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Gospel blues or holy blues is a form of blues-based gospel music that has been around since the inception of blues music, a combination of blues guitar and evangelistic lyrics.^[1] Notable gospel blues performers include Blind Willie Johnson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Reverend Gary Davis.

Blues musicians such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, Sam Collins, Josh White, Blind Boy Fuller, Blind Willie Mctell, Bukka White, Sleepy John Estes and Skip James have recorded a fair number of Gospel and religious songs, these were often commercially released under a pseudonym.

Additionally, by the late 1950s and 1960s when some musicians had become devote, or even practicing clergymen, this was the case for musicians such as Reverend Robert Wilkins and Ishman Bracey

See also[link]

List of gospel blues musicians

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Gospel Blues Society

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Larry Gene Carter (born May 22, 1965) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the San Francisco Giants in 1992.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

This biographical article relating to an American baseball pitcher born in the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2011)

Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper, April 2007
Background information
Born	(1941-10-21) October 21, 1941 (age 70) Dora, Missouri, United States
Genres	Rhythm and blues, soul, funk, electric blues, blues
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer, actor
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1958–present
Labels	Stax
Associated acts	Booker T. & the M.G.'s, The Mar-Keys, The Blues Brothers, Otis Redding, The Jeff Beck Group, Sam and Dave, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, Carla Thomas, Tower of Power, Wilson Pickett, Eddie Floyd, Ambergris
Website	www.playitsteve.com
Notable instruments
Peavey Steve Cropper Classic Fender Telecaster

Steve Cropper (born Steven Lee Cropper, October 21, 1941, Dora, Missouri),^[1] also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, and has backed artists such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Carla, Rufus Thomas and Johnnie Taylor, also acting as producer on many of these records. He later gained fame as a member of the Blues Brothers band.^[2] Rolling Stone lists him 36th on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.^[3] Mojo ranks Cropper as the second-best guitarist ever.

Early life[link]

When he was nine years old, Cropper moved with his family to Memphis, Tennessee.^[1] At the age of ten, he strummed his brother-in-law's Gibson guitar for the first time^{[citation needed]}. Cropper received his first guitar by mail order at 14 and started playing with local musicians. His guitar heroes at the time included Lowman Pauling of the "5" Royales, as well as Chet Atkins, Chuck Berry, Tal Farlow, Jimmy Reed, and the guitarist of the Bill Doggett band, Billy Butler.^[1]

Career[link]

Cropper and guitarist Charlie Freeman formed the Royal Spades, who eventually became the Mar-Keys. The name referred to the marquee outside Stax studios, known as Satellite Records at the time. Eventually the Mar-Keys began playing on sessions and had a hit single of their own with "Last Night" in 1961.

Steve Cropper in concert (1990)

Besides being impressed with the young guitarist's playing, Stax Records president Jim Stewart saw professionalism and maturity beyond Cropper's years.^{[citation needed]} When American Records founder Chips Moman left Stax, Cropper became the company's A&R man. He became a founding member of the Stax house band Booker T. & the M.G.'s, along with Hammond organ player Booker T. Jones, bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn and drummer Al Jackson Jr.. As a house guitarist he played on many recordings such as "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay," co-written with and performed by Otis Redding, and Sam & Dave's "Soul Man" on which he was mentioned by name. When Cropper played on the song's remake by the Blues Brothers, lead singer John Belushi again mentioned Cropper.

At this time Cropper's fame was not limited to the United States. The Beatles favoured Cropper's playing, and his production on Otis Redding records. John Lennon and Paul McCartney made tentative plans to record in Memphis, and to work with the guitarist. However Brian Epstein cancelled the sessions, citing security problems.^[4] Regarding this period, Rob Bowman, in his book Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story Of Stax Records, quoted Booker T. Jones as saying:

Along with influential work with Booker T & The MG's, Cropper co-wrote "Knock On Wood" with Eddie Floyd, "In the Midnight Hour" with Wilson Pickett and "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" with Otis Redding. In 1969, Cropper released his first solo album, With a Little Help From My Friends.

Steve Cropper at the Hamar Music Festival, 2007

When Cropper left Stax in the fall of 1970,^[5] the label lost one of its most successful producers and songwriters. Cropper then set up TMI Studios with Jerry Williams and former Mar-Key Ronnie Stoots. There he played guitar and produced various musicians including Tower Of Power, Rod Stewart, John Prine, José Feliciano, The Jeff Beck Group, Ringo Starr and John Lennon. It's little-known that Cropper also played guitar on the cover of The Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale" that appears on fellow Memphians Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers.

By 1975, Cropper had moved to Los Angeles and along with Jackson and Dunn, reformed Booker T. & the M.G's. Jackson, whom Cropper called "the greatest drummer to ever walk the earth," was murdered in his Memphis home before the group could make their comeback. In 1978, Cropper and Dunn became members of Levon Helm's RCO All-Stars, and then went on to figure prominently in the Blues Brothers Band with the drummer Willie Hall. This led to two albums and two movie soundtracks. Cropper also re-recorded "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" (1979) for Sammy Hagar. Cropper lived in Los Angeles for the next thirteen years before moving to Nashville and reuniting with the Blues Brothers Band in 1988.

In 1992, Booker T. & the M.G.'s were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Cropper appeared with a new line-up of the group for the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary concert, on October 1992 at Madison Square Garden, performing songs by and backing Dylan, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, Chrissie Hynde, Sinéad O'Connor, Stevie Wonder and Neil Young. The concert was recorded and later released as The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration (1993). Young later recruited this line up of Booker T. and the M.G's, to tour with him and record as his studio band.

In 1996, Cropper was named "the greatest living guitar player" by Britain's Mojo magazine. When asked what he thought of Cropper, the guitarist Keith Richards said, "Perfect, man."^{[citation needed]} In February 1998, Cropper released Play It, Steve! which included some of soul music's most enduring songs. The album title came from the "shout" of the title phrase by Moore on Sam & Dave's "Soul Man," and later by John Belushi (with the Blues Brothers).

In June 2004, Cropper appeared with Dunn and Jones as the backing band for Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Others who appeared included Joe Walsh and David Hidalgo.^[6] On June 9, 2005, Cropper was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Cropper toured Australia with Guy Sebastian, playing on Sebastian's The Memphis Album tour in March 2008

He co-produced The Memphis Album (2007), recorded by Australian soul singer Guy Sebastian. Cropper also played guitar on the following promotional tour, which was recorded and released two years later as The Memphis Tour. On March 2, 2008 Cropper and Sebastian were guests on the Vega Sunday Session with host Mark Gable from the rock band the Choirboys.^[7] On July 29, 2008, Cropper and Felix Cavaliere released the album Nudge It Up A Notch. In August 2008, Cropper appeared at the Rhythm Festival alongside the Animals.^[8]

On November 12, 2009, EMP/SFM presented Cropper with their "Founders Award." On October 17, 2010, Cropper was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.^[9]

On August 9, 2011, Cropper released the album Dedicated which was his tribute to the "5" Royales.

Personal life[link]

Cropper married his second wife, Angel, in the late 1980s. They have two children, Andrea and Cameron. The Croppers currently live in Nashville, Tennessee,^[10].

Filmography[link]

• 1980: The Blues Brothers as the Colonel
• 1988: Satisfaction as Sal
• 1999: Blues Brothers 2000 as the Colonel

References[link]

External links[link]

• Soulsville USA: The Story of Stax Records, Rob Bowman
• Cropper's official website
• The official Steve Cropper MySpace page
• http://www.tennesseeconcerts.com/stevecropper.html
• http://www.tennesseeconcerts.com/beatles.html
• http://www.discogs.com/artist/Steve+Cropper
• http://www.empsfm.org/press/index.asp?articleID=1426

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)

"Blind" Willie Johnson
A snippet of the only known photograph of Johnson.
Background information
Also known as	"Blind" Willie "Blind" Texas Marlin The Blind Pilgrim
Born	(1897-01-22)January 22, 1897 near Brenham, Texas, United States
Died	September 18, 1945(1945-09-18) (aged 48) Beaumont, Texas, United States
Genres	Blues, gospel
Occupations	Preacher, musician
Instruments	Guitar

"Blind" Willie Johnson (January 22, 1897 – September 18, 1945) was an American singer and guitarist, whose music straddled the border between blues and spirituals.

