British guitarist analyses the most prolific bluesman ever Lightnin' Hopkins!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ส.ค. 2024
- Tonight we're going back to take a look at the most prolific blues album creator Lightnin' Hopkins!
Original video - • Live at ACL Lightnin...
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Lightnin' Hopkins was great, better when it was just him with no accompanying musicians. This man with just his guitar, voice and stomping feet could be a complete performance, and a great one.
Absolutely right. The power of the thirteen and a half bar blues
I like that kind of raw stripped down Blues too. Theres some great videos of R. L. Burnside playing by himself with a cheap guitar and amp out in a field somewhere in Mississippi. You can see him tapping his feet but of course you can't hear them 😎
Lightnin' had his own timing that could be erratic. Other players had to follow him as best they could.
I appreciate your description of Lightnin' Hopkins. You said that he could be a complete performance, and a great one. From watching the video, I think he was a complete performance in himself.
I loved listening to Lightnin' Hopkins a ton when I was hanging out in the punk rock community in Austin in '83-'84. Couldn't get enough of his pared-down, lushly gritty blues!
We named a kitty Lightnin' because he was such a cool cat. Thanks for featuring him and for all that fret board fun!
Never thought of that,we called our coolest kitten Meep, because that's the sound she makes. If we get a boy kitten that cool, I'll call him Lightnin. Or Bo,depending which one he looks like
Fil, these old timers, the builders of blues, rhythm and blues and rock made it look so easy. Cause they cared about their music, cared about the audience and played with a matter of fact. Man, young artists pay attention, u don't need to be perfect but display passion.
My guitar teacher, who had studied under Lightnin Hopkins, used to say, "You haven't heard the blues until you've sat at the feet of Lightnin Hopkins and felt his hot alcoholic breath down the back of your neck." Such a powerful image.
I remember the first time I bought one of his albums. They were hard to find and I treated it like gold.
I saw Lightnin Hopkins perform at the University of Houston in the late 60s or very early 70s. He played on a makeshift stage outdoors & the crowd sat on the grass to watch him. He played solo & refused to go up on stage til someone brought him a bottle of whiskey. (Southern Comfort maybe?) He then played & drank til he couldn't sit on his stool any longer. It was a great performance. I'll never forget that performance. Even though it was a scheduled performance, it felt very impromptu. He just played what he wanted to play, there didn't seem to be a play list.
@LarryFrancona I guess. Probably about 20 feet from the makeshift stage.
I had never heard his name before. I thought "OK another bluesman,I will give it a listen". Then I saw how his hands (both) move on that guitar,like liquid lighting. It would be a dream realized to be able to play the opening bass line as Fil demonstrated. Thanks Fil.
The spaces that he leaves between notes are just as important as the notes themselves. In art, there is the concept of positive and negative space. These two elements create tension. I think it is the same in music.
What I liked about this was all the notes he didn't play. Waiting for his solo there was so much tension that those people were thirsty, and he gave them a little drop of water. But how Sweet was that water?
Absolutely, and even during his solos when Lightnin would suddenly reign it in then hit the rhythm again to create and release tension .
Great video. Wish more of those old bluesmen were still around. The real deal.
Once again I've been slapped right up side the head with a fantastic American musician I knew nothing about. Thanks, Fil. Keep the history lessons and the superb music coming.
Sadly, the same here. Wish I had discovered him earlier!
Biographical note. Lightnin' was reputedly Blind Lemon's "lead man," and his version of "See that My Grave Is Kept Clean" is definitive. He was also Albert Collins' older cousin, or so I've read. So in a way Lightnin' was toTexas blues what Robert Johnson was to Delta blues -- given that Johnson was the crucial pivot point between Son House and Elmore James, and everything else that followed in THAT tradition -- Muddy, Jimi, Wolf, Clapton, etc.
Lightning Hopkins, WOW! THANKS for covering him. He did it his way and it was great. Doesn't get enough love these days. Thanks for reminding me. 🤠👍
Lordie, love these songs. So much soul. 😁. I’d love to hear more of these guys. What a history and a life he had!!
That groove is unbelievable...sad to know we will never have this music again
Pure HTX blues. When he passed, all of us young guitar players skipped school to stand in line to pay our respects.
Man I can hear ZZ Top Tube Snake Boogie all over that track!
Might be a switched around thing here.
