Mr. Sam Lightnin' Hopkins was the nicest neighbors you' d ever want to meet in life. When he was home & not touring he played the Blues on his porch on Hutchins St. every single day & wave at all the people passing by. I'm talkin' bout Houston, Texas.....3rd. Ward y'all. He would smoke his cigarettes & write songs, sometimes walk down the street & play for everybody in the hood. Everybody knew him....loved him for who he was. Always dressed with a straw hat on his head & sunglasses on his eyes. He would plug his guitar to his speaker & play music from sun up to sundown. I know because I grew up around the corner on Hadley & Hutchins St. When there was Thunder....We had Lightnin'! Fo Reel! Circa 1965 - 1971. 💯❤🖤💚💯💵💵💵💵💵💯🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟💯💰💰💰💰💰💯✊👊💯👊✊💯🙏💙😇
That neighborhood looks a lot like Atlantic Canadian cities - some really nice homes/condos, then standalone bungalows that look like they've been there 200yrs. Some perfect lawns, some chaotic messes. People making $50k/yr on the same street as people making $500k/yr.
Blues is a deep emotion that is played with a pick up of I dont care any blues...you can sing it now and sing to the world what hurts ...deeply...and forever....it just want leave you alone..
This is what the director said about this recording: "Lightnin's apparent omniscience was a constant source of surprise for me. He was like an ancient oracle in his uncanny ability to improvise rhyming blues songs about a person or situation that revealed a truth that was perfect in its simplicity, yet infinitely complex in its layers of meaning. “You make your bed hard, baby, and calls it ease. The blues is just a funny feelin', yet some folks calls it a mighty bad disease.” This line was composed late one night while I was filming what started out to be an ordinary interview. I had asked him to tell me what the blues meant to him. He picked up his guitar and started to sing about a woman named Mary who had left him. Earlier that evening his wife had left him after a nasty argument that caused her cousin to attempt to shoot Lightnin'. While the song was being sung, the cousin was lurking outside the apartment door with a loaded pistol. Lightnin' also had a large loaded gun stuck down the front of his pants. Hardly a situation in which to delve into an academic and linear exploration of the nature of truth and the blues, but I came away feeling I knew a lot more about it than before, but I couldn’t exactly put it in words. Thus the style of the film."
At first blush the gun story seems like a harmless anecdote. Try to think of your child being one of the participants. The wife? Lightening? The cousin? Which one? Unhealthy relationships like the one described in the comments are beyond the pale. Lack of education, discrimination, poverty- the list goes on. A very sad tale indeed.
@@randomlyrancannabis7020 I was looking for this comment. Thx. I knew it was an open tuning, once you've played open G, D, Dm, you can tell. Skip James played cross tuning, open D minor, and its an eerie tune. It was fun, but kinda limiting too.
99 years ago Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins was born on this day.. March 15, 1912. The day blues was born.. We respect all the blues greats but Lightnin' was one of a kind..
Yeah I read something Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill (ZZ Top) said about commenting on Hopkin's playing while watching him play in a small club to the effect that Hopkins didn't know when he was supposed to change chords ? To their surprise Hopkins had heard what they said and exclaimed "Lightnin changes chords when Lightnin wants to change chords !" Too funny .
OK, HUGE Blues fan here. LOTS of people say 'this is the best this' and 'this is the best that'. I've got performances in my memories that are the best I've ever heard and I'd have a hard time being convinced otherwise. But this bumped one of my favorite Willy Dixon performances down to #11, and I absolutely LOVE Chicago Blues with the bass and horns. So props.
For those of you that don't play - Lightnight really bridged the gap from old acoustic blues to the modern electric blues. He and Muddy were two of the most influential bluesmen of their day.
Good point about the acoustic-electric bridge. One of the many reasons this is a great performance is how delicate & sensitive his playing is. Many a famous (& boring) shredder could learn a lot from this playing. Or maybe they couldn't. It's also interesting to see how high the action is on his guitar.
@@chuckmurphy4948 had a gal called Sal and movin out boogie session?? Bootlegged on Diving Duck Records ?? Killer!! Beat Hendrix to the punch a clean 10 years in advance!!
my lead singer back in the day told me the blues was going outa style, Angry Anderson (rose tattoo)sang that line. I dont play drums nomore cause of that pair.
Notice how Hopkins doesn't even think, The melodies just flow from him. I am a huge fan of this man. Robert Johnson, Son house, and of course the man Hopkins himself have influenced so many of the music we hear today. Gives me goosebumps. A man of few words, but profound talent and wisdom.
How do you know he wasn't thinking? I've been playing for 60 years as of this month; and singing for 65. I make it look and sound like I'm not thinking. How? By thinking.
The acoustics in that room are just amazing. His playing makes my hair stand on end. His delivery is just stunning. If this ain't the blues I don't know what is.