While the lyrics of his songs were often religious, his music drew from both sacred and blues traditions. His music is distinguished by his powerful bass thumb-picking and gravelly false-bass voice, with occasional use of a tenor voice.

Life[link]

Blind Willie Johnson, according to his death certificate, was born in 1897 near Brenham, Texas, United States (before the discovery of his death certificate, Temple, Texas had been suggested as his birthplace).^[1] When he was five, he told his father he wanted to be a preacher and then made himself a cigar box guitar. His mother died when he was young and his father remarried soon after her death.^[2]

Johnson was not born blind, and, although it is not known how he lost his sight, Angeline Johnson told Samuel Charters that when Willie was seven his father beat his stepmother after catching her going out with another man. The stepmother then picked up a handful of lye and threw it, not at Willie's father, but into the face of young Willie.^[2]

It is believed that Johnson married at least twice. He was married to Willie B. Harris. Her recollection of their initial meeting was recounted in the liner notes for Yazoo Records's "Praise God I'm Satisfied" album. He was later alleged to have been married to a woman named Angeline. Johnson was also said to be married to a sister of blues artist, L.C. Robinson.^{[citation needed]} No marriage certificates have yet been discovered.^{[citation needed]} As Angeline Johnson often sang and performed with him,^{[citation needed]} the first person to attempt to research his biography, Samuel Charters, made the mistake of assuming it was Angeline who had sung on several of Johnson's records.^[1] However, later research showed that it was Willie B. Harris.^[1]

Johnson remained poor until the end of his life, preaching and singing in the streets of several Texas cities including Beaumont, Texas. A city directory shows that in 1945, a Rev. W.J. Johnson, undoubtedly Blind Willie, operated the House of Prayer at 1440 Forrest Street, Beaumont, Texas.^[1] This is the same address listed on Johnson's death certificate. In 1945, his home burned to the ground. With nowhere else to go, Johnson lived in the burned ruins of his home, sleeping on a wet bed in the August/September Texas heat. He lived like this until he contracted malarial fever and died on September 18, 1945. (The death certificate reports the cause of death as malarial fever, with syphilis and blindness as contributing factors.)^[1] In a later interview, his wife, Angeline said she tried to take him to a hospital but they refused to admit him because he was blind, while other sources report that his refusal was due to being black. And although there is some question as to where his exact grave location is, Blanchette Cemetery (which is the cemetery listed on the death certificate but location previously unknown) was officially located by two researchers in 2009. In 2010, those same researchers erected a monument to Johnson in the cemetery, but his exact gravesite remains unknown.^[3]

Musical career[link]

	"Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning" The traditional blues song recorded in 1928 by Blind Willie Johnson and his first wife
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

His father would often leave him on street corners to sing for money. Tradition has it that he was arrested for nearly starting a riot at a New Orleans courthouse with a powerful rendition of "If I Had My Way I'd Tear The Building Down", a song about Samson and Delilah. According to Samuel Charters, however, he was simply arrested while singing for tips in front of a Custom House, by a police officer who misconstrued the title lyric and mistook it for incitement.^[2] Timothy Beal argued that the officer did not, in fact, misconstrue the meaning of the song, but that "the ancient story suddenly sounded dangerously contemporary" to him.^[4]

Johnson made 30 commercial recording studio record sides in five separate sessions for Columbia Records from 1927–1930. On some of these recordings Johnson uses a fast rhythmic picking style, while on others he plays slide guitar. According to a reputed one-time acquaintance, Blind Willie McTell (1898–1959), Johnson played with a brass ring, although other sources cite him using a knife. However, in enlargement, the only known photograph of Johnson seems to show that there is an actual bottleneck on the little finger of his left hand.^[5] While his other fingers are apparently fretting the strings, his little finger is extended straight—which also suggests there is a slide on it as well.

Some of Johnson's most famous recordings include "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed" (later covered as "In My Time of Dying" on later recordings), "It's Nobody's Fault but Mine", his rendition of the gospel song "Let Your Light Shine On Me", as well as "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground", where he sang in wordless hum and moans about the crucifixion of Jesus. This song was a "moaning" piece related to the Bentonia school of blues practiced by such "eerie voiced" artists as Skip James and Robert Johnson. On 14 of his recordings he is accompanied by Willie B Harris, or an as-yet-unidentified female singer. This group of recordings included "Church I'm Fully Saved Today", "John the Revelator", "You'll Need Somebody on Your Bond", "Soul of a Man", and "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning".

