Earl Hooker: Two Bugs and a Roach (Arhoolie)

Earl Hooker ought to be more famous than he is, but between shyness about his vocal abilities and dying at just 41 years of age, this guitar whiz's public profile remained low. His fellow musicians knew how good a player he was, though; Hooker played on records by Muddy Waters (whose "You Shook Me" was overdubbed atop Hooker's instrumental "Blue Guitar") and Junior Wells, among others. He was especially admired for his slide playing, but using standard tuning, he was able to easily switch from slide to picking.

Hooker was born on January 15, 1929 in Clarksdale, Mississippi -- 10 years later than cousin John Lee Hooker -- but moved with his family to Chicago a year later. Slide guitar genius Robert Nighthawk was among young Earl's teachers, but the budding six-string flash's musical interests were not confined to the blues, and his recordings incorporate touches of rock 'n' roll and country at times.

The first 10 tracks on this CD were mostly recorded in 1968 in Chicago, soon after he had emerged from a nearly year-long hospital stay due to tuberculosis. Two Bugs and a Roach was the beginning of a brief but sweet career Indian Summer.

Hooker sings on the slow blues "Anna Lee," more than adequately, though it's his shimmering slide licks that are most riveting. He's apparently also the uncredited singer on "You Don't Want Me." On the mid-tempo "You Don't Love Me," Andrew "B.B. Jr." Odom supports his nickname by singing in the style of B.B. King, while on "Love Ain't a Plaything" Carey Bell sings and plays harmonica.

Otherwise, the 1968-69 material is Hooker's specialty, instrumentals, though the title track features a bit of spoken dialogue. "Wah Wah Blues" is a reminder that Hooker was among the first blues men to utilize a wah-wah pedal, and nobody has ever done it more tastefully (Pinetop Perkins switches to organ for this track). "Earl Hooker Blues" is an uptempo shuffle that again uses wah-wah heavily. On "Off the Hook" his concern for guitar sound can be heard as he switches tone on each verse.

The non-Chicago track "The Hook" was made in 1969 in Berkeley, California, partly with Chicago musicians but with ringer Steve Miller (yes, that Steve Miller) on piano; it mostly features harmonica man Louis Myers. Hooker is back in the spotlight on "New Sweet Black Angel," an instrumental version of a Robert Nighthawk song that Hooker had previously recorded over a decade earlier.

That earlier version (yes, the "Sweet Black Angel" that the Rolling Stones covered), tentatively assigned to Memphis in 1952, is among four bonus tracks here. It's lo-fi but worth hearing for Hooker's sly, drawling vocal and an intensely throbbing guitar solo before the last verse. The other three tracks are from Memphis in 1953 and, like the Chicago tracks, have Pinetop Perkins on piano. Hooker also sings "I'm Going Down the Line" (another adaptation of a Nighthawk song). Though flawed by a sub-par bassist, "Guitar Rag" is a rollicking instrumental that reveals Hooker's country side, while "Earl's Boogie Woogie" is also an instrumental and just as much fun.

After the album's release in Spring 1969, Hooker's career took off. He recorded four albums under his name that year, as well as several with John Lee Hooker, and in October toured Europe as part of the American Folk Blues Festival. The tour's heavy schedule wore him down, and by the end of the year, he was back in the hospital. Sadly, the tuberculosis that had afflicted him for at least 15 years finally took Hooker's life on April 21, 1970. - Steve Holtje

Mr. Holtje is a Brooklyn-based poet and composer who splits his time between editing Culturecatch.com, working at the Williamsburg record store Sound Fix, and editing cognitive neuroscience books for Oxford University Press. No prizes for guessing which pays best.