Lightning Sam Hopkins, and his brother Joel squatty Hopkins were mentors and teachers to me. I miss them so muchly. Now that I'm sick and old with lung cancer. God bless the dead.
Just so you know - people still out here wishing you well. I hope you got your health back since you wrote this, and that you'll tell us more stories about Lightning and Squatty. Hell I'd record you telling stories if you wanted; could listen to someone like you tell stories all day long. Might not know you but don't need to know someone to know they're good people. You take care out there, mind body and soul - it's all the same.
Thank GOD that some body had the mind to record and preserve this for future generations...and if it were not for you tube I would not know about a lot of this...
Can we just thank the man who invented the video camera ahha aha cause man this stuff is pure gold and this new generation don’t want nothing to do with this type of music. Didn’t even know this guy was from Houston and it makes me proud to have one of the best blues player from my part of town!
I'm 25, don't know if that makes me too old for "this new generation". But there's definitely a lot of people bred on rock, raised on the blues, and some of us, trained in jazz. Even now kids are buying thumb-picks
Serving as one of the great archetypes of Texas Blues, and acoustic blues overall, Lightnin' Hopkins is one of the legends of the music. With his reach, he influenced many guitarists; for example, Jimi Hendrix's family listened to much blues, and one of young Hendrix's favorites happened to be Lightnin' Hopkins. Source: Ploddings Com
I"ve been listening to this guy since I was about 16 years old (now 79) and have enjoyed him immensely. And I'm a white boy from the suburbs of Detroit. Have seen him in person several times in Ann Arbor an at festivals - it never gets old to me.
That is so cool that you got to see this legend before he passed. I didn’t really know his music until he was gone. I am also a white boy from a small town in the Midwest called Kansas, IL. I love most all of these old original blues men. I prefer Lightnin’ with just him and an acoustic guitar because a band messes up his delivery. Many of these guys weren’t hung up on playing everything perfectly in time and they developed a style that was uniquely theirs. This man was pure genius and his guitar style is beyond cool. Salt of the earth is a great way to describe him.
Hello all you guys from the US of A. White guy from Birmingham England learned to play listening to his records aged about 12. I'm 65 now and realise how much I copied him.... from my first professional gig at the age of 14 and still do. God Bless !
I WAS DEPPRESSED ALL DAY TODAY.....BUT ..LIGHTIN HOPKINS DONE TOOK ME FOR A HAPPY BLUES RIDE..."NOBODY SINGS AND PLAYS GUITAR LIKE LIGHTIN HOPKINS.......AWESOME THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH....MADE ME LAUGH AND SMILE....WHAT MELODY IS THIS FROM HEAVEN HE SINGS AND PLAYS ...GREAT TONE AND FEEL EMOTION AND TOTTALY MELODIC ....SATISFACTION GAURANTEED...ONE OF MY FAVORITES.........
@5:32 ... that rhythmic double wack before kicking into the melody line. He had such groove. I can't say enough about the dude, to be honest.. Brilliance. Voice, persona, image, playing.. helps ease the ache a lot of the time.
I need to keep the nails on my fretting as short as I can to play, that he can play, and so well, with those nails blows my mind. Great stuff here, Lightnin' is legend.
"wIdely imitated style..."...? We have tried for decades 🤣We can't do it! Maybe someday..? Praise be to God. This man is the very best. We love you, Sam. 🌹
You can play me Symphony music Thelonious Monk jazz Satchmo you can play me Les Paul you can play me Jeff Beck you can play me Clapton Gilmore Townsend The Beatles on and on and on and on every single last one of them was touched by this man and his sounds as well as all other early Blues pioneers not just guitar players. So I just feel so enthralled when I see this in here this makes me so glad to be part of the human experience and also very glad I have playing the guitar for 40 years and everyday more fired up than the last. I said hey hey the blues is alright hey hey the blues is alright. Love me some Lightnin Hopkins hot damn! LOL
They asked Lightning, in an interview what guitar he liked to play. He said which everyone wasn't in hock. Lol. Hell he would make anything sound good.