When I consider all of the music that our Afro brothers and sisters have blessed us with, I am shocked that we can't seem to acknowledge it! Blues, R&B, jazz, rock, gospel, ragtime, to name a few!
RJ Burnside? The man was unreal. His vocals were so honest. You probably know him, if not??? Poor Black Matte!!!!!, See my jumper hanging on a line! This guy will inspire!!
@@farshimelt I'm 75 yr old so I've been around a while. White culture (we) does not elevate the contributions of black culture as it should be IMO. Black culture does not seem to either. Of course, I'm just sitting out here watching the parade go by. For me, if it wasn't for the influence of black culture especially music, we would not have much music at all. When I was about 5 I remember the hit tune on the radio was "When the moon hit you eye like a big pizza pie". All the real energy has come from our black cousins. . No offense meant in either comment.
@@MaxAtLarge If we're speaking of white culture, in general, that's true, ditto for black culture. Being that I'm 81, I've got a few years on you but basically the same era. My first memories of listening to music are: Hungarian Gypsy music, Dvorak, Art Tatum & the Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall Concert. No offense taken. Nice to talk to a civilized person.
From south France Véronique ! Godbless people blues america , l love People america and history, countries, cantons ! Parcs naturels! Big food! Alan Alison, Thierry thomas!!! Blues man, Godbless you videos blues, and you life,
"The blues ain't nothin' but a good man feelin' bad, thinkin' about a woman he once was with" - Willie Brown, 'Crossroads'. Film quote, but so appropriate.
He has the blues. He is not overdoing the notes he is just making them tell the story. He has great technique as any expert makes it look easy. It is not how many notes you play but how you play them. Lots of musicians could learn from this no matter what style you play as he tells a story he just doesn't play notes. Love it.
I saw him play live not long before he died. He was pretty drunk, and everything he played was pure muscle memory. But the tone and the consistency were there, and a lot of natural emotion.
He was born March 15, 1912. Seeing him here, he's never gone, so incredible he is. The man is so interior that his music plugs right into one's soul. That is Lightnin'.
The blues is the blues. Most people have them but most don’t understand. It’s the low down in your face truth about life. It’s about hard times, no money, being mistreated because of it, bad women, and just trying to survive. Nobody cares. Especially your own family. These blues players, especially the acoustic ones knew it full well. Lightning Hopkins knew the blues.
Pure Lightnin'! The blues is about the truth. It is about the reality of life. It is about things you cannot deny. Those 74 dislikes are people who do not want to face the realities of life.
Lightnin' didn't turn me onto the blues but he quickly became one of my favorites while I was still in high school. The raw emotion he had just amazed me. I was about 16 or 17 when I found out he was playing in a small club in town. I barely had my driver's license but a school friend and I made it to the club to hear the maestro. We couldn't believe that there were only about a dozen people there to hear him. Hopkins was quite old at the time and had switched to electric guitars (for ease of playing, I assumed) but he was just fantastic! After the show, I told my friend we should try to go meet him backstage. He had some kind of body guard who tried to run interference but Lightnin' overheard me saying we just wanted to tell him how much we appreciated his music and he waved us through. He couldn't have been more kind and gracious, saying it made him so happy that young people enjoyed his music. We spent about 10-15 minutes just shootin' the sh!t with him. Never forget that night with the legend!
I think what I love most is its purity....no production and sound engineering....just a guy sitting on the couch letting his heart and art flow out and be recorded.
@@dadashaSpeak for yourself. Yes, the blues makes my blues go away because we as souls we are relating. In the song "I will play the Blues for You." it explains it. It's skin deep. And it feels oh so good.
ever heard of ROBERT JOHNSON , all of these Blues artist has ROBERT JOHNSON wrote all over them from head to toe and they all know it and you should too , Keith Richards knows it as well
It is pronounced “Lightnin” Hopkins. Glad to see a bunch of Lightnin Hopkins fans. Love his style. I try to push other Blues Greats on Utube, like Albert Collins , Johnny Copeland, Little Walter, and so on. Dec 11, 2023
It's ironic that music originally created by African Americans to help relieve the stress caused by hatred, injustice, prejudice and pain can reach down into the heart of a privileged white boy like me and help me feel calm relaxed and at ease. God bless the blues trail blazers.
Cause it was too contrived n not really that great of a performance period. I think a lot of you guys get so caught up in the nostalgia of it, you lose your perspective on what's really good and what's just a quip of decent/mediocre at best.
@@michaelwhitehouse5659 Wow, .....and you are? The all-knowing One :) I preferred his opinion over your um .... judgment from on high - heard plus he's a petty mean blues man himself. Hahaha you wanker!!
109 years ago Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins was born on this day.. March 15, 1912. The day blues was born.. We respect all the blues greats but Lightnin' was one of a kind..
