The material on Jack o' Diamonds was recorded in 1949 but never released at the time due to John Lee Hooker's vast contractual problems.
Even at this earliest point in his career, Hooker was tied up in contracts that would see him recording under several aliases in order to make some quick cash.
These 20 cuts were recorded at a private gathering in the Detroit dining room of Gene Deitchat, who set up a primitive recording device and let Hooker play.
During the course of the evening those present began requesting that he play a few spirituals and folk tunes.
It's interesting to hear Hooker bite into such traditional fare as "Two White Horses," "Trouble in Mind," "John Henry," and "Jack o' Diamonds." Since these recordings have been cleaned and remastered, this disc is well worth picking up for Hooker fanatics.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guitar Blues InstrumentalJohn Lee Hooker | John Lee Hooker | Play | 03:19 | 7 MB | 9 MB |
| 2 | Two White HorsesJohn Lee Hooker | John Lee Hooker | Play | 03:22 | 7 MB | 10 MB |
| 3 | Trouble in MindTraditional | John Lee Hooker | Play | 03:59 | 9 MB | 10 MB |
| 4 | Catfish BluesTraditional | John Lee Hooker | Play | 02:52 | 6 MB | 7 MB |
| 5 | John HenryTraditional | John Lee Hooker | Play | 03:10 | 7 MB | 8 MB |
| 6 | How Long BluesJohn Lee Hooker | John Lee Hooker | Play | 03:33 | 8 MB | 9 MB |
| 7 | Ezekiel Saw the WheelTraditional | John Lee Hooker | Play | 02:58 | 6 MB | 8 MB |
| 8 | Jack O' DiamondsTraditional | John Lee Hooker | Play | 02:49 | 6 MB | 7 MB |
| 9 | WaterboyJohn Lee Hooker | John Lee Hooker | Play | 03:56 | 9 MB | 11 MB |
| 10 | Six Little Puppies and Twelve Shaggy HoundsJohn Lee Hooker | John Lee Hooker | Play | 04:22 | 10 MB | 13 MB |
| 11 | In the Evening When the Sun Goes DownTraditional | John Lee Hooker | Play | 04:40 | 10 MB | 13 MB |
| 12 | Old Blind BarnabasTraditional | John Lee Hooker | Play | 02:28 | 5 MB | 7 MB |
| 13 | Moses Smote the WaterTraditional | John Lee Hooker | Play | 01:59 | 4 MB | 5 MB |
| 14 | Spoken InterludeJohn Lee Hooker | John Lee Hooker | Play | 00:35 | 1 MB | 1 MB |
| 15 | Rabbit on the LogTraditional | John Lee Hooker | Play | 04:04 | 9 MB | 11 MB |
| 16 | Come and See About MeJohn Lee Hooker | John Lee Hooker | Play | 02:16 | 5 MB | 6 MB |
| 17 | 33 BluesJohn Lee Hooker | John Lee Hooker | Play | 02:06 | 4 MB | 6 MB |
| 18 | She's Real GoneJohn Lee Hooker | John Lee Hooker | Play | 02:14 | 5 MB | 7 MB |
| 19 | I WonderTraditional | John Lee Hooker | Play | 02:47 | 6 MB | 8 MB |
| 20 | Untitled Slow BluesJohn Lee Hooker | John Lee Hooker | Play | 03:01 | 6 MB | 10 MB |
| 60 mins | 139 MB | |||||
| 60 mins | 176 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jon Astley | Remastering |
| 2 | Gene Deitch | Engineer |
| 3 | John Lee Hooker | Arranger, Composer, Primary Artist |
| 4 | Traditional | Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |