Alan Govenar - Lightnin' Hopkins: His Life and Blues
Chicago Review Press.
Publication: May 2010
By the time of his death in 1982, Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins was likely the most recorded blues artist in history. This brilliant new biography--the first book ever written about him--illuminates a man of many contradictions. He poured out his feelings in his songs, but it was hard to tell if he was truly sincere. He appeared to trust no one, yet he knew how to endear himself to his audience, whether he was playing for black audiences in Houston’s Third Ward or for white crowds at the Matrix in San Francisco or in the concert halls of Europe.
Born in 1912 on a small farm to a poor, sharecropping family in the cotton country between Dallas and Houston, Hopkins left home when he was only nine years old with a guitar his brother had given to him. Picking cotton was not what he wanted to do, so he made his living however he could, sticking to the open road, playing the blues and taking odd jobs when money was short. This biography delves into Hopkins’ early years, debunking the myths surrounding his meetings with Blind Lemon Jefferson and Texas Alexander, his time on a chain gang, his women, and his life-long appetite for gambling and drinking.
Hopkins didn’t begin recording until 1946, when he was dubbed "Lightnin'" during his first session, and he soon joined Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker on the national charts. But by the time he was "rediscovered" by Mack McCormick and Sam Charters in 1959, his popularity had begun to wane. A second career emerged--now Lightnin’ was pitched to white audiences, not black ones, and he became immensely successful, singing about his country roots and the injustices that informed the civil rights era with a searing emotive power.
More than a decade in the making, this biography is based on scores of interviews with Lightnin's relatives, friends, lovers, producers, accompanists, managers, and fans.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Early Years
2 Travels with Texas Alexander
3 The Move to Houston
4 Rediscovery
5 The Blues Revival Heats Up
6 The Touring Intensifies
7 Mojo Hand: An Orphic Tale
8 An Expanding Audience
9 The Last Decade
Discography
Selected Bibliography
Poll
