Don't Look Back (John Lee Hooker album)

Don't Look Back
Studio album by John Lee Hooker
Released	March 4, 1997
Recorded	Plant Recording Studios, Sausalito, California; Sunset Sound Factory, Hollywood, California
Genre	Blues
Length	53:33
Label	Virgin
Producer	Van Morrison, Mike Kappus
John Lee Hooker chronology
Chill Out (1995) Don't Look Back (1997) The Best of Friends (1998)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings	[2]

Don't Look Back is an album released by blues singer-songwriter John Lee Hooker in 1997 that was co-produced by Van Morrison and Mike Kappus.^[3] Van Morrison also performed duets with Hooker on four of the tracks.^[4] The album was the Grammy winner in the Best Traditional Blues Album category in 1998. The title duet by Hooker and Morrison also won a Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

John Lee Hooker and Van Morrison

The two singers had collaborated on several occasions over the years before this album was realized and had become personal friends. Morrison had first recorded the title song, "Don't Look Back" on his debut album as the frontman for the Northern Irish band Them and according to one of the band members, Billy Harrison, the two first met in London in 1964.^[5] Their first collaboration was on Hooker's album, Never Get Out of These Blues Alive recorded in 1972, with a duet on the title song and Hooker's cover of Morrison's "T.B. Sheets". They guested on each other's albums over the years with Hooker also appearing on two films with Morrison: BBC's One Irish Rover and Morrison's 1990 video, Van Morrison The Concert.

Track listing

1. "Dimples" (James Bracken, Hooker) – 3:59 L*
2. "The Healing Game" (Van Morrison) – 5:09 M*
3. "Ain't No Big Thing" (Hooker) – 5:19
4. "Don't Look Back" (Hooker) – 6:41 M*
5. "Blues Before Sunrise" (Leroy Carr, Hooker) – 6:41
6. "Spellbound" (Hooker, Michael Osborn) – 3:56
7. "Travellin' Blues" (Hooker) – 5:35 M*
8. "I Love You Honey" (Hooker, Freddy Williams) – 3:31
9. "Frisco Blues" (Hooker) – 3:47
10. "Red House" (Jimi Hendrix) – 4:02
11. "Rainy Day" (Hooker) – 5:50 M*

Notes

• L – with Los Lobos band and also produced by Los Lobos with Mario Caldato Jr.^[6]
• M – Duets with Van Morrison

Chart

Chart (1997)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA Charts)[7]	17

Personnel

• John Lee Hooker – vocals, guitar
• Van Morrison – vocals, guitar, co-producer
• David Hidalgo – guitar
• César Rosas – guitar
• Danny Caron – guitar
• Ruth Davies – double bass
• Conrad Lozano – bass guitar
• Richard Cousins – bass guitar
• John Allair – keyboards
• Jim Pugh – keyboards
• Charles Brown – keyboards
• Roger Lewis – saxophone
• Steve Berlin – baritone saxophone
• Gregory Davis – trumpet
• John "Juke" Logan – harmonica
• Victor Bisetti – drums
• Kevin Hayes – drums

• Mike Kappus – co-producer,^[3] executive producer^[8]

Notes

1. Chris Slawecki (March 4, 1997). "Don't Look Back – John Lee Hooker | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
2. Russell, Tony; Smith, Chris (2006). The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin. p. 274. ISBN 978-0-140-51384-4.
3. "CelebrityAccess Industry Profiles". Celebrityaccess.com. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
4. "Don't Look Back: John Lee Hooker". maine.edu. Archived from the original on May 25, 2003. Retrieved March 8, 2009.
5. Heylin. (2003). p.96
6. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (March 15, 1997). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 51–. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
7. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 131.
8. "Mike Kappus | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved December 12, 2015.

References

• Heylin, Clinton (2003). Can You Feel the Silence? Van Morrison: A New Biography, Chicago Review Press ISBN 1-55652-542-7

External links

• The Rosebud agency presents: Don't Look Back
• BluesRoad: Don't Look Back