EARL HOOKER  TWO BUGS AND A ROACH
Label Arhoolie 
Original  Year 1969
Format:[email protected]

Mississippi-born and Chicago-raised, guitarist Earl Hooker was a cousin to blues great John Lee Hooker and R&B singer Joe Hinton. Earl Hooker was a master of many blues, rock, country and jazz styles.

Earl Hooker's Two Bugs and a Roach is a varied lot, with vocals from Hooker, Andrew Odom, and Carey Bell in between the instrumentals, all cut in 1968. All in all, it's one of the must-haves in this artist's very small discography -- a nice representative sample from Chicago's unsung master of the electric guitar, including the title track, "Anna Lee," and the atmospheric instrumental, "Off the Hook." [For a compact disc reissue, Arhoolie added some tracks to the original lineup, including two tracks from stray sessions in late 1968 and July, 1969, along with four very early sides probably recorded in Memphis in the company of Pinetop Perkins, Willie Nix, and an unknown bass player. Of these, "Guitar Rag" is the least together, hampered by a bass player who can't find the changes, but "I'm Going Down the Line" and "Earl's Boogie Woogie" are both top-notch uptempo boogies full of fleet fingered soloing. "Sweet Black Angel" was the A-side of a stray single from the early '50s and appears to be from another session, although it's an excellent example of Hooker playing in the Robert Night Hawk style.] ~ Barry Lee Pearson & Cub Koda

Tracklist
1. Two Bugs And A Roach 4:19
2. Wah Wah Blues 4:36
3. You Don't Love Me 5:37
4. Earl Hooker Blues 5:14
5. Anna Lee 6:30
6. Off The Hook 3:54
7. Love Ain't A Play Thing 4:58
8. You Don't Want Me 5:16
9. The Hook 5:00
10. New Sweet Black Angel 5:16
11. I'm Going Down The Line 2:21
12. Sweet Black Angel 3:12
13. Guitar Rag 2:59
14. Earl's Boogie Woogie 2:38

Recorded in 1952, 1953, 1968 and 1969.

Personnel: Earl Hooker (vocals, guitar); Andrew Odom (vocals, guitar); Gino Skaggs (vocals); Louis Myers, Carey Bell (harmonica); Pinetop Perkins (piano); Levi Warren, W. Williams (drums).