John Lee Hooker’s 1960 Riverside Records album That’s My Story is a sweet blues gem that I suspect not a lot of people have heard, largely because it remains fairly rare. Recently reissued by Craft Recordings, the boutique arm of Concord Music and owner of the catalogs of esteemed labels such as Riverside, Vee-Jay, Fantasy, Milestone, and others, the album has been restored as part of Craft’s terrific Bluesville reissue series.
One of the interesting differences in listening to That’s My Story is that it not only finds Mr. Hooker well recorded on his own terms, but also backed by a strong trio: Sam Jones and Louis Hayes, bassist and drummer, respectively, from jazz saxophone legend Cannonball Adderley’s bands.
While I don’t pretend to be the world authority on Mr. Hooker’s music, I have heard how his sound changes when backed by the right band, such as on the 1966 Impulse Records slammer It Serve You Right to Suffer — recently reissued by Verve/Acoustic Sounds and reviewed by me elsewhere on the web.
Together these musicians bring a unique/distinctive swing to Mr. Hooker’s music that is compelling. They’re still playing the blues, but there’s no way that they can get around having that special swagger which jazz cats bring to the table even when they’re playing straight ahead rhythms.
When I put this album on for the first time, I was a little taken it back and I had to go do a little bit of quick research/fact checking but indeed the opening track “I Need Some Money” is Mr. Hooker’s cover of the then still relatively brand new 1959 smoker co-written by Berry Gordy, which was a hit for Barrett Strong (and the first ever hit for the Motown music machine to be). On this particular version, Hooker adds his own lyrical twists, but there’s no question that it is the same song which later became an anthem for no less than The Beatles and alternative underground darlings, The Flying Lizards.
Consistently, the Craft Bluesville series has been outstanding, with production values very similar to Craft’s Original Jazz Classics releases. High-quality cover art and sturdy jacket construction house the superior 180-gram black vinyl pressings manufactured at Quality Record Pressings (QRP), one of the best LP manufacturing facilities in America today and part of the Acoustic Sounds universe. The disc mastering, including the AAA lacquer cut for this album, was done by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab at Blue Heaven Studios.
All in all That’s My Story is a great album. And if you’re looking to catch up on some classic earlier John Lee Hooker recordings, Craft’s Bluesville reissues are an excellent and reasonably priced way to do that.
Where to buy: $35.34 at Amazon
Mark Smotroff is a deep music enthusiast / collector who has also worked in entertainment oriented marketing communications for decades supporting the likes of DTS, Sega and many others. He reviews vinyl for Analog Planet and has written for Audiophile Review, Sound+Vision, Mix, EQ, etc. You can learn more about him at LinkedIn.
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Andy Blues
May 31, 2026 at 12:13 pm
One of my favorite artists of all-time and this is clearly a must own now.