Legacy[link]

Johnson's records have become influential, and his songs have been covered by several popular artists, including Led Zeppelin. Other artists who have covered Johnson include Bob Dylan, The 77s, Beck, The Blasters, Phil Keaggy and The White Stripes (who have covered "John the Revelator", as well as covering "Motherless Children Have A Hard Time" and "Lord, I Just Can't Keep From Cryin'" live). Billy Childish has covered "John the Revelator" with his band The Buff Medways, and it was a staple of their live performances. "John the Revelator" was also recorded by delta blues musician Son House, and "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning" was recorded by another delta blues musician, Fred McDowell. Eric Clapton did "Motherless Children", Bob Dylan turned Johnson's "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed" into "In My Time of Dying" on his 1962 debut album and "If I Had My Way I'd Tear The Building Down" has been appropriated by the Grateful Dead and the Staple Singers.

"If I Had My Way I'd Tear The Building Down" was recorded by Peter, Paul, and Mary; retitled as "Samson and Delilah". The song was frequently performed by the Grateful Dead and appears on their studio album Terrapin Station; Gary Davis also recorded a version; and Bruce Springsteen has performed a version of the song live with the Seeger Sessions Band. In the opening scene of the second season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Shirley Manson sang a version of this song. "Nobody's Fault But Mine" has also been covered by Mason Jennings, Nina Simone, and was modified by Led Zeppelin. Nick Cave has performed "John the Revelator" live, and based his song "City of Refuge," from his band the Bad Seeds' 1988 album, Tender Prey, on Johnson's song of the same title. Many of Johnson's songs were recorded in the late 1980s by gospel blues musicians Glenn Kaiser and Darrell Mansfield, on their album Trimmed & Burnin'.

In 1991, Bruce Cockburn covered "Soul of a Man" on his album Nothing But A Burning Light, the title of which is a line from the same song. In 1994 Ben Harper added a short cover excerpt of "By and By I'm Going To See The King" as a hidden track on his debut album Welcome to the Cruel World. "Trouble Soon be Over" was covered by Colin Linden on the album Easin' Back to Tennessee. "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" was covered by Ry Cooder on his debut album and in 2003 Deep Sea Records issued a Johnson tribute album called Dark Was the Night, featuring artists such as Martin Simpson, Gary Lucas, Mary Margaret O'Hara and Jody Stecher. Dark was the Night was also included on the Voyager Golden Record, copies of which were mounted on both of the Voyager spacecraft which have since left the solar system.^[6] This event was mentioned, along with a clip of the song, on The West Wing episode The Warfare of Genghis Khan.

Segments of several performances by Blind Willie Johnson are used as interludes on the 2010 album We Walk This Road by Robert Randolph and the Family Band.

See also[link]

• The Ladykillers Soundtrack

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Charters, Samuel (1959). The Country Blues. United Kingdom: Jazz Book Club.  — Some facts in the book are at variance with those given in this article and may represent an earlier stage of research
• D. N. Blakey (August 2007). Revelation Blind Willie Johnson the Biography.. LULU PR. ISBN 978-1-4303-2899-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=bA7yGgAACAAJ. Retrieved 30 August 2011. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Blind Willie Johnson

• MP3 Audio Files of Songs by Blind Willie Johnson on the Internet Archive

Lightnin' Hopkins
Lightnin' Hopkins by Jules Grandgagnage
Background information
Birth name	Sam John Hopkins
Born	(1912-03-15)March 15, 1912 Centerville, Texas, United States
Died	January 30, 1982(1982-01-30) (aged 69) Houston, Texas, United States
Genres	Electric blues, country blues
Occupations	Guitarist, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1946–1981
Labels	Alladin, Modern/RPM, Gold Star, Sittin' in With/Jax, Mercury, Decca, Herald, Folkways, World Pacific, Vee-Jay, Arhoolie, Bluesville, Fire, Candid, Imperial, Prestige, Verve, Jewel

