Earl Hooker: Don't Have To Worry-1969 BluesWay First Pressing Stereo 12" Record

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1969 ABC/BluesWay First Pressing Stereo Release of Bandleader/Composer/Slide Guitar Master/Blues Vocalist Earl Hooker Entitled Don't Have to Worry, Produced by Ed Michel, Recording by Ed Fournier, Originally Recorded at Vault Recording Studio in Los Angeles, California on May 29 in 1969 - "If there was a more immaculate slide guitarist residing in Chicago during the 1950s and '60s than Earl Hooker, his name has yet to surface. Boasting a fretboard touch so smooth and clean that every note rang as clear and precise as a bell, Hooker was an endlessly inventive axeman who would likely have been a star had his modest vocal abilities matched his instrumental prowess and had he not been dogged by tuberculosis (it killed him at age 41). Born in the Mississippi Delta, Hooker arrived in Chicago as a child. There he was influenced by another slide wizard, veteran Robert Nighthawk. But Hooker never remained still for long. He ran away from home at age 13, journeying to Mississippi. After another stint in Chicago, he rambled back to the Delta again, playing with Ike Turner and Sonny Boy Williamson. Hooker made his first recordings in 1952 and 1953 for Rockin', King, and Sun. At the latter, he recorded some terrific sides with pianist Pinetop Perkins (Sam Phillips inexplicably sat on Hooker's blazing rendition of "The Hucklebuck"). Back in Chicago again, Hooker's dazzling dexterity was intermittently showcased on singles for Argo, C.J., and Bea & Baby during the mid- to late '50s before he joined forces with producer Mel London (owner of the Chief and Age logos) in 1959. For the next four years, he recorded both as sideman and leader for the producer, backing Junior Wells, Lillian Offitt, Ricky Allen, and A.C. Reed and cutting his own sizzling instrumentals ("Blue Guitar," "Blues in D-Natural"). He also contributed pungent slide work to Muddy Waters' Chess waxing "You Shook Me." Opportunities to record grew sparse after Age folded; Hooker made some tantalizing sides for Sauk City, WI's Cuca Records from 1964 to 1968 (several featuring steel guitar virtuoso Freddie Roulette). Hooker's amazing prowess (he even managed to make the dreaded wah-wah pedal a viable blues tool) finally drew increased attention during the late '60s. He cut LPs for Arhoolie, ABC-BluesWay, and Blue Thumb that didn't equal what he'd done at Age, but they did serve to introduce Hooker to an audience outside Chicago and wherever his frequent travels deposited him. But tuberculosis halted his wandering ways permanently in 1970." - Sensational Personnel for the Large Group Featured Legendary Composer Earl Hooker on Guitar and Vocals, the Great Johnny "Big Moose" Walker on Piano, Organ & Vocals, the Brilliant Little Andrew "Blues Boy" Odom with Vocals, Jeffrey M. Carp on Harmonica, Paul Asbell on Guitar, the Amazing Chester E. Gino Scaggs on Fender Bass and Roosevelt Shaw on Drums! - Selections on Side One Are the Elmore James/Morgan Robinson Standard the Sky Is Crying(Andrew Odom Vocal), the Earl Hooker Penned Hookin', the Johnny Walker Song Is You Ever Seen a One-Eyed Woman Cry?(Johnny Walker Vocal) & Original Earl Hooker Compositions You Got to Lose(Earl Hooker Vocal), Blue Guitar - Tracks for Side Two Consist of the Andrew Odom Penned Moanin' and Groanin'(Andrew Odom Vocal), Original Earl Hooker Composition Universal Walk, the James Clark Standard Look Over Yonder's Wall(Johnny Walker Vocal), the Earl Hooker Song Don't Have to Worry(Earl Hooker Vocal)& Andrew Odom's Come to Me Right Away(Andrew Odom Vocal) - Used Copy, Cover Is Slightly Faded & Splotchy with a Light Surface Ring with Seam very Slightly Split at Bottom, Record Has some Light Surface Wear with a Few Light Marks - Stereo Recording, Product Code BLS 6032 - California Residents 10.25% Sales Tax - International S & H Extra -