Description
The long awaited reissue of John Lee Hooker’s widely acclaimed album, The Healer, on vinyl and CD, after more than a decade of being out of print.
The 1989 LP earned the then 73-year-old blues icon his first GRAMMY® Award (for the song “I’m in the Mood” with Bonnie Raitt) and features contributions from a star-studded collection of guest artists, which in addition to Raitt, includes Carlos Santana, George Thorogood, Los Lobos, Canned Heat, Charlie Musselwhite, and Robert Cray.
Few artists have made such an explosive comeback as Hooker did when he released The Healer in 1989. The prolific singer-songwriter—also known as the “King of the Boogie”—rose to fame in 1948 with the chart-topping R&B hit, “Boogie Chillen’.” Over the next four decades, he worked tirelessly—recording dozens of albums, touring the world, and reinventing modern music along the way. As one of history’s greatest bluesmen, Hooker’s influence spread far and wide, inspiring a generation of musicians across multiple genres, including folk, rock, and blues. A handful of these artists are represented as guests on The Healer.
Recorded at San Francisco’s Russian Hill Recording Studios, the album was produced by guitarist Roy Rogers, who served as a member of Hooker’s Coast to Coast Band and would go on to helm three more records by the artist, including the GRAMMY®-nominated Mr. Lucky (1991) and the bestselling Chill Out (1995). Together, they invited some of the industry’s greatest talents to perform a selection of new and classic material in both stripped-down and full-band settings.
