by Cub Koda
An acoustic date cut on February 9, 1960, this finds Hooker in top-notch form, running through a dozen performances in his instantly identifiable style. Except for three solo turns, Hooker is ably backed by bassist Sam Jones and drummer Louis Hayes, both wisely following John Lee's idiosyncratic timing and changes. All the tunes are stretched out to comfortable lengths, and his interpretations of then-R&B hits like &Money& and Rosco Gordon's &No More Doggin'& are so vastly reworked that they sound like totally original compositions. A good choice to pick up if you run across a copy.