Lightning lived his music. It wasn't about fame, money, women, or accolades. He just had to let it out. As a young SRV told a friend with tears pouring down his face when he was playing to sleep on a pool table-I just gotta get it across-it builds up in my chest & I feel like it'll burst if I can't. Real Texas blues musicians.
@@bobdillon1138 I like that 22 year old kid from Mississippi, "Kingfish" Ingram. Only has one album out (2019). But, has also recorded with, Eric Gales, Buddy Guy and Keb Mo. Young guys keeping blues alive. Check out James Bell when he was 14.
Most men and women, every generation knows the blues. Hopkins too. Old misery and wisdom recorded for generations to come. Hopkins is my brother.Thnx for this one bro.
I've had 8 tracks of Lightnin, John Lee Hooker, Howlin Wolf, and Sonny Boy Williamson. Very rough recordings that cannot be reproduced. I got them in a rack in a downtown liquor store. This was back in the late 70's. Great music. I used to love to play it while driving late at night. Some of it was haunting in it's melancholy. Soul stirring. Little Walter, Houndog Taylor, and Muddy were always high on my list of greats.
61 now..was hooked on Lightnin' at about 20. Ended up moving to Memphis from 85-90. Was in heaven. Memphis was cool as hell then, just hell now. No one was mad back then. Thanks B.O.
What you don't want to know how everything you thought you knew about slavery and hitler was wrong, reactions to reactions of someone eating cake, video blogs about some dumbass parents and their baby, and liberals failing at life? Can't imagine what else you would use youtube for. Top ten best youtube videos video?
Music is usually associated with entertainment, but its real purpose is to communicate with emotion and happy or sad feelings. This music communicates a feeling that anyone can relate to. IT'S TOO SCARY REAL!
You can not get this sound without pain in your life. If you never really struggled coming up, you could play the exact same notes but the soul would be absent. When you play the blues you bend every note with your emotions. It just comes out. You cant really sit down and write it like you could rock music. Lightnin' is one of my biggest influences and a master blues player.
There was only one Lightin', God Bless his soul ! Sadly missed and never forgotten !When I was young and learning guitar this is what I strived for , almost 60 years ago ! Still playing this style , still feeling the Blues , Still playing every day !
The way he got the nickname Lightnin' was because his first paying job was playing with a piano player named Wilson 'Thunder' Smith. So he took on the nickname and they called themselves Thunder 'N' Lightnin'.
I used to collect the Blues Tapes. Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland etc; well one time I left Vermont to go to Memphis. Now that is where you find the rest of the great blues legends. Lightnin Hopkins was two of the Tapes I got. I listened to it almost all the way back to Vermont.
It's meant to be felt and dragged from the deepest part of your soul and your heart it's the most personal soul baring music ever that's why it stays with you and speaks to you
He and so many of these bluesmen walked it like they preached it. Packed enough life into those days than we do years. Has to come from a place of unrelenting hunger.
Mr. Sam Lightnin' Hopkins was the nicest neighbors you' d ever want to meet in life. When he was home & not touring he played the Blues on his porch on Hutchins St. every single day & wave at all the people passing by. I'm talkin' bout Houston, Texas.....3rd. Ward y'all. He would smoke his cigarettes & write songs, sometimes walk down the street & play for everybody in the hood. Everybody knew him....loved him for who he was. Always dressed with a straw hat on his head & sunglasses on his eyes. He would plug his guitar to his speaker & play music from sun up to sundown. I know because I grew up around the corner on Hadley & Hutchins St. When there was Thunder....We had Lightnin'! Fo Reel! Circa 1965 - 1971. 💯❤🖤💚💯💵💵💵💵💵💯🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟💯💰💰💰💰💰💯✊👊💯👊✊💯🙏💙😇
That neighborhood looks a lot like Atlantic Canadian cities - some really nice homes/condos, then standalone bungalows that look like they've been there 200yrs. Some perfect lawns, some chaotic messes. People making $50k/yr on the same street as people making $500k/yr.
NOW THATS A COMMENT I WANNA HEAR THANX DUDE FROM UK ALSO WHAT A BLESSING FOR THE LOCALS AR MAN I WOULD WANNA LEAVE
Great story! I wish I’d known him.
Fine description. I can picture everything. Thank you!
How incredible
My step-daddy R.I.P. used to say "the blues aint nuthin ...but a good man feeling bad."
Yeah that was a line from the movie Crossroads.
@@Trevorjennings35 the same to you. May GOD bless you 🙏
@@12peekabooo yep
@@johannbachmann4532 Thanks Johan, I am happy to know you’re safe from the virus. Hope you’re having a nice and a wonderful day today??
Truth.
Lightning Hopkins was cooler than the other side of the pillow
Po lightnin’ sure knows how to touch my soul.
💚
Hahahahahaha
I flipped my pillow right as I read this comment.
