Boom Boom (John Lee Hooker song)
| "Boom Boom" | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Single by John Lee Hooker | |
| from the album Burnin' | |
| B-side | "Drug Store Woman" |
| Released | May 1962 |
| Format | 7-inch 45 rpm record |
| Recorded | Chicago, late 1961 |
| Genre | Blues |
| Length | 2:29 |
| Label | Vee-Jay |
| Writer(s) | John Lee Hooker |
| "Boom Boom" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Single by The Animals | ||||
| from the album The Animals | ||||
| B-side | "Blue Feeling" | |||
| Released | November 1964 | |||
| Format | 7-inch 45 rpm record | |||
| Recorded | January 1964 | |||
| Genre | Blues rock | |||
| Length | 2:57 | |||
| Label | MGM | |||
| Writer(s) | John Lee Hooker | |||
| Producer(s) | Mickie Most | |||
| The Animals singles chronology | ||||
|
||||
"Boom Boom" is a song written by American blues singer/guitarist John Lee Hooker and recorded in 1961. Although a blues song, music critic Charles Shaar Murray calls it "the greatest pop song he ever wrote". "Boom Boom" was both an American R&B and pop chart success in 1962 as well as placing in the UK Singles Chart in 1992.
The song is one of Hooker's most identifiable and enduring and "among the tunes that every band on the [early 1960s UK] R&B circuit simply had to play". It has been recorded by numerous blues and other artists, including a 1965 North American hit by the Animals.
Prior to recording for Vee-Jay Records, John Lee Hooker was primarily a solo performer or accompanied by a second guitarist, such as early collaborators Eddie Burns or Eddie Kirkland. However, with Vee-Jay, he usually recorded with a small backing band, as heard on the singles "Dimples", "I Love You Honey", and "No Shoes". Detroit pianist Joe Hunter, who had previously worked with Hooker, was again enlisted for the recording session. Hunter brought with him "the cream of the Motown label's session men, later known as the Funk Brothers": bassist James Jamerson, drummer Benny Benjamin, plus guitarist Larry Veeder, tenor saxophonist Hank Cosby, and baritone saxophonist Andrew "Mike" Terry. They have been described as "just the right band" for "Boom Boom". Hooker had a unique sense of timing, which demanded "big-eared sidemen". The original "Boom Boom" is an uptempo (168 beats per minute) blues song, which has been notated in time in the key of F. It has been described as "about the tightest musical structure of any Hooker composition: its verses sedulously adhere to the twelve-bar format over which Hooker generally rides so roughshod". The song uses "a stop-time hook that opens up for one of the genre's most memorable guitar riffs" and incorporates a middle instrumental section Hooker-style boogie.
...
Wikipedia