he would crawl around on all fours, howling like a wolf on the prowl

epub or mobi, with thanks to the original sharer

Besman did not even expect Hooker to perform the blues — not by any traditional definition of blues music. Instead, he let the guitarist riff on a single chord while improvising a narrative. These weren’t even songs, just freewheeling grooves, without a clear beginning, middle, or end. They concluded after around three minutes each, but that was imposed by the limitations of a 78rpm record. Directing Hooker in the studio was not like producing other acts. Most bands arrive at a session prepared to play well-rehearsed material which they refine into polished, finished performances. Not so for Hooker: a second take would produce, likely as not, a substantially different song. Methodical production would never have worked for the young John Lee Hooker. He would have covered the whole history of the blues in twenty takes, and be no closer to a definitive version of a specific song. Besman didn’t want polished performances; he wanted to capture the heat of the moment. He went with the flow, and if take two sounded like a different song, Besman simply assigned it a separate title.