I could hear some ZZ Top as well. Honestly I don’t know this Artist like you do , but dang , I love me some amazing blues ! You know those cool cats as my dad would say ,we’re the original Rappers way back then . I loved it ,and you can’t help but move your body , and this cat brought a big smile to my face ! He was thoroughly enjoying playing it as well.💃
Smooth . Is there anything that Fil can’t play.🎸🎺🎷🪕🥁🎸
ZZ Top is a Houston band --- of course they knew Lightnin'!
ZZ gave old Lightning a nod on that one for shure 😎👍
Lightnin' Hopkins one of the best in blues. could listen to Lightnin' Hopkins all day. I sure You could do a killer blues song. definitely worth another listening to. thanks Fil
Your description of Lightnin' Hopkins being prolific was spot on. I was captivated from the moment his performance video began--it was as if Lightnin' had cast a spell on me. Because he could successfully engage an audience with his guitar and voice with no other accompaniment, to borrow part of what Dan Mc commented earlier, Lightnin' Hopkins was a complete performance in himself. Thanks for analyzing someone of pure talent--this was during a time when talent was both noticed and appreciated.
Fil your videos are great. You and Rick Beato are musical educators....much appreciated the hard work you put into these videos. Mary Spender is also great. TH-cam has great content now!
Thanks!
Lightnin! LOVING IT here in H-Town, Texas! What a treat, Fil!
I found your channel awhile ago and I love the content you put out. I would love if you analyzed the playing of Hill Country Blues guitarists Junior Kimbrough and Mississippi Fred Mcdowell. They aren't the most technically sound guitarists but they are extremely soulful.
A bluesman I hadn't heard of and he is awesome.
He makes it look easy, beautiful sound.
Legend has it that, Lightnin' Hopkins could play an out-of-tune guitar on stage and still make it sound good.
Sorry I'm late, Fil, but I just gotta say it. Lightnin' is one of those guys whose playing is an archetype, like Son House and John Fahey. Any beginning student needs to get that sound in his music, and anything that comes later is just icing on the cake. As Lonnie Mack used to say, "Keep it simple and work at it long enough, and you'll get it right sooner or later." Anybody from Texas will tell you -- Lightnin' was The Godfather of the Texas shuffle, long before Bugs Henderson!
Billy Gibbons to Lightnin while backing him, Uh Mr. Lightnin I think you missed a chord change, Lightnin looking at Billy over the rim of his eye glasses...Lightnin change when Lightnin wanna change . LOL...I hear thats a true story.
I'm Degge James.. I started playing drums in kindergarten, and I always love the black blues and jazz. At age 16 in about 1970 I saw lightning at the mother's Blues club in Dallas. I stood about 5 ft in front of him. And he captivated me, affecting me greatly. That's when I realized that I identified as a black man
Snare drums always sound good in Blues music..great player..I think he said Lou-E-Anna..thanks Fil
Hi Mark! You're right! Love that bass line, too...
@@lynndow3185 Hi Lynn...we are in a cool spell here in Missouri today..84 degrees
@@mevrammcoyoteV8f150 That's better than our 100! Enjoy!
You can't go wrong with some authentic blues! Michael Bloomfield was not black and he came from a wealthy family - but he suffered a lot in his early years. I don't think you have done him yet. Thanks, Fil.
I never listened to lightning before pretty cool but i heard country singing hank Williams jr talk about him hank love this guy
There's the blues right there, urban slick and very dangerous.
He was from a country place the blues didn't come from urban places it moved to urban places.
Thanks for this Fil, he’s not as well known as some others, except in Texas. SRV loved him. As you can tell he had a rather free attitude toward the codification of blues form.
Love Lightning Hopkins..especially acoustically.
Fil, Lightnin was the man, so was John Lee Hooker, Peace man, Rock on, Cousin Figel
Love it. These old dudes were the real deal. Plus i admit i came to see what an English boy like Fil did with pronouncing "Lightnin'" and "Louisiana". 😄 Say it with me buddy. Loozy-anna.
Also i go to your livestreams and i enjoy them so much.
But my name is LEE thee uh.
Not leh thigh uh. Hahahah
Nice analysis! I think it prob true the old groups of all styles were more lead and follow than collaborative. I mean they were all good and they did work together but when you have to hold it together only one guy can veer off at a time. Might as well be the star.
Again omg yes!😎😎😎😍😍😍I do enjoy your lessons Professor.😁Thank you.
