Mack McCormick and his profession was revived when Sam Charters recorded him for The Folkways label. In keeping with McCormick, “He is in the finest sense of the word – a minstrel: a street-singing, improvising songmaker born to the vast tradition of the blues. His music is as personal as a hushed conversation.”
The next 12 months he performed Carnegie Corridor with Joan Baez and Pete Seeger, in addition to taking part in on the College of California Folks Competition, in Berkeley, California, and touring the school circuit. He bought to a fair wider viewers when he appeared on the CBS TV particular, A Sample of Phrases & Music.
All through the 60s, his output appeared on a wide range of labels. His most popular technique of recording was to get the cash up entrance. To Hopkins, royalty funds had been far too insecure a method of incomes a dwelling. Lightnin’ didn’t wish to waste plenty of time so he normally did solely the one take. After his Carnegie Corridor look, he started to play extra prestigious venues, together with the Newport Folks Competition. He generally appeared with Clifton Chenier’s Band and, in 1967, he featured in a movie quick made by Les Clean entitled, The Solar’s Gonna Shine. The next 12 months Clean made 1968 one other quick, The Blues In accordance’ To Lightnin’ Hopkins.
Like a lot of his contemporaries, Lightnin’ recorded one thing of a progressive electrical blues album – The Nice Electrical Present & Dance, nevertheless it was not a setting wherein Hopkins felt snug. Through the 1970’s he remained very lively in each the recording studio in addition to taking part in dwell. He performed all through the USA and Canada and once more crossed the Atlantic to look in Britain, regardless of his dislike for flying. In 1970 he was featured within the British TV present, Blues Like Showers Of Rain and the next 12 months on PBS TV in Artists In America and Boboquivari. Because the 80s rolled round, he was starting to see a downtown within the enchantment of his distinctive model of Texas nation blues, he was additionally having some points together with his personal well being. He died of most cancers in Houston Texas in January 1982.
