Slow-Blues.com — Global Blues Encyclopedia
Back to artists
Lightnin' Hopkins
Publicity/performance photograph — photographer unrecorded/unknown (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)
Texas

Lightnin' Hopkins

This artist is no longer with us.
Born: March 15, 1912, Centerville, Texas · Died: January 30, 1982, Houston, Texas (esophageal cancer)• United States
Texas BluesCountry Blues
Nobody actually knows how many songs Lightnin' Hopkins recorded. Estimates run from 800 to over 1,000, spread across a career that touched nearly every blues label operating in America between 1946 and 1982 — which by most reasonable counts makes him the single most-recorded blues musician who ever lived. He was born Samuel John Hopkins on March 15, 1912, in Centerville, Texas. At eight years old he met Blind Lemon Jefferson at a church picnic in Buffalo, Texas, and something about the encounter stuck — Jefferson reportedly never let anyone else play alongside him except young Hopkins, giving the boy an unusually direct education in Delta-inflected Texas blues (Kilde: Wikipedia). He also studied under his older, distant cousin Alger "Texas" Alexander, a country blues singer, and later recorded with another cousin, electric guitarist Frankie Lee Sims. In the mid-1930s he served time at the Houston County Prison Farm, though the reason has never been documented (Kilde: Wikipedia). An Aladdin Records executive discovered him in 1946 playing on Houston's Dowling Street and gave him the stage name that stuck for the rest of his life — "Lightnin'" — while his piano accompanist Wilson Smith was rebranded "Thunder" to match. Hopkins recorded for Aladdin in Los Angeles through 1946–1947, then moved to the Houston-based Gold Star label, where he cut regional hits including "Tim Moore's Farm." Through the 1950s and into the early 1960s he moved through an almost dizzying number of labels — Mercury, Decca, Herald, Sittin' In With/Jax, RPM, Modern — often recording essentially the same songs multiple times for different companies, since he was paid per session and rarely under exclusive contract to anyone for long (Kilde: Wikipedia). Musicologist Mack McCormick tracked him down in 1959 specifically to introduce him to the growing folk-revival audience, and the move transformed his career a second time. Hopkins made his debut at Carnegie Hall on October 14, 1960, sharing a bill with Joan Baez and Pete Seeger and performing the spiritual "Mary Don't You Weep." That same rediscovery era opened up an entirely new run of labels — Folkways, World Pacific, Vee-Jay, Arhoolie, Bluesville, Tradition — as folk and blues scholars raced to document him properly. His most famous single record, "Mojo Hand," was cut in November 1960 and released on the Fire label in 1962, part of the album "How Many More Years I Got" (Kilde: Wikipedia). He played almost entirely solo, without a fixed backing band, and developed a fingerstyle technique that let him carry bass line, rhythm, lead melody and percussion simultaneously on a single guitar — tapping the body for rhythm, mixing alternating and monotonic bass patterns, and bending 12-bar blues structure into whatever loose, conversational shape a given song needed. He often referred to himself in his lyrics as "Po' Lightnin'," and was known for rambling, wry spoken introductions before he'd even start playing (Kilde: Wikipedia). Through the 1960s and 1970s he kept recording for Fire, Candid, Imperial, Prestige, Verve and Jewel among others, and served, unofficially but genuinely, as Houston's poet-in-residence for 35 years, touring internationally as far as a six-city tour of Japan in 1978 (Kilde: Wikipedia). He died of esophageal cancer in Houston on January 30, 1982, at 69, and was buried at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery. His New York Times obituary called him "one of the great country blues singers and perhaps the greatest single influence on rock guitar players." A statue of him was unveiled in Crockett, Texas in 2003, and two of his guitars — a Gibson J-160e and a Guild Starfire, both from the Joe Kessler Collection — are held respectively by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Musical Influence

Stevie Ray Vaughan's Grammy-nominated instrumental "Rude Mood" drew directly on Hopkins's "Hopkins' Sky Hop," and Vaughan cited him repeatedly as a formative touchstone. Townes Van Zandt and Hank Williams Jr. both named him as a direct influence, and Rolling Stone placed him at No. 71 on its 2010 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. His posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, awarded in 2013, only formalized what critics had already been saying for decades: that no single guitarist did more to shape how rock musicians would eventually approach the instrument (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Influences

Blind Lemon JeffersonAlger "Texas" Alexander

Family and personal life

Cousin
Alger "Texas" Alexander

Older, distant cousin and country blues singer who Hopkins studied under.

