vjB Tnt Chkonicle
aitt^fi ntertainment
Legendary Bluesman John Lee
Hooker celebrates 50th amnversarv
By LARRY MCSHANE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK. -The latest
album from venerable blues man
John Lee Hooker boasts an all
star cast of collaborators: Eric
Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Carlos
Santana, Van Morrison.
But there's one notable
absence from Hooker's wish list
of friends on this celebration of
his half-century in the music
business.
There ain't no way 1 could
get him,'' Hooker says from his
California home, his voice a
barely audible croak. "Stevie
Ray. Stevie Ray Vaughan, he
would be No. 1.1 loved Stevie."
"It's just too bad," he says
with the wisdom acquired from
five decades of singing and play
ing the blues. "That's the way it
goes, though."
It's a single sad note in an
upbeat year for Hooker. The son
of a Mississippi sharecropper has
reaped an assortment of riches in
1998: his new album, "The Best
of Friends"; a 50th anniversary
tribute concert arranged by the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; a
pair of Grammy awards for a
tune he did with Morrison,
"Don't Look Back"; and the
announcement of a lifetime
achievement award from the
Rhythm and Blues Foundation.
"I'm hanging on, like a vine
... It's just nice to be around,"
Hooker say*. ''I'm still, kicking -
'And hopping. I'm not as young as
1 used to be, but I'm still kicking.
I'm young at h rrt."
Hooker, who turned .81 in
August, credits his longevity to
one core belief: "I believe in the
Great Maker. I believe in that. I
could be wrong, but it's working
so far. I still got my mojo work
' - M
ing.
Hooker's mojo dates way
back. The Clarksdale, Mississip
pi, native, born in 1917, wound
up working as a janitor in a
Detroit auto factory by day and
playing the blues by night.
Hooker signed a record deal
in 1948, and quickly scored a
million-selling hit with "Boogie
Chillen" - a tune remade for the
new album with Clapton helping
out on guitar.
It was English kids of Clap
ton's generation who rediscov
ered Hooker in the early 1960s,
when the delta bluesman's sound
was copped by the Yardbirds and
John Mayall's Blues breakers.
Mayall's band backed Hooker on
a 1964 tour of England.
That influence still reverber
ates today - Robert Plant and
Jimmy Page titled their most
recent album "Walking into
Clarksdale." And Hooker recent
ly performed on a track for May
all's upcoming album.
Hooker's touring continued
over the years, but he stopped
-recording during the late 1970s,
and didn't start against until
1989. His studio drought ended
with "The Healer," which
received critical praise while sell
ing more than 1 million copies.
That same year, he joined the
Rolling Stones for a pay-per-view
show on their "Steel Wheels",
tour. Stones guitarist Keith
Richards is among the legion of
guitarists who take a little bit of
Hooker's style on stage with
them.
"There's a continuity there,"
Richards said recently. "With
John Lee Hooker, you feel the
continuity of a long tradition...
You get in the dressing room and
realize you've known each other
forever."
Hooker knows the feeling -
ana ne can explain it, too.
"People related to the blues,
because the blues have been there
since the world was here," he
says. "All music conies from the
blues. The blues are always the
same. They will never die."
Hooker says he doesn't play
much guitar these days - "Just
once in a while," be confesses.
"I've got a whole roomful of gui
tars, I can't hardly walk without
tripping over 'em."
But he's well aware of
younger performers like teen-age
blues sensation Jonny Lang: "I
know him real well." And he
keeps in touch with old friends
like Jaitt' "Ooooh. the
loves me, ana I love her. She's big
now. She's a good person, too."
Raitt's Rhythm and Bluet
Foundation - she's one of its
founders honors Hooker with a
lifetime achievement award Feb.
25 in Los Angeles. Smokey
Robinson will be host of the
event.
"What am I most proud of?
That's a good question," Hooker
says. "There's to many things I'm,
proud of. I'm proud that I'm
famous. I'm proud that I'm fond
of people, and people love me.
"Lots of things."
John Loo Moohor
'Family Matters' star
dies of cancer at 29
THE AWrWBP PRESS
]
NEW YORK - ActreM I
Michelle Thomas, who had tele- <
vision role? in "The Young & The
Restless," "The Cosby Show" and <
"Family Matters," died of cancer <
at age 29. I
Miss Thomas died last Tues- '
day in Manhattan, according to i
her publicist Kahdijah Bell.
Miss Thomas appeared on the '
CBS soap opera "The Young & i
The Restless" as Callie; on "The i
Cosby Show" as Justine, who was
the girlfriend of Theo - the char- 1
acter played by Malcolm Jamal !
Warner; and on "Family Mat- !
ters" as Myra, who was the girl- 1
friend of Steve Urkel - the char
acter played by Jaleel White. I
> She had guest appearances in i
ft number of other TV shows, i
deluding "Roseanne," and also <
performed in music videos, Los 1
Angeles theater productions and
several movies, including i
-?Hangin' with the Homeboys."
She had recently received an
NAACP Image Award nomina
tion for outstanding actreti in a
laytime drama series.
"We are terribly shocked and
Jeeply saddened by Michelle's
ieath and our thoughts and
prayers are with her family," said
William J. Bell, co-creator and
tenior executive producer of
'The Young ft The Restless."
'Michelle was a great talent with
i bright future ahead of her. She
will be missed by all of us."
Miss Thomas was born in
Boston and raised in New York.
She attended the Montclair
School of Arts and the Broadway
Dance Center. '
She is survived by her parents,
Phynjuar Thomas, a stage
actress, and Dennis Thomas, who
was a member of the band Kool
& the Gang, of Weekhawken,
N.J.
At press time, funeral
arrangements were not available.
i
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