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| Photo by Foto-Erhardt GmbH |
John Lee Hooker Jr. is the author, with Julia Simon, of the new memoir From the Shadow of the Blues: My Story of Music, Addiction and Redemption. Hooker is a minister and a blues musician. He is the son of blues musician John Lee Hooker.
Q: What inspired you to write this memoir?
A: There was a lot of “OMG, you need to write a book” encouragement from my Church family in America to tell my story so that others who have a “no hope life” might have hope.
Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: My manager Ron Kramer and I were brainstorming one day for titles, and he knew just how much I wanted to shake off the nightlife and exemplify my new life.
I no longer wanted to carry the burden of the legacy of my dad's music genre. I no longer perform at night clubs; it all reminds me of the things that almost killed me. The drugs, the alcohol, women on every continent, violence, etc. I've emerged from the shadow of the blues.
Q: How would you describe your relationship with your father?
A: My dad was my best friend, my life raft. We were each other's favorite comedians.
He was my right hand dad! He showed me the craft of music. He demonstrated how not to be egotistic, to be kind to everyone, to remember where you came from, to treat people fair no matter what they look like or who they love. He taught me that the only time you look down on someone is when you're picking them up.
Q: The musician Taj Mahal said of the book, “This is the triumphant testimony of a man who was lost and, against all odds, became a true winner during his long and winding road through life.” What do you think of that description?
A: He hit it right on point. Everyone including my family and closest associates counted me out. They thought that I'd be dead before I turned 23 years old.
I believed it also. I had overdosed so many times that I can't remember, guns put to my face, shot twice, etc. I thought that I would die in prison like my cousin Jr. Mathis. I made it, hallelujah, I made it. I'm still here and healthy at the age of 73!
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I’m working on a new Gospel song that I recorded in the USA, “Heaven Rules,” co-written by Larry Batiste. The song is finished and now my team here in Germany is working on the video for the song. I'm going to school to learn German, and I'm visiting prisons here and preaching here in different Churches.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I now live in Germany and own a home with my wonderful wife. In May I will travel to the USA to visit several prisons in Alaska, one in California, and preach in four Churches. God has been good to me because I should have been dead by bullets or died in prison.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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