Great simile.
Miss you Blues man!!!
The Blues ain't meant to be described, it's meant to be travelled. It's the scars on your heart. it's the hole in your soul.
So True
You just described the Blues
Ironic because the blues can be sad nor happy. Blues is all about feeling
Wish I didn't know that to be true........
Blues is a deep emotion that is played with a pick up of I dont care any blues...you can sing it now and sing to the world what hurts ...deeply...and forever....it just want leave you alone..
"Blues 'aint nothin' but a good man feeling bad"
Well said!!Love that!
"" I'm not a rich man, I'm a good man-
I'm a Poor Man"
Richard Berger - That’s what the guy above you said…☝️😐
Crossroads
Or a bad man feeling good.
"I'll tell ya what she said"
*hits a sicks blues lick*
"That's what she said"
Her name is "maybe"
🎵🎸🎶🎵
@mikecacioppo5639 That's what they always say...."maybe"
There's life in those fingers and a hard life in that voice.
As good as it gets.
Great description
This is what the director said about this recording:
"Lightnin's apparent omniscience was a constant source of surprise for me. He was like an ancient oracle in his uncanny ability to improvise rhyming blues songs about a person or situation that revealed a truth that was perfect in its simplicity, yet infinitely complex in its layers of meaning. “You make your bed hard, baby, and calls it ease. The blues is just a funny feelin', yet some folks calls it a mighty bad disease.” This line was composed late one night while I was filming what started out to be an ordinary interview.
I had asked him to tell me what the blues meant to him. He picked up his guitar and started to sing about a woman named Mary who had left him. Earlier that evening his wife had left him after a nasty argument that caused her cousin to attempt to shoot Lightnin'. While the song was being sung, the cousin was lurking outside the apartment door with a loaded pistol. Lightnin' also had a large loaded gun stuck down the front of his pants. Hardly a situation in which to delve into an academic and linear exploration of the nature of truth and the blues, but I came away feeling I knew a lot more about it than before, but I couldn’t exactly put it in words. Thus the style of the film."
Michael Toner, thanks for that scoop. I appreciate it, man. fantastic story that adds to this incredible moment. well, it's part of the moment. wow.
Excellent background info!! Now that's the life of a Blues Man summed up in a short anecdote!!
Wow!
At first blush the gun story seems like a harmless anecdote. Try to think of your child being one of the participants. The wife? Lightening? The cousin? Which one? Unhealthy relationships like the one described in the comments are beyond the pale. Lack of education, discrimination, poverty- the list goes on. A very sad tale indeed.
Michael Toner - Hmm 🤔 I’m takin’ all that with a grain of salt 🧂☝️😑
Unlike a lot of today's players he doesn't try to see how many notes he can cram into 12 bars. Just the ones that need to be there.
He's playing in open g tuning so 5 of his strings open are D or G so there's only so many places to go. Old blues is really about the octaves.
@@randomlyrancannabis7020 I was looking for this comment. Thx. I knew it was an open tuning, once you've played open G, D, Dm, you can tell. Skip James played cross tuning, open D minor, and its an eerie tune. It was fun, but kinda limiting too.
good call mon
I love how he takes his time to play the song. Doesn't rush the song. What a skill
99 years ago Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins was born on this day.. March 15, 1912. The day blues was born.. We respect all the blues greats but Lightnin' was one of a kind..
Yep, a 13&a half bar blues is fine by me. Mercy..
That ain't a song. That's the blues
@@davidg.9932 Nah, blues is older than that. Charlie Patton, for a start. And he probably wasn't the first, either.
@@sunnyland3952 the came from Africa with the slaves transported from Africa.
My Mary did the same dang thing, Lord Have Mercy !
"Mr Hopkins, what is the blues?" "Hopkins: Well, it's something between the greens and the yellows." -- gotta love him for this.
Hopkins was born with the blues....he is the blues
"Between the the greens and the yellows", pure fkn genius!
GOD BLESS THE BLUES. The Stones got a lot of education in the SOUTH!
Primary colours man, FAR OUT!
Can anyone tell me the meaning of this
The man is making his own rhythm section while playing some nice lead fills while singing a song and telling a story.
you forgot to say HOLYFUCK...
You get it
This what they did sitting under the trees in pleasant spring of centerville texas
Just some 12 bar finger picking really standard but this is badass
@@dvorahjackson231 my step mom Sue Frazier was from Center Point ,around Kerville -I` m from AAAHHHH HHAAAAAAA SAN ANTONE so sayeth Bob Wills
Lightning Hopkins was such a boss. The man exuded confidence. He was 100% himself and nobody could say or do anything about it.
Yep, as simple as that, he took the best road there ever was.