2007. I go to the food store and when I'm done with my grocery shopping I come to this isle that had cd's. So I see this cd that said "Lightnin Hopkins sings the blues". Thank God I found this cd !!! - It changed my life and kept me company for many months through the tough times !!!
Po lightnin really had them blues. Didn’t need a big orchestra behind him to play em either. Just good ole country blues. Man and his guitar singing straight from his heart bout what he feels. Legend
My youngest brother is sick with diabetes also has some lifelong serious struggles with schizophrenia. Unfortunately he's one of those stubborn types ... knows it all won't take advice ...THOUGH constantly asks for help. Very confusing in the mind this human dynamic. ⭐Because family is family and you got to care for those who are not as well off as you. This has overwhelmed me and giving me the serious Blues.! So having told that story I am happy to corroborate with many others that listening to this for the past many hours has really brought me back down to earth. Watched about 30 Lightnin Hopkins videos live concerts at cetera today this s*** is the real deal Blues is the Healer Blues is the Healer Blues is the Healer! Hallelujah love you lightning
I've been looking for these shows for years! This and the Roscoe Holcomb are the only ones I'd ever seen so the Son House, John Lee etc. is all bonus. A big thank you for making these available. Maybe some of these people with a palate for bubblegum will accidentally run across some of these and acquire a taste for top shelf. Or not...
109 years ago Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins was born on this day.. March 15, 1912. The day blues was born.. We respect all the blues greats but Lightnin' was one of a kind..
This Gibson J50 guitar was the top of the line especialy for Texas folk, blues, and all-around Travelin' singer-songwriters from say 1955-1975, give or take. You'll see it used by young Steve Earle, Gillian Welch even today, along with many others. Mr. Lightnin' Hopkins shows how versatile he is strumming band finger-picking all up and down the strings to get the right sound. The pickup he is using was one of the better and affordable. I used a similar Dave LAWRENCE pickup with an old tube Fender amp for small auditorium performances and could connect a microphone and the guitar both. This is a priceless recording.
Is it true back in the 20s/30s ( birth of ) blues guitar players used to play with nylon syrings ? Since you seem a person that would know answering tgis question
He must have just recently received this guitar, or was borrowing it. It sounds brand spanking new, a bit tinny. I'm sure today it sounds a LOT different, and developed. Hopefully SOMEBODY is playing it and it's not sitting in a glass box.@@LouisCrosland
This is absolute gold. Thank you for sharing, and thanks to those who spent the time recording and cataloging this music. America couldn’t handle the beauty of the blues, so Europe took it and gave it its due.
‘This guitar lives eternally...as she is heard every time this recording is playing. She communicates love and joy with whom all she is sharing. Forever full and spilling over with sweet soulful bliss.💜💪🏼
Lightnin' ! I first heard Lightnin' Hopkins before college when one of my broke friends found a wooden crate of records on the sidewalk...Lightnin' Strikes was in there...Thank you for posting this! It's been almost 20 years since I first heard him and it's amazing to see this footage.
All of the "FolkSeattle" performance were recorded at KTCS Public Television studios which was located on the Univ.of Washington campus in Seattle. The Seattle Folklore Society brought up all the great blues musicians from down south and staged concert in the Seattle area. These great musicians had second careers during the Folk-Blues revival of the 60's and early seventies. I was a concert promoter for the Folklore Society ( unpaid, of course) and was truly blessed to meet and learn the styles of the greats. Seeing black fingers on a guitar neck was a big thrill for us young white guys, and they were all willing to show us their guitar moves. I took promotional fliers to all the area media outlets. The black music station in Seattle, KYAC FM, was very hostile, and refused to promote these incredible performances. The audiences were largely hip college kids and local folkies and blues lovers. So it was young whites who saved the blues from oblivion; it's a source of sadness for me that young black kids are ignorant of their beautiful musical legacy,the Country Blues.
