Lightnin' Hopkins - [1963] Smokes Like Lightnin' (FLAC)
Release Date: 1963
Recording Date: January, 1962 - February 20, 1962


Review by Greg Adams
One of the most weirdly compelling elements of Smokes Like Lightnin' is Mack McCormick's liner 

notes, reproduced from the original 1963 LP. Almost breathtaking in their ferocity, McCormick's 

notes characterize Hopkins as a spoiled crybaby whose only redeeming quality is his ability to 

make music. The album, recorded in three 1962 sessions, consists simply of Hopkins and his 

guitar, except for three songs that are performed with a full band. The sound is spare and very 

loose, with a re-recording of "T Model Blues" and the dance song "Let's Do the Susie-Q," a 

musical exhortation that seems unlikely to inspire dancing. A brief and uneven album, Smokes 

Like Lightnin' is less compelling than Hopkins' '50s recordings, but strikes an appealingly lazy 

acoustic groove.


Tracks: 
1. T-Model Blues
2. Jackstropper Blues
3. You Cook All Right
4. My Black Name
5. You Never Miss Your Water
6. Let's Do the Susie-Q
7. Ida Mae
8. Smokes Like Lightning
9. Prison Farm Blues


Personnel:
Lightnin' Hopkins - Guitar, vocals
Billy Bizor - Harmonica, vocals
Donald Cooks - Bass
Sam Hopkins - Guitar, vocals
Spider Kilpatrick - Drums
Buster Pickens - Piano