Pure Blues👏👏👏👏🖒🖒🖒🖒 Great Artist the 🎸🎸🎸 are exellent👌👌👌👌 your analisys 👏👏👏 Congratulations!!!!⚘⚘⚘👊🤘
Love that you finally did a Lightnin' video!! You gotta do one where he's solo acoustic though! The band behind him was struggling to keep up...you can especially hear it in the third solo
No doubt about it, this Man can get down on them Blues, I'm like soooooooo lovin it. Thank you Fil!!!!! When you get the Blues going all you want to do is dance.
Perfect! Got it - thanks for sharing.
Love Sam "Lightning". Great guitarist. I read somewhere (Don't know if it was album liner notes or what)after his "rediscovery", he was in the studio recording, the bassist (thinking he had the changes in the bag) went to A,(at the normal change). Lightning stopped & said "We go to A when I decide to go to A, not before." (Or something like that.). The guy who was in Texas looking for Sam in the early 60s, said he had a hard time finding him, as Sam's friends & acquaintances were tight lipped about his whereabouts. He said he was just about to give up, when Sam rolled up in a Cadillac, & said "Are you the man who's looking for me?" I'm such a huge fan. I had a CD released by Guitar Player magazine, that had a wealth of blues, every one from Sam, to Hound Dog Taylor, to Muddy. Absolutely a great album. Of course Sam as many of the old Texas bluesmen were, was a Lemon Jefferson devotee. If you've dived as deep as I have into the Blues, you can hear it. Any way, glad I found this video on your channel. Well done.
PS I noticed your Squire Telecaster, I have a 1992 USA Telecaster, in 2004 I added a 4 Way Tele Mod Switch. In 2015 I added a Fender 5 Way Super Switch. (It gives you Neck/Both in series/Both parallel/Both 1/2 out of phase/Bridge pick up selection. I only get both half out of phase, due to mine having TBX. I have to say she's a tone monster now. If you haven't tried it, I recommend it. I was hesitant to change the 4 Way, but I found I would still have the "Both in series" tone. Love it!)
Pure magic seamless like the slight of hand - love lightning. !!
Thank you Fil for enlightening me on this brilliant artist! 👏👏
Great analysis again Fil going to share this with the blues group I have a membership with.
Great lesson vid awesome!
Thank you so much! I love it you're covering all the blues greats! It means a lot.
Great analysis, Fil!
Cool T-shirt 😁
🖤🤘🏽
I enjoy the next song in this recording. His earlier recordings are great things.
I LOVE THE BLUES! Thank you for this wonderful analysis, Fil!❤
Thanks, Fil, for once again pointing out details in technique that have flown over my head.
Love reading your reviews Fil ! Can,t remember much of Lightnin'Hopkins. Thanks for bringing him to my attention again !
Cooool Blues! Enjoyed this laid back style vocals with the masterful lightning guitar work! Makes me smile. Makes me happy. Good performance. As usual great demo and analysis Fil! Thanks. 😎🎼🎶🎵🇨🇦
Truly fascinating analysis! I had never seen him play before, only ever heard him (and, sadly, not that often). Seeing him play is very much a treat!
Thank you Fil for more education about the blues. I didn't know about Lightin Hopkins before but this was great!
Very interesting. Thank you
Litghnin' Hopkins is a gift from God
Fil, Fil, Fil, you are on a roll now! Love those Blues. Man, that guitar picking is sick. Those old timers have it running deep inside. Thanks for the vid. Great job!
He was amazing
Bought my first Lightnin LP in 1963. Still have it with many others.
Great point about “classics”.
Got to see him live as a teen. I knew then and still realize how lucky I was.
Fil I really enjoy you and your channel. Very special indeed.👍✌
Fil, you are a treasure , thanks for this breakdown!
The only time I’ve made a suggestion to you and thought it might be MY suggestion that led to a video was when you featured Joanne Shaw Taylor. Lately, though, you’ve covered a few folks/bands I recommended, and while I take no credit for giving you the idea, I’m “pleased as punch” to see you get around them! I suppose you get quite a number of suggestions, and really, I don’t know how you choose...there’s so much out there. Lightnin’ has been one of my favorites for a long time. Besides his playing, I love it when he introduces a song with a story. One of my favorite “Lightni’isms” is “the rubber on the wheel is faster than the rubber on the heel.”
Thanks Fil...
Thank you for this! Lightnin' is an absolute legend.