Im so darn lucky 'cause I saw this man play when I was 21yrs old in a small hall in Queensland, Australia.....before he died, never seen any one born so deep into the blues & blew my mind... long time back, I'm glad you found the videos too,great.!!!!
I first learned of lighting in 1962. I have on record at least 3 of his albums. On one he plays elec. Guitar one album is his life story played and talked by him I like him but also sonny terry and brownie Magee i saw them close up in abar performance 1979 sonny is the best harp player ever
When i was a little kid playing acoustic guitar age 11..1/2 i played that style 1965 ..not knowing it was called blues ..but when i was 43 years old ..i heard a lighting Hopkins cassette and it blew my mind . ! i connected imediatly..i had never heard any one sign like ..Lightin...wow...amazing ...words can't describe his ultimate blues power...
An original. A master at work. His playing, his voice, his presentation. Royalty. A one of a kind. I grew up on this stuff. This is like collards and corn bread to me. Don't forge the buttermilk.
Seeing Lightnin' live was mesmerizing. He made the blues seem effortless. He did like to drink to inebriation, though. He could barely sit on his stool and would usually fire one of his sidemen who never left. One who played the washboard was Cleveland Chenier who lived in Austin. Great to have film of Lightnin' playing live.
I had a guitar teacher who had taken lessons from Lightnin Hopkins, and he used to say that until you've sat at the feet of Lightnin Hopkins and felt his hot, whiskey-soaked breath coming down on you, then you haven't really heard the blues 😀
He is in top form here, i have listened to most of his recordings and this is as intense and spot on as it gets. Don't even think i have a CD with recordings THAT good and i have almost everything available.
I have heard of this man and his guitar playing many years ago. I think it was the song he played “make sure my grave is kept clean”. Thanks to RU-vid I discovered who he really is in late March 2021. Watching his hands move across the guitar you realize how good he is. Steve Moore
What a treasure! Music is so mysterious. All power to those who can enjoy any genre. And in every genre there's always one song or more that just attaches to you.
My brain is foggy with the years but I remember a tale of how someone gave Lightnin a 12-string with dimes as tuning knobs. He said he never played it because it was too much trouble to tune. I spent the '60s in Houston, so Lightnin was a common sight at places like Liberty Hall.
My Bluesuncle inrtoduced me to the music of Lightning Sam when I was 18 years old. Hear was the start of my interest and playnig the bleus. Big Boy Arthur Crudup and a fifties album of BB King soon followed. How grateful I am to my blulesuncle, who himself was playing the blues for fourty years, till he got the guitarsickness.
there is something of pure magic about this man. can´t help it, it screams out of his being. I mean his soul.. his guitar skills, well let me put it this way, devil offered him to teach him cello but he said: "let poo´ Lighnin be.."
A simple explanation of a very complicated and extremely talented man. The Texas blues encompassed in Sam John Hopkins. FolkSeattle thanks for the upload.
Hopkins' nimble dexterity made intricate boogie riffs seem easy, and his fascinating penchant for improvising lyrics to fit whatever situation might arise made him a beloved blues troubadour. Source: AllMusic
Man this guy can play the guitar baby, I am delighted to listen and play my Harmonica to his sound, real delight, no i never heard of him and his play until now, but yeah I playing and jammin with my Mississippi Sax to this da sound.. yeap let it rip)))
I discovered Lightnin Hopkins recently. All I have to say I wasn’t ready for Baby please don’t go in this take. I was prayin and cryin I swear Lord forgive me never have I had such an intense reaction to music. I even had to come say.
There was times when he was criticized for timing because he was able to change tempos so smoothly like ; woke up this morning, Is one that comes my mind. And he often replied the blues ain’t got no time.
you are so right. SRV described it as playing into the meat of the guitar. the sounds he could pull out of an acoustic were amazing. you didn't just grab some glasses and a hat and start calling yourself a bluesman. thanks for the heads up brother.