He was a great blues man...... But also as high as fuck ..... Most high folks exude confidence
On da boi fa sho
Yeah I read something Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill (ZZ Top) said about commenting on Hopkin's playing while watching him play in a small club to the effect that Hopkins didn't know when he was supposed to change chords ? To their surprise Hopkins had heard what they said and exclaimed "Lightnin changes chords when Lightnin wants to change chords !" Too funny .
@@kls2020 Their playing would not make a pimple on Lightin's butt.
Don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so cool. The voice, the geetar licks. Mans is the coolest man ever.
Great and true statement. Everyone wants to be cool. He just is, not because he wants to be.
Ain’t that the truth. Lightnin’ invented the word cool
And the hair just wow man. 👨
Totally agree! Never ever anything cooler than Lightnin!
Maybe, quite possibly, the greatest hair of all time...
made me laugh so hard so true
Rafael Flores true, if he was crud on the guitar he would just look insane
Grey Man I think so hehe
I think ol' Lightin' was coming down hard from a challenging nite....
Thats my hair when i wake up in the morning. He probably was like frick it im gonna rock my hair like this cause aint no one lookin.
This guy was cool, before being cool was a thing.
Cool has always been a thing. When our ancestors were cave men, this guys ancestors were cool 😉
@@quicksno Yes! ....On the other hand cool was there yes but maybe being sissy was cool in that environment.
hahahaha yah he was. He made up cool. wow amazing.
cool but smacked out!~~~ naughty boi
@@benwilson1710 haha...how true
OK, HUGE Blues fan here.
LOTS of people say 'this is the best this' and 'this is the best that'. I've got performances in my memories that are the best I've ever heard and I'd have a hard time being convinced otherwise.
But this bumped one of my favorite Willy Dixon performances down to #11, and I absolutely LOVE Chicago Blues with the bass and horns.
So props.
"The blues ain't nuthin' but a good man feelin' bad." - Blind Willie Brown
For those of you that don't play - Lightnight really bridged the gap from old acoustic blues to the modern electric blues. He and Muddy were two of the most influential bluesmen of their day.
Hooker, too.
Good point about the acoustic-electric bridge. One of the many reasons this is a great performance is how delicate & sensitive his playing is. Many a famous (& boring) shredder could learn a lot from this playing. Or maybe they couldn't.
It's also interesting to see how high the action is on his guitar.
1954 Herald Recordings
@@chuckmurphy4948 had a gal called Sal and movin out boogie session?? Bootlegged on Diving Duck Records ?? Killer!! Beat Hendrix to the punch a clean 10 years in advance!!
I play the blues, and I agree
If you don't feel that in your bones........call an ambulance.
Better still, call the undertaker.
Or eat some phills xD
or a hearse ...
I thought this might be a spoof at first, until he started playing!
@never mind - & if you do, call a waa-mbulance!
If this ain't playing on the day of my funeral i ain't becoming a ghost👻🤣🤣🤣
to haunt all dem folks that broke the deal aye???😂😂😂
The blues ain’t about the colour of your skin, but the condition of your heart and soul!!!
Cameraman : How much zoom do you want?
Director : Yes
lmao. g1
Director: Can you get his camel-toed nuts center frame? excellent.
All of it please
@degenatron 23 how good
@@The-Dom LOL!
This man was the real deal right here.
Indeed ..it wraps you completely...with NO FALSE OVER THE TOP HOLLYWOOD BULL
We must never lose the blues.
do you play guitar/harmonica or sing?
Ever
@@muchanadziko6378 I can play the clarinet
@@austenreid1257 ok, cool, I never learned to play it well, though I have one in my studio.
Why telling me that anyway?
my lead singer back in the day told me the blues was going outa style, Angry Anderson (rose tattoo)sang that line. I dont play drums nomore cause of that pair.
Notice how Hopkins doesn't even think, The melodies just flow from him. I am a huge fan of this man. Robert Johnson, Son house, and of course the man Hopkins himself have influenced so many of the music we hear today. Gives me goosebumps. A man of few words, but profound talent and wisdom.
Don’t forget Blind Lemon Jefferson, he’s one of the greatest bluesmen from down here in Texas!
And howlin wolf!
Thought is the enemy of flow
How do you know he wasn't thinking? I've been playing for 60 years as of this month; and singing for 65. I make it look and sound like I'm not thinking. How? By thinking.
@@randyjimmiejamesbowles takes a lot of thinking to get to that point. This video is the result of hours of practice and passion
The acoustics in that room are just amazing. His playing makes my hair stand on end. His delivery is just stunning. If this ain't the blues I don't know what is.
Made his stand on end too!
It's NOT the ROOM!!!
@@jpb1231000 I give the man credit too.
@@patricksullivan2816 Whops!!!!
@@jpb1231000 what the hell does "whops" mean?
This is from the short film "The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins" directed by Les Blank.
I was hoping someone gave him credit. God bless Les Blank!
