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Todd Austin

Min Clough

John Lee Hooker: The Boogie Man

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Music: Jazz & Blues: Blues

BBC Four - John Lee Hooker: The Boogie Man

The astonishing contribution of singer-songwriter John Lee Hooker to 20th-century music.

Documentary about the astonishing contribution of American singer-songwriter John Lee Hooker to 20th-century music, told in his own words and those of his friends and family.

John Lee Hooker was one of the greatest bluesmen of the 20th century. Born into poverty and racial segregation, he lived through a monumental time in American history.

This is the story of a cultural icon, and his far-reaching impact on popular music, told in his own words and those of his family and closest collaborators. 

Interviews with Keith Richards, Van Morrison, Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt and Robert Cray tell how an illiterate man from the rural and impoverished backwaters of the Mississippi Delta influenced their own musical journey. We reveal his part in bringing the Blues to a new generation of young British musicians and how, in turn, those musicians introduced young, mainstream Americans to their own cultural heritage.

His is an astonishing tale of survival and creativity, ingenuity and reinvention - of a man who became a superstar against extraordinary odds. It is also the story of modern America, portrayed through the incredible and touching journey of a singer-songwriter who has left an indelible mark on today’s music.


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