"Don't Look Back" is a song written 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 ...

, and released as a single in 1964. As a

duet A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...

, Hooker later performed the song with the Northern Irish singer-songwriter

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 ...

. It was a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

winner in Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals in 1998 from the album, '' Don't Look Back''.

Song history

This song had a long history with Hooker and Morrison over the years. It was covered by

's band

Them Them or THEM, a third-person singular or plural accusative personal pronoun, may refer to: Books * ''Them'' (novel), 3rd volume (1969) in American Joyce Carol Oates' ''Wonderland Quartet'' * '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'', 2003 non-fict ...

on their debut album, ''

The Angry Young Them ''The Angry Young Them'' is the first album by the Northern Irish rhythm and blues group Them, whose lead singer and songwriter was Van Morrison. The album was released in the UK in June 1965. In the U.S., the album was released as ''Them'' w ...

'' in 1965. The album's sleeve had a comment on the song which read: "John Lee Hooker hailed as one of the greatest R&B singers in the world wrote 'Don't Look Back'....Perhaps it isn't so extraordinary that this soulful ballad sounds uncannily like a Morrison original as the two men have a lot in common." Them's version was also included in songs hand-picked by Morrison on his second greatest hit album, '' The Best of Van Morrison Volume Two''. A live performance in 1979 was also one of the songs featured on Van Morrison's video ''

Van Morrison in Ireland ''Van Morrison in Ireland'' is the first official video by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released in 1981 of a concert Morrison recorded in Northern Ireland in 1979. It was directed by Michael Radford who later became a noted fil ...

'' in 1981.

Cover versions

The Australian group

The Black Sorrows The Black Sorrows are an Australian blues rock band formed in 1983 by mainstay vocalist Joe Camilleri (ex-Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons), who also plays saxophone and guitar. Camilleri has used various line-ups to record 17 albums, with five reachin ...

covered the song for their debut studio album, ''

Sonola ''Sonola'' is the debut studio album by Australian rock band The Black Sorrows. The album was released in June 1984 and consisted of cover versions of soul and R&B songs. Background In 1983, following the disbanding of Jo Jo Zep, Joe Camilleri ...

'' (1984).

References

1964 songs 1964 singles John Lee Hooker songs Vee-Jay Records singles Van Morrison songs Male vocal duets Songs written by John Lee Hooker Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals Blues songs {{Blues-song-stub