Sam John Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982)^[1] better known as Lightnin’ Hopkins, was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist, from Houston, Texas. Rolling Stone magazine included Hopkins at number 71 on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.^[2]

Robert "Mack" McCormick stated, "Hopkins is the embodiment of the jazz-and-poetry spirit, representing its ancient form in the single creator whose words and music are one act".^[3]

Life[link]

Born Sam John Hopkins in Centerville, Texas,^[4] Hopkins' childhood was immersed in the sounds of the blues and he developed a deeper appreciation at the age of 8 when he met Blind Lemon Jefferson at a church picnic in Buffalo, Texas.^[1] That day, Hopkins felt the blues was "in him" and went on to learn from his older (somewhat distant) cousin, country blues singer Alger "Texas" Alexander.^[1] Hopkins had another cousin, the Texas electric blues guitarist, Frankie Lee Sims, with whom he later recorded.^[5] Hopkins began accompanying Blind Lemon Jefferson on guitar in informal church gatherings. Jefferson supposedly never let anyone play with him except for young Hopkins, who learned much from and was influenced greatly by Blind Lemon Jefferson thanks to these gatherings. In the mid 1930s, Hopkins was sent to Houston County Prison Farm for an unknown offense.^[1] In the late 1930s Hopkins moved to Houston with Alexander in an unsuccessful attempt to break into the music scene there. By the early 1940s he was back in Centerville working as a farm hand.

Hopkins took a second shot at Houston in 1946. While singing on Dowling St. in Houston's Third Ward (which would become his home base) he was discovered by Lola Anne Cullum from the Los Angeles based record label, Aladdin Records.^[1] She convinced Hopkins to travel to Los Angeles where he accompanied pianist Wilson Smith. The duo recorded twelve tracks in their first sessions in 1946. An Aladdin Records executive decided the pair needed more dynamism in their names and dubbed Hopkins "Lightnin'" and Wilson "Thunder".

Hopkins recorded more sides for Aladdin in 1947. He returned to Houston and began recording for the Gold Star Records label. During the late 1940s and 1950s Hopkins rarely performed outside Texas. However, he recorded prolifically. Occasionally traveling to the Mid-West and Eastern United States for recording sessions and concert appearances. It has been estimated that he recorded between 800 and 1000 songs during his career. He performed regularly at clubs in and around Houston, particularly in Dowling St. where he had first been discovered. He recorded his hits "T-Model Blues" and "Tim Moore's Farm" at SugarHill Recording Studios in Houston. By the mid to late 1950s his prodigious output of quality recordings had gained him a following among African Americans and blues music aficionados.

In 1959 Hopkins was contacted by folklorist Mack McCormick who hoped to bring him to the attention of the broader musical audience which was caught up in the folk revival.^[1] McCormack presented Hopkins to integrated audiences first in Houston and then in California. Hopkins debuted at Carnegie Hall on October 14, 1960 appearing alongside Joan Baez and Pete Seeger performing the spiritual "Mary Don't You Weep." In 1960, he signed to Tradition Records. The recordings which followed included his song "Mojo Hand" in 1960.

In 1968, Hopkins recorded the album Free Form Patterns backed by the rhythm section of psychedelic rock band the 13th Floor Elevators. Through the 1960s and into the 1970s Hopkins released one or sometimes two albums a year and toured, playing at major folk festivals and at folk clubs and on college campuses in the U.S. and internationally. He travelled widely in the United States, and overcame his fear of flying to join the 1964 American Folk Blues Festival; visit Germany and the Netherlands 13 years later;^[3] and play a six-city tour of Japan in 1978. Lightnin' also influenced the great Townes Van Zandt and his music.

Filmmaker Les Blank captured the Texas troubadour's informal lifestyle most vividly in his 1967 documentary, The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins.^[1]

Houston's poet-in-residence for 35 years, Hopkins recorded more albums than any other bluesman.^[3]

Hopkins died of esophageal cancer in Houston January 30, 1982, at the age of 69. His New York Times^{[citation needed]} obituary named him as "one of the great country blues and perhaps the greatest single influence on rock guitar players."

