From the Shadow of the Blues

My Story of Music, Addiction, and Redemption

John Lee Hooker Jr. (Author) , Julia Simon (With)

Online Access / Resources

From the Shadow of the Blues

My Story of Music, Addiction, and Redemption

John Lee Hooker Jr. (Author) , Julia Simon (With)

Online Access / Resources

Hardback ~~$58.99~~ $53.09

Hardback $58.99

Hardback $58.99

Quantity

In stock

$53.09 RRP $58.99 Website price saving $5.90 (10%)

Add to basket

Add to wishlist

This product is usually dispatched within 2-4 weeks

Delivery and returns info
Flat rate of $10.00 for shipping anywhere in Australia

Description

A powerful memoir of redemption from the son of blues legend John Lee Hooker
Born in Detroit and exposed to the music world from an early age, John Lee Hooker Jr. began singing as a featured attraction in his father's shows as a teenager. His father was a sharecropper's son who became known for hit songs like “Boogie Chillin,” “I'm in the Mood,” and “Boom Boom,” and in 1972, he and his father performed live and recorded an album in Soledad Prison. Junior seemed to have a golden ticket to a successful music career as a child, but trouble brewed as his father's marriage was in trouble and ripped apart the family.
Drug addiction and a series of related crimes, including as a con player, landed Junior in and out of jails & prisons for several decades. An early brush with the law led to a sentence at Synanon, the infamous drug rehabilitation program turned religious cult. Later arrests resulted in time served in prisons including at Soledad, San Quentin, and Avenal.
Shot, stabbed, and convicted multiple times, Junior was at his lowest point doing time at a Santa Rita jail, but it was at that moment that he found the Lord. He emerged clean and sober and began a successful career as a blues singer, earning two Grammy nominations as well as the Bobby “Blue” Bland Lifetime Achievement Award. He eventually devoted himself fully to his faith. Reverend John Lee Hooker Jr. testifies, preaches, and performs gospel music in churches and prisons in both Germany and America.

Table of Contents
Introduction: Soledad Prison
Part One: Growing up in Detroit
Chapter 1 Family and Early Fights
Chapter 2 Money, Clothes, and Drugs
Chapter 3 Heroin, Prostitutes, and First Arrest as an Adult
Chapter 4 Wayne County Jail
Part Two: Cult Drug Program and Incarceration
Chapter 5 The Synanon Cult
Chapter 6 Jackson State Prison and Cassidy Lake
Chapter 7 California: Crimes, Heists, and the Con Game
Part Three: Music, Prisons, and Con Games
Chapter 8 Canadian Tour and Prison
Chapter 9 Marie's Overdose and Santa Rita Jail
Chapter 10 California Rehabilitation Center
Chapter 11 On the Run
Chapter 12 Back in CRC, Solitary at Chino, and Gilroy
Chapter 13 Boxing at Conservation Camps
Chapter 14 The Con in Detroit: I'm Shot
Part Four: Redemption and Falls
Chapter 15 Back in Oakland, I Turn to the Lord
Chapter 16 My First Fall
Chapter 17 My Band in Redwood City and Second Marriage
Chapter 18 My Father's Death and My Third and Final Fall
Part Five: From the Blues to the Good News
Chapter 19 Musical Success
Chapter 20 My New Life in Ministry
Chapter 21 Singing about the Lord
Chapter 22 Sharing Love and Life in Germany
Acknowledgments
About the Author

Product details

Published	04 Feb 2025
Format	Hardback
Edition	1st
Extent	236
ISBN	9781538186237
Imprint	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Illustrations	27 BW Photos
Dimensions	229 x 152 mm
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Author

John Lee Hooker Jr.

Reverend John Lee Hooker Jr., born in Detroit, Mic…

With

Julia Simon

Julia Simon is a Professor at the University of Ca…

Hooker has survived more in his life than most people, and fans of his music and the blues will appreciate learning his story.

Library Journal
John Lee was unique. No one sounded like him. No one has ever tried. He was rhythm all in one chord, no fancy stuff. No fooling! His voice could frighten a ghost and what he said was not dinner conversation. “Crawlin' Kingsnake”, “Boom Boom”, and “Boogie Chillun” aren't someone looking for a chart topper. But they did! Unique, because there is nothing like him. He doesn't fit into the neat little boxes musicians are often forced into. It feels as if you are being put in touch with music before recording, before technology demanded a format. He stands alone. If you got the chance to play with him, you realized there was no compromise. You played with him-he didn't play with you. I was privileged to be there. I'm so happy to know that John Lee Hooker Jr. is following proudly in the preeminent footsteps of his amazing father!

Keith Richards
This is the triumphant testimony of a man who was lost and, against all odds, became a true winner during his long and winding road through life.

Taj Mahal, Grammy Award winning blues & rock artist
I've known Junior Hooker since the mid-70s and have witnessed his ups and downs while experiencing my own. Today we're both clean, sober new men! I know everyone will find inspiration in this deep and heartfelt story.

Charlie Musselwhite, Grammy Award-winning blues harmonica legend
John Lee Hooker Jr.'s deliverance from darkness to abundant light is a mighty testament to the power of prayer. He is a blessing to me and an inspiration to all in his presence!

Larry D. Batiste, producer, arranger, songwriter
Inspirational and lively, this memoir is as entertaining as are its author's performances.

The Bookworm Sez