Les Blank, one of the greatest documentary filmmakers of all time.
Saw it as a teenager, about 1988. Never been the same since. Set me on the right path.
Cat1980bird thank you!
Cooooooooo.....l🎸🎶
Yes living, traveling blues 💙 is a state of mind ❤
Reefer and wine and this video , like puzzle pieces
When I consider all of the music that our Afro brothers and sisters have blessed us with, I am shocked that we can't seem to acknowledge it! Blues, R&B, jazz, rock, gospel, ragtime, to name a few!
RJ Burnside? The man was unreal. His vocals were so honest. You probably know him, if not??? Poor Black Matte!!!!!, See my jumper hanging on a line! This guy will inspire!!
Who are these "we" that don't acknowledge it? I don't know about you but everybody I know acknowledges it, listens to it, plays it and supports it.
@@farshimelt I'm 75 yr old so I've been around a while. White culture (we) does not elevate the contributions of black culture as it should be IMO. Black culture does not seem to either. Of course, I'm just sitting out here watching the parade go by.
For me, if it wasn't for the influence of black culture especially music, we would not have much music at all. When I was about 5 I remember the hit tune on the radio was "When the moon hit you eye like a big pizza pie". All the real energy has come from our black cousins. .
No offense meant in either comment.
@@MaxAtLarge If we're speaking of white culture, in general, that's true, ditto for black culture.
Being that I'm 81, I've got a few years on you but basically the same era.
My first memories of listening to music are: Hungarian Gypsy music, Dvorak, Art Tatum & the Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall Concert.
No offense taken. Nice to talk to a civilized person.
Black music has been acknowledged all of my life and I am 76. If it took you this long to make the acknowledgement I feel for you.
I am always amazed by how well he plays even when he has consumed industrial quanities of whisky.
From south France Véronique ! Godbless people blues america , l love People america and history, countries, cantons ! Parcs naturels! Big food! Alan Alison, Thierry thomas!!! Blues man, Godbless you videos blues, and you life,
"The blues ain't nothin' but a good man feelin' bad, thinkin' about a woman he once was with" - Willie Brown, 'Crossroads'. Film quote, but so appropriate.
The blues isn't about making you feel better, it's about making other people feel worse.~ Bleeding Gums Murphy.
If you’re the artist playing this yeah.
He has the blues. He is not overdoing the notes he is just making them tell the story. He has great technique as any expert makes it look easy. It is not how many notes you play but how you play them. Lots of musicians could learn from this no matter what style you play as he tells a story he just doesn't play notes. Love it.
Ok someone tell SRV because he didn't get that memo
Loose a loved one ❤️
If you are waching this in 2021, man you are a legend
I saw him play live not long before he died. He was pretty drunk, and everything he played was pure muscle memory. But the tone and the consistency were there, and a lot of natural emotion.
liar
@@mikehollingworth2262How?
This is the only man on the entire planet capable of bearing the enormous responsibility of being the foundation of that hair do
I agree kinda like David Lee Roth being the only man to wear spandex and still be a alpha male
I officially give this comment 2 likes.
Man, play it Lightin!
There'll never be another lightning Hopkins what a special someone God gave us
Some of us have a hole that can't be filled except by musical expression
I sat in front of him while he was playing in 1963 and my life changed forever! He did indeed have the electicy of lightnin!
Way cool ! I’m listening in Sydney
Same for me, around the same time, listening to his Cemetary Blues for the first time.
You lucky soul
Horst Lippmann American Folk Blues Festival tour 1964 Manchester Free Trade Hall & Birmingham Town Hall were filmed.
Horst Lippmann American Folk Blues Festival tour 1964 Manchester Free Trade Hall & Birmingham Town Hall were filmed.
He was born March 15, 1912. Seeing him here, he's never gone, so incredible he is. The man is so interior that his music plugs right into one's soul. That is Lightnin'.
The blues ,Lord have mercy
Born on the Ides of March.
plucking th chords t'my heart
The blues is the blues. Most people have them but most don’t understand. It’s the low down in your face truth about life. It’s about hard times, no money, being mistreated because of it, bad women, and just trying to survive. Nobody cares. Especially your own family. These blues players, especially the acoustic ones knew it full well. Lightning Hopkins knew the blues.
He's got the"BLUE'S" mind,body and soul
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pure Lightnin'! The blues is about the truth. It is about the reality of life. It is about things you cannot deny. Those 74 dislikes are people who do not want to face the realities of life.
You are right it’s every day when you hear the great light Ning Luciano invernizzi ❤trombone players
Black Cadillac is absolutely perfect.
Lightning Hopkins was the man who got me hooked on playing the blues some 30 years ago. And im proud of that.
Same for me back in the 60s, yes I am old.
RL Burnside for me 👍
Heard ‘Mister Charlie’ late at night in ‘67. Changed my musical direction immediately.
Guess what the same thing happened to me ...same time
Lightnin' didn't turn me onto the blues but he quickly became one of my favorites while I was still in high school. The raw emotion he had just amazed me. I was about 16 or 17 when I found out he was playing in a small club in town. I barely had my driver's license but a school friend and I made it to the club to hear the maestro. We couldn't believe that there were only about a dozen people there to hear him. Hopkins was quite old at the time and had switched to electric guitars (for ease of playing, I assumed) but he was just fantastic!
After the show, I told my friend we should try to go meet him backstage. He had some kind of body guard who tried to run interference but Lightnin' overheard me saying we just wanted to tell him how much we appreciated his music and he waved us through. He couldn't have been more kind and gracious, saying it made him so happy that young people enjoyed his music. We spent about 10-15 minutes just shootin' the sh!t with him. Never forget that night with the legend!
I think what I love most is its purity....no production and sound engineering....just a guy sitting on the couch letting his heart and art flow out and be recorded.
The Blues Aint Nuthin" But A Bad Man Feeling Good...
Truly, she got no man, but she got love!
How can something that sounds so sad, put a big smile on your face? That's what the Blues is all about!
W0w
@erniegamboa5609 Don't talk smack mate, blues ain't about putting smile on no one's face!
@@dadashaSpeak for yourself.
Yes, the blues makes my blues go away because we as souls we are relating.
In the song "I will play the Blues for You." it explains it.
It's skin deep.
And it feels oh so good.
And I picked in those large Mississippi fields too.
Jimmie Vaughan says that without lightning Hopkins there would not be Stevie Ray Vaughan Jimmie Vaughan or any Texas Blues. So true!
Stevie also was a smooth and flawless guitar player as well!! So if he took pointers from Mr Hopkins then hey Stevie picked up on very well!!
@MOE ORLESS man for me that would have been a sight to see!!
ever heard of ROBERT JOHNSON , all of these Blues artist has ROBERT JOHNSON wrote all over them from head to toe and they all know it and you should too , Keith Richards knows it as well
@Harry Browneigh tell it like it is , that's who it is , it is what it is
@Harry Browneigh don't forget , son house
It is pronounced “Lightnin” Hopkins. Glad to see a bunch of Lightnin Hopkins fans. Love his style. I try to push other Blues Greats on Utube, like Albert Collins , Johnny Copeland, Little Walter, and so on. Dec 11, 2023
It's ironic that music originally created by African Americans to help relieve the stress caused by hatred, injustice, prejudice and pain can reach down into the heart of a privileged white boy like me and help me feel calm relaxed and at ease. God bless the blues trail blazers.
Not only do you hear it you also feel it...Totally pure.
Also the coolest looking blues man ever.
I Love the Blues She heard My Cry !
You know the blues is a funny feeling.. but some call it a mighty bad disease. Those lyrics sit in my heart like a millstone.
The coolest man ever to live on the face of the earth. Geez that man can play unnaturally well.
He is sitting there I thought he had went to sleep ripping them notes out sweetly effortlessly
Herrlich - immer noch !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Blues, the love of your life has successfully maimed your soul.
That refocus from a field of flowers to barbed wire was as impeccable as the guitar
There’s no one single personification of “the blues” but Lightnin’ is as close as you’ll ever get.
The music history of America wrapped up in lightning’s soul! Thank you for your greatness and inspiration Mr lightning Hopkins!
Turquoise...
Fine rock.
Peace on earth.
I've spent my life looking for the pure essence of COOL...........I'm done........Lord have mercy!!
1:51 " I'll tell you what she said"
2:01 "That's what she said"
So that's where the meme came from
Classic
So Good
guitar said😂
She's going to say I'm cheating on you for our whole marriage that's what mine did
down from the bone!!! thank you Mr Hopkins, sinc,paul Bonham mavrakis
How anyone can give this a thumbs down confounds me. This is pure gutbucket blues. Doesn't get any better than this.
Some people dont like a man's hair conked;
Others don't like a song less they heard it on their tv the night before...
@@toddkatz4631 its called privliged souless walking zombies , the general polulation
Cause it was too contrived n not really that great of a performance period. I think a lot of you guys get so caught up in the nostalgia of it, you lose your perspective on what's really good and what's just a quip of decent/mediocre at best.
@@michaelwhitehouse5659 Wow, .....and you are? The all-knowing One :) I preferred his opinion over your um .... judgment from on high - heard plus he's a petty mean blues man himself. Hahaha you wanker!!
I'm guessing they think that's the download button. This is raw, unprocessed, nostalgic blues. Gotta love it!!!
I could listen to this man play all day 🥰
I do frequently, if you enjoy lightnin you should check out townes van zandt, very much the same blue fire played with another pair of hands.
