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Rolling Stone (9/20/70, p.37) - "...This is a
good, strong album of modern Chicago-styled blues from one of the
finest instrumentalists in the idiom..."
Taught slide guitar by
Robert Nighthawk, Delta-born Earl Hooker earned his reputation as a
stalwart of amplified blues in the 1950s and 1960s. This collection
shows sufficient grounds for his place in the sun: Hooker's guitar
speaks volumes on both early 1950s recordings and country- and
soul-mannered numbers cut shortly before his death in 1970. The stunner
is "Sweet Black Angel," in which the young man's suspended-in-air
notes-Azrael hovering-delineate a sepulchral, frightful mood. As a
singer Hooker always had a tough time depicting any particular state of
feeling at all. - Frank John Hadley, 1993
For a compact disc
reissue of Earl Hooker's debut, Arhoolie added some tracks to the
original lineup, making for a much more varied package. In addition to
the contents of Two Bugs and a Roach (itself a varied lot, with vocals
from Hooker, Andrew Odom and Carey Bell in between the instrumentals,
all cut in 1968), there are two tracks from stray sessions in late 1968
and July, 1969, along with four very early sides probably recorded in
Memphis in the company of Pinetop Perkins, Willie Nix and an unknown
bass player. Of these, "Guitar Rag" is the least together, hampered by
a bass player who can't find the changes, but "I'm Going Down the Line"
and "Earl's Boogie Woogie" are both top-notch uptempo boogies full of
fleet fingered soloing. "Sweet Black Angel" was the A-side of a stray
single from the early '50s and appears to be from another session,
although it's an excellent example of Hooker playing in the Robert
Night Hawk style. All in all, one of the must-haves in this artist's
very small discography. - Cub Koda, All Music Guide
Tracks:
1. Two Bugs And A Roach
2. Wah Wah Blues
3. You Don't Love Me
4. Earl Hooker Blues
5. Anna Lee
6. Off The Hook
7. Love Ain't A Plaything
8. You Don't Want Me
9. The Hook
10. New Sweet Black Angel (Instrumental)
11. I'm Going Down The Line
12. Sweet Black Angel
13. Guitar Rag
14. Earl's Boogie Woogie
Earl Hooker - Guitar, Vocals
Pinetop Perkins - Piano
Gino Skaggs - Bass, Vocals
Levi Warren - Drums
Willie Williams - Drums
Andrew Odom - Guitar, Vocals
Carey Bell - Harmonica
Louis Myers - Harmonica
Freddy Roulette - guitar
Recorded in 1968 & 1969, some from 1952 & 1953
1969 Arhoolie Records
