Lightnin' Hopkins
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Album Summary
Recorded in 1959 and released on Tradition Records, this self-titled gem came to life during a period when the blues world was being rediscovered by a whole new generation of hungry ears. Lightnin' Hopkins laid it all down with that unmistakable raw, unadorned approach — just a man, his guitar, and the truth — captured with minimal production fuss so that every bent string and gravelly syllable could breathe free. The album stands as one of several recordings Hopkins cut during this remarkably fertile stretch of his career, as folk revivalists and blues scholars alike were starting to wake up and realize they had a living legend walking among them.
Reception
- Critics who paid attention recognized immediately that this record was something special — a pure, unvarnished document of Texas blues at its most honest and affecting.
- The folk and blues revival crowd embraced the album warmly, helping Hopkins build a devoted audience far beyond his original Texas Gulf Coast following.
- While it didn't chart in any conventional pop sense, the album earned deep respect in roots music circles and helped cement Hopkins' growing reputation among serious music listeners nationwide.
Significance
- This album stands as a landmark document of Texas country blues, preserving a deeply personal and regionally distinct guitar style that traces a direct line back to the earliest days of the form.
- Hopkins' tribute track 'Reminiscences Of Blind Lemon' offers an extraordinarily rare and moving firsthand connection to Blind Lemon Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of recorded blues — making this album a living piece of music history.
- Released right at the dawn of the folk revival, the record helped introduce Lightnin' Hopkins to college campuses and coffeehouses, ultimately paving the way for his legendary rediscovery tours and festival appearances in the 1960s.
Tracklist
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A1 Penitentiary Blues 93
2:56
-
A2 Bad Luck And Trouble 109
3:50
-
A3 Come And Go With Me —
3:55
-
A4 Trouble Stay 'Way From My Door 97
4:10
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A5 See That My Grave Is Kept Clean 80
2:11
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A6 So Long Baby 111
1:50
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B1 Goin' Back To Florida 117
3:14
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B2 Reminiscences Of Blind Lemon —
2:14
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B3 Fan It 146
2:47
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B4 Tell Me Baby —
2:35
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B5 She's Mine 165
4:18
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B6 The Foot Race Is On 93
2:43
Artist Details
Lightnin' Hopkins — born Sam John Hopkins in 1912 in Centerville, Texas — was one of those rare, blessed souls who carried the whole blues tradition in the tips of his fingers, spinning stories of hard luck, love lost, and survival with a guitar style so fluid and personal it sounded like a conversation between his hands and his heart. He came up under the influence of the great Blind Lemon Jefferson himself, soaking up the deep Texas country blues before going on to record hundreds of sides and become one of the most prolific and beloved bluesmen who ever lived. Whether he was playing for a juke joint crowd or a concert hall full of reverent folk revivalists, Lightnin' always brought the same electrifying authenticity — a man utterly incapable of playing anything that wasn't the truth.