109 years ago Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins was born on this day.. March 15, 1912. The day blues was born.. We respect all the blues greats but Lightnin' was one of a kind..
Not a competition, i know ,i respect Hopkins but Broonzy and Robert Johnson are imho the most
influential blues men who ever lived.
Lightning lived his music. It wasn't about fame, money, women, or accolades. He just had to let it out. As a young SRV told a friend with tears pouring down his face when he was playing to sleep on a pool table-I just gotta get it across-it builds up in my chest & I feel like it'll burst if I can't.
Real Texas blues musicians.
@@bobdillon1138 I like that 22 year old kid from Mississippi, "Kingfish" Ingram. Only has one album out (2019). But, has also recorded with, Eric Gales, Buddy Guy and Keb Mo. Young guys keeping blues alive. Check out James Bell when he was 14.
@@maryvaughn7886 when music is in you, singing real emotions is showing your true colors. It's a bittersweet feeling
@@davidg.9932 Yea man he has the talent. Hopefully he gets more recognition
Most men and women, every generation knows the blues. Hopkins too. Old misery and wisdom recorded for generations to come. Hopkins is my brother.Thnx for this one bro.
If it don't get me swayin' in my seat and interjecting 'yeah' 'all right' 'sing it brother' 'amen' it ain't blues. THIS is blues
I've had 8 tracks of Lightnin, John Lee Hooker, Howlin Wolf, and Sonny Boy Williamson. Very rough recordings that cannot be reproduced. I got them in a rack in a downtown liquor store. This was back in the late 70's. Great music. I used to love to play it while driving late at night. Some of it was haunting in it's melancholy. Soul stirring.
Little Walter, Houndog Taylor, and Muddy were always high on my list of greats.
When You Were Raised On The Blues It Never Leaves You! He Was One Of My Daddys Favorite! RIP
Everyone has a blues song to write or a rap. Poem too.
61 now..was hooked on Lightnin' at about 20. Ended up moving to Memphis from 85-90. Was in heaven.
Memphis was cool as hell then, just hell now.
No one was mad back then. Thanks B.O.
Cool as ice, and blues to the bone marrow. RIP Lightning.
Edward Little .... I love the folk who kno who this is already....... him n skip James slept on
Finally a good recommendation by TH-cam. Thanks.
Hahaha... Yeah
I know right
lol
What you don't want to know how everything you thought you knew about slavery and hitler was wrong, reactions to reactions of someone eating cake, video blogs about some dumbass parents and their baby, and liberals failing at life?
Can't imagine what else you would use youtube for. Top ten best youtube videos video?
YES. There’s so much pure garbage on here....😑
So effortless! It’s interesting that being a Texas guy, Hopkins was a master of that Mississippi Delta sound.
Music is usually associated with entertainment,
but its real purpose is to communicate with
emotion and happy or sad feelings.
This music communicates a feeling that anyone
can relate to.
IT'S TOO SCARY REAL!
You can not get this sound without pain in your life. If you never really struggled coming up, you could play the exact same notes but the soul would be absent. When you play the blues you bend every note with your emotions. It just comes out. You cant really sit down and write it like you could rock music. Lightnin' is one of my biggest influences and a master blues player.
well said kid
There was only one Lightin', God Bless his soul ! Sadly missed and never forgotten !When I was young and learning guitar this is what I strived for , almost 60 years ago ! Still playing this style , still feeling the Blues , Still playing every day !
Just a man and his amplified guitar. Loving it!
Houston's finest hometown hero. Gone too soon. RIP
This made me cry. Is it weird it brought genuine tears to my eyes? God bless.
Ain’t nun weird. Just means you got the blues in you
That’s the power of blues and music. Cheers
The way he got the nickname Lightnin' was because his first paying job was playing with a piano player named Wilson 'Thunder' Smith. So he took on the nickname and they called themselves Thunder 'N' Lightnin'.
Is that true?
@@jasonkeith9317 Yes. If you search, you can find some of their jams on 'Tube.
My favorite blues artist ❤
I used to collect the Blues Tapes. Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland etc; well one time I left Vermont to go to Memphis. Now that is where you find the rest of the great blues legends. Lightnin Hopkins was two of the Tapes I got. I listened to it almost all the way back to Vermont.
It's meant to be felt and dragged from the deepest part of your soul and your heart it's the most personal soul baring music ever that's why it stays with you and speaks to you
Hello Janet, how are you doing today, hope you’re fine and safe from the COVID-19 virus??
He and so many of these bluesmen walked it like they preached it. Packed enough life into those days than we do years. Has to come from a place of unrelenting hunger.
Possibly definitely I'll listen again
Lighting was the best. So effortless
This is pure blues, sitting on a door step, humming and strumming your heart out, and telling your story with music.!!! ❤
Hello Charlene, how are you doing today, hope you’re fine and safe from the COVID-19 virus??