If you've been frustrated by music documentaries (i.e., the majority of them) that provide only snippets of songs before cutting away to some talking head holding forth on this, that, or the other, John Lee Hooker: Come and See About Me offers reason to rejoice. There are 18 tunes here by late blues master John Lee Hooker, and all are presented in their entirety (the video footage comes from the archives of the Hooker estate; others who license musical material usually pay by the second, which can get mighty pricey). This is the motherlode: Hooker by himself (his preferred performance mode, with only his deep, haunting voice, guitar, and tapping foot) on “It Serves Me Right to Suffer,” “I'm Bad Like Jesse James,” and others; in duos with the likes of John Hammond, Van Morrison, and Ry Cooder; and playing with full bands, including Santana (“The Healer”), the Rolling Stones (“Boogie Chillen'” with Eric Clapton on hand as well), and even Brit blues rockers Foghat (in a truly weird pairing, the great Paul Butterfield adds harmonica trills behind Hooker and the band on “Crawlin' Kingsnake”). The program interweaves interview clips with Hooker, daughter Zakiya, and some of the guest stars, and the disc includes some bonus interview and archival footage, but it's the music that matters, and the music--presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo--is great. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. Editor's Choice. (S. Graham)
John Lee Hooker: Come and See About Me
(2004) 127 min. DVD: $19.98. Eagle Eye Media (avail. from most distributors). Color cover. Volume 19, Issue 5
John Lee Hooker: Come and See About Me
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