On This Day (1962): John Lee Hooker “Boom Boom” charted

Boom Boom John Lee Hooker

Writer(s): John Lee Hooker (see lyrics here) First Charted: May 26, 1962 Peak: 60 BB, 70 HR, 16 RB, 19 CL, 16 UK, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 41.8 video, 83.26 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Blues great John Lee Hooker had his first recording session in 1948. “Boogie Chillen,” recorded during that session, was released the following year and topped the R&B chart on its way toward selling a million copies. However, it wasn’t until 1962’s “Boom Boom” that Hooker had his one and only entry on the pop charts. It would also be his final appearance on the R&B charts. In the 1980s and ‘90s, he would have success with albums with a host of guest rock stars. Hooker achieved his first hits recording on his own in Detroit, “playing guitar and stomping his feet.” BH However, on hs “bad-man theme, ‘Boom Boom,’” BH “the stomping rhythm” BH was provided by James Jamerson (bass), Benny Benjamin (drums), and Joe Hunter (piano). The trio were none other than the famed Motown session men known as the Funk Brothers. The song was inspired by Luilla, a bartender at the Apex Bar in Detroit where Hooker used to play. As he said, “I’d always be late and whenever I’d come in she’d point at me and say, ‘Boom Boom, you’re late again. And she kept saying that. It dawned on me that that was a good name for a song. Then one night she said, ‘Boom Boom, I’m gonna shoot you down.’ She gave me a song but she didn’t know it.” SF After he recorded the song and the Animals covered it, he said, “The barmaid felt pretty good. She went around telling everybody I got John Lee to write that song. I gave her some bread for it, too, so she was pretty happy.” SF Others to record the song included Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Buddy Guy, the Oak Ridge Boys, Them, Muddy Waters, and the Yardbirds. SH Hooker performed the song in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers. It was his only movie appearance. Resources: BH Blues Hall of Fame SH SecondHandSongs.com SF Songfacts Related Links: First posted 9/11/2023.