''Live at Soledad Prison'' is a live album by blues musician John Lee Hooker recorded at the Soledad State Prison in

Monterey County, California Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas. Monte ...

on June 11, 1972 and released by the ABC label later that year. It is not available in its original form on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...

, but in 1996,

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...

released a compilation of Hooker's 1966 live album '' Live at Cafe Au Go Go'' with the last five songs of ''Live at Soledad Prison'', under the title ''Live at the Café au Go-Go (and Soledad Prison)''.

Background and performance

ABC Records executive Ed Michel suggested having Hooker perform at Soledad, with the intention of releasing a live album of the performance. In the years prior, other artists had performed or recorded prison concerts, most notably Frank Sinatra and

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

San Quentin San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County. Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the ...

, and Johnny Cash at

Folsom Prison Folsom State Prison (FSP) is a California State Prison in Folsom, California, U.S., approximately northeast of the state capital of Sacramento, California, Sacramento. It is one of 34 adult institutions operated by the California Department of ...

. John Lee Hooker Sr. had brought his 20-year-old son, John Lee Hooker Jr. to California, in part to "...get that boy out of Detroit". Hooker Jr. had recently been released from prison in Michigan after having been incarcerated for drug offenses. Hooker Jr. later recalled "It was just me leaving one yard and moving to another yard... The only difference was I was free and I was able to walk out of the yard." Hooker Jr. performed the first two songs on the album, before introducing his father for the next five. The closing track of the album, and the closing song of the concert, ''Bang Bang Bang Bang'', was a reworking of Hooker's 1961 standard '' Boom Boom''. Four minutes and 17 seconds into the song, it abruptly ends when the power goes out. Hooker Jr. has conflicting recollections as to whether or not it was due to the prison guards cutting the power to do head count.

Hooker Jr.'s further experiences at Soledad

In the mid-1980s, Hooker Jr. (by this time a California resident) had continued troubles with drug-related offenses, and was sentenced to serve two years at Soledad Prison. He again served two years at Soledad in 1991 for a separate drug offense. During that period of time, he converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. Hooker Jr. went on to pursue treatment for his addiction, and eventually became an ordained minister. He served as a

prison chaplain Prison religion includes the religious beliefs and practices of prison inmates, usually stemming from or including concepts surrounding their imprisonment and accompanying lifestyle. "Prison Ministry" is a larger concept, including the support of th ...

at several California prisons, including Soledad.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

reviewer Richie Unterberger, referring to the ''Cafe Au Go-Go''/''Soledad'' compilation, stated: "Luther Tucker is one of the guitarists for the Soledad portion, which has a somewhat more electric, rock-oriented sound than the Au Go-Go material".

Track listing

All compositions credited to John Lee Hooker except where noted # "Superlover" – 4:07 # " I'm Your Crosscut Saw" (Traditional, arranged by John Lee Hooker Jr.) – 5:16 # "What's The Matter Baby" – 3:35 # "Lucille" – 6:36 # "Boogie Everywhere I Go" – 8:24 # "Serve Me Right to Suffer" – 7:15 # " Bang Bang Bang Bang" – 4:17

Personnel

* John Lee Hooker – guitar, vocals * Charlie Grimes,

Luther Tucker Luther Tucker (January 20, 1936 – June 18, 1993) was an American blues guitarist. While soft-spoken and shy, Tucker made his presence known through his unique and clearly recognizable guitar style. Tucker helped to define the music known as ...

– guitar *Lex Silver – Fender bass *Ken Swank – drums * John Lee Hooker Jr. – vocals (tracks 2 & 5)

References

{{John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker live albums 1972 live albums ABC Records live albums Prison music 1972 in California History of Monterey County, California