Cousin
Frankie Lee Sims

Electric blues guitarist and later recording partner.

Formative experiences

  • •Age 8: Met Blind Lemon Jefferson at a church picnic in Buffalo, Texas — Jefferson reportedly let no one else play alongside him except Hopkins. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •Mid-1930s: Served time at the Houston County Prison Farm, for reasons never documented. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1946: Discovered on Houston's Dowling Street by an Aladdin Records executive, who gave him the name "Lightnin'." (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1959: Sought out by musicologist Mack McCormick for the folk revival. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •October 14, 1960: Carnegie Hall debut alongside Joan Baez and Pete Seeger. (Kilde: Wikipedia)

Instruments & Equipment

Guitar

Acoustic and electric guitar (solo fingerstyle)

Played almost entirely without a fixed backing band, using a fingerstyle technique that combined bass line, rhythm, lead melody and body-tapped percussion at once.

Stories & Anecdotes

"Blind Lemon Jefferson reportedly never let anyone else play alongside him except the young Hopkins — an extraordinary informal apprenticeship for an eight-year-old. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"His piano accompanist Wilson Smith was rebranded "Thunder" by Aladdin Records to match Hopkins's new stage name "Lightnin'." (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"Because he was typically paid per session rather than under long exclusive contracts, he re-recorded many of the same songs multiple times for different labels across his career. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

Collaborators

Blind Lemon Jefferson

Met at age 8; Jefferson reportedly let no one else play alongside him except Hopkins.

Alger "Texas" Alexander

Older cousin and country blues singer who taught him.

Frankie Lee Sims

Cousin and electric blues guitarist; later recording partner.

Mack McCormick

Musicologist who found and reintroduced him to folk-revival audiences in 1959.

Watch & Listen

Featured

Lightnin' Hopkins - Mojo Hand (Official Audio)

His most famous single record, recorded November 1960 and released on Fire in 1962.

Lightnin' Hopkins

Sam Lightnin' Hopkins - Tim Moore's Farm

Sam Lightnin' Hopkins - Tim Moore's Farm

Baby, Please Don't Go - Lightnin' Hopkins

Baby, Please Don't Go - Lightnin' Hopkins

Watch & Listen

Henter videoer fra YouTube…

Discography

YearTitleProducerStudioLabelChartSalesMusiciansYouTubeNotes
1946Aladdin Records era, Los AngelesAladdin Records—Aladdin——Wilson Smith (Piano)1946–1947, with pianist Wilson Smith ("Thunder" to Hopkins's "Lightnin'").
1947Gold Star Records era, HoustonGold Star Records—Gold Star——L.C. Williams (Drums, vocals)Regional hits including "Tim Moore's Farm."
1950Mercury / Decca / Herald / Sittin' In With–Jax / RPM / Modern eraVarious—Multiple———1950s — recorded prolifically, often re-cutting the same songs for different labels since he was paid per session.
1959Folk-revival rediscovery era beginsMack McCormick—Various———Sought out by folklorist Mack McCormick for the folk-revival audience.
1960Folkways / World Pacific / Vee-Jay / Arhoolie / Bluesville / Tradition eraVarious—Multiple———Carnegie Hall debut October 14, 1960 with Joan Baez and Pete Seeger; "Mojo Hand" recorded Nov 1960, released 1962 on Fire as part of "How Many More Years I Got."
1965Fire / Candid / Imperial / Prestige / Verve / Jewel eraVarious—Multiple———1960s–1970s — continued prolific recording across numerous labels.
1978International touring era——————Included a six-city tour of Japan.

Famous songs

01Mojo Hand
02Tim Moore's Farm
03Baby Please Don't Go
04Hopkins' Sky Hop

External links

YouTube Music Wikipedia

Sources

Keep SlowBlues independent. Official merch — wear the blues.

Shop merch