''Don't Look Back'' is an album released by

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

singer-songwriter

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he develo ...

in 1997. It was produced by

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

, who also performed duets with Hooker on four of the tracks. The album was the Grammy winner in the

Best Traditional Blues Album The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album was awarded from 1983 to 2011 and from 2017 onwards. Until 1992 the award was known as Best Traditional Blues Performance and was twice awarded to individual tracks rather than albums. The award ...

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. 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

#" Dimples" (

James Bracken James C. Bracken (May 23, 1909 – February 20, 1972) was an American songwriter and the co-founder and co-owner of Vee-Jay Records with his wife Vivian and her brother, Calvin Carter. Life Bracken was born in Oklahoma and grew up in Kansas Cit ...

, Hooker) – 3:59 L* #" The Healing Game" (

) – 5:09 M* #"Ain't No Big Thing" (Hooker) – 5:19 #" Don't Look Back" (Hooker) – 6:41 M* #"Blues Before Sunrise" (

Leroy Carr Leroy Carr (March 27, 1904 or 1905 – April 29, 1935) was an American blues singer, songwriter and pianist who developed a laid-back, crooning technique and whose popularity and style influenced such artists as Nat King Cole and Ray Charles. Mu ...

, Hooker) – 6:41 #"Spellbound" (Hooker, Michael Osborn) – 3:56 #"Travellin' Blues" (Hooker) – 5:35 M* #"I Love You Honey" (Hooker, Freddy Williams) – 3:31 #"Frisco Blues" (Hooker) – 3:47 #" Red House" (

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

) – 4:02 #"Rainy Day" (Hooker) – 5:50 M* Notes *L – with

Los Lobos Los Lobos (, Spanish for "the Wolves") is a Mexican American rock group, rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional ...

band and also produced by Los Lobos with Mario Caldato Jr. *M – Duets with Van Morrison

Chart

Personnel

– vocals, guitar *

– vocals, guitar, producer * David Hidalgo – guitar * César Rosas – guitar *Danny Caron – guitar *Ruth Davies –

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

* Conrad Lozano – bass guitar *Richard Cousins – bass guitar *John Allair – keyboards *Jim Pugh – keyboards *Charles Brown – keyboards *Roger Lewis –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

Steve Berlin Steven M. Berlin (born September 14, 1955, in Philadelphia) is an American saxophonist, keyboardist and record producer, best known as a member of the rock group Los Lobos and, before that, Top Jimmy & the Rhythm Pigs, the Blasters, and the Fl ...

–

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

*Gregory Davis – trumpet * John "Juke" Logan – harmonica *Victor Bisetti – drums *Kevin Hayes – drums * Mike Kappus – executive producer

Notes

References

External links

The Rosebud agency presents: Don't Look Back
{{Authority control 1997 albums John Lee Hooker albums Virgin Records albums Albums produced by Van Morrison Albums produced by Mike Kappus