There are some really marvelous performances captured in Les Blank's 1970 short documentary "The Blues according to Lightnin' Hopkins", where you also discover what a great storyteller Lightnin' was: archive.org/details/TheBluesAccordingToLightninHopkins1970
My favorite song of all time by Lightinin' is California showers: th-cam.com/video/Ve7WnA3Zed8/w-d-xo.html
Very good review Fil ..😎
Classic blues. Thanks Fil!
Excellent analysis Fil. I have several of his LP's , wether with a band or just him & guitar , he was himself at all times . Cheers 👍
What a great band leader he was too. Right on the money.
Now we talkin!!
Excellent!!!!!!
So great!!! :-)
This was the live at ACL session. One of the greatest of all times
sam lightnin hopkins came from a musical family where several brothers also played guitar so he may have had help learning guitar
Thank you Fil for sharing with us this awesome artist and piece of history. Side note: Would you consider doing presentation on Mississippi John Hurts? Many thanks.
Thanks Fil,,,,,this was great
😎🍺🍺🍺🍺🇺🇸
COOOOOOOL MAN 🎶💃🎶💃🎶💃🎶💃🎶🥁🎶🎸🎶🥁🎶🎸🎶🥁🎶🎸🎶
Excellent !! He was blues defined.
Could you do a video on Jesse Fuller, writer of San Francisco Bay Blues? Jesse not only played the 12 string guitar as well as harmonica and kazoo but with his left foot he kept time with a hi-hat cymbal while his right foot played a pedal-operated bass he had invented himself, which he called "The Fotdella". I was lucky enough to actually see Jesse in the late sixties, when I was in my late teens and he was in his early seventies. He was still fantastic! Now I'm in my early seventies and I've just about managed to master a (very basic) version of San Francisco Bay Blues with a 12-string and harmonica.
Yes now we’re talkin👍🏻
An original from Centerville Texas!
He seems to have a mixture of styles blended into his own thing.
Great analysis. I enjoyed this, it has that beat, melody that grabs you. Never heard of him, but I'm not really a blues person. When you get out the guitar I learn so much for instance I would never know a guitarist was playing different techniques because that's the way they learned. To me if a musician can play the guitar or another instrument and draws you in with their playing that's good enough for me. They played their way and isn't that what you kind of tell people, find their own way? Fil I'm so excited about you doing another album down the road. Your "Persistence" CD is awesome Fil. I got an idea just do different types of genres of songs for the next album. Fil I'm not just saying that because you are a good looking sweetheart of a guy with a million dollar smile, even all that wouldn't last, I'm saying it because you have a great voice, great talent, a great musician, great personality and most of all you seem like a great person. Am I awe struck, probably but I meant what I said. In the future please work on another album. Have a wonderful day Fil, love ya.❤You know I thought about calling a local radio station and requesting one of your songs just to see what they say?.
Haha yes they won't have a copy of anything I'm sure!
A rare glimpse at Lightnin' without sunglasses! The great Texas Blues architect
Could have just called this video "Blues 101" haha Great video
I saw who you were analyzing and was hoping for Black Cadillac. This was the bigger hit, though.
OMG - He is THE MAN.
Suggestion.....Blind Owl Wilson singing On The Road Again with Canned Heat.
Love the shirt
Yep, Lightnin' made a huge number of recordings. You could get surplus albums real cheap in the mid-60s, and I got a lot of his. He did play mostly electric later, but the acoustic stuff can be incredible. My all time favorite is "Tom Moore Blues". Every blues guitarist worth a damn knows about his work.
Actually he played mostly electric earlier, in the 1940s and 50s, switched to acoustic in the 1960s because thats what the folk crowd wanted.
New to me. Quite a fine lesson and history!!! You know, many of us KYBD players, ugh. Wonder if this is whereJ Lennon and the rest began. Sounds (you) real authentic Fil!
Greatness. White boy George Thurgood had that vibe. Makes me tingle with thrill. Thanks guys for the fun.
I know Joe Bonamassa did one hell of a Muddy Waters and Howlin Wolf tribute at Red Rocks. Well worth the watch.
Besides all he was a smoking hot guitarist. Hey Fil ever see the Son House a capella songs/.interview? down right scary
I have , great stuff 👌
Nice 👍!
The absolute greatest
You’d love blues greats Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee! They came to my college in ‘70 and I got to jam with them in a dorm room!
Lighnin Change. When. Lightnin wanna change
Hahaha. Epic