A statue of Hopkins sits in Crockett, Texas.^[3]

Hopkins is referenced in Erykah Badu's 2010 "Window Seat" ... "I don't want to time-travel no more, I want to be here. On this porch I'm rockin', back and forth like Lightnin' Hopkins."

Style[link]

Hopkins' style was born from spending many hours playing informally without a backing band. His distinctive fingerstyle playing often included playing, in effect, bass, rhythm, lead, percussion, and vocals, all at the same time. He played both "alternating" and "monotonic" bass styles incorporating imaginative, often chromatic turnarounds and single note lead lines. Tapping or slapping the body of his guitar added rhythmic accompaniment.

Much of Hopkins' music follows the standard 12-bar blues template but his phrasing was very free and loose. Many of his songs were in the talking blues style, but he was a powerful and confident singer. Lyrically his songs chronicled the problems of life in the segregated south, bad luck in love and other usual subjects of the blues idiom. He did however deal with these subjects with humor and good nature. Many of his songs are filled with double entendres and he was known for his humorous introductions.

Statue of Lightnin' Hopkins in Texas

Some of his songs were of warning and sour prediction such as "Fast Life Woman":

"You may see a fast life woman sittin' round a whiskey joint,

Yes, you know, she'll be sittin' there smilin',

'Cause she knows some man gonna buy her half a pint,

Take it easy, fast life woman, 'cause you ain't gon' live always..."^[3]

Selected discography[link]

• 1959 - Lightnin' Hopkins Strums the Blues (Score)
• 1959 - Lightnin' Hopkins (Folkways)
• 1959 - Lightnin' and the Blues (Herald)
• 1960 - Country Blues (Tradition Records)
• 1960 - Last Night Blues (Bluesville Records)
• 1960 - Mojo Hand (Fire Records)
• 1960 - Lightnin' (Bluesville)
• 1960 - Lightnin' In New York (Candid Records)
• 1961 - Autobiography in Blues (Tradition)
• 1961 - Blues in My Bottle (Bluesville)
• 1962 - Walkin' This Road By Myself (Bluesville)
• 1962 - Lightnin' and Co. (Bluesville)
• 1962 - Lightnin' Strikes (Vee-Jay Records)
• 1963 - Blues Hoot (Vee-Jay Records; live at The Ash Grove 1961 with Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, and Big Joe Williams)
• 1963 - Smokes Like Lightnin' (Bluesville)
• 1963 - Goin' Away (Bluesville)
• 1964 - Down Home Blues (Bluesville)
• 1965 - Hootin' the Blues (Bluesville)
• 1965 - Lightnin' Strikes (Tradition)
• 1965 - The Roots of Lightnin' Hopkins (Verve Folkways)
• 1966 - Soul Blues (Bluesville)
• 1967 - My Life in the Blues (Bluesville)
• 1967 - Original Folk Blues (Kent Records)
• 1967 - Lightnin'! (Arhoolie Records)
• 1968 - Freeform Patterns (International Artists)
• 1969 - California Mudslide (and Earthquake)
• 1991 - Swarthmore Concert Live, 1964
• 1991 - Sittin' in with Lightnin' Hopkins (Mainstream Records)
• 1991 - The Hopkins Bros. (Arhoolie Records, with his brothers Joel and John Henry)
• 1992 - Lonesome Life (Home Cooking/Collectables)
• 1992 - It's a Sin to Be Rich (Gitanes Jazz Productions)
• 1993 - Mojo Hand: The Lightnin' Hopkins Anthology (Rhino Records)
• 1995 - Po' Lightning
• 1999 - The Very Best of Lightnin' Hopkins(Rhino Records)

Films[link]

• The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins (1969). Directed by Les Blank and Skip Gerson (Flower Films & Video).
• The Sun's Gonna Shine (1969). Directed by Les Blank with Skip Gerson (Flower Films & Video)
• Sounder (1972). Directed by Martin Ritt, offers Hopkins singing "Jesus Will You Come By Here".
• As of 2010^[update], a film documentary on Hopkins was in production with Fastcut Films of Houston, entitled "Where Lightnin' Strikes".
• His song "Once a Gambler" was featured on the soundtrack of the 2009 film Crazy Heart.

Books[link]

• Lightnin’ Hopkins: Blues Guitar Legend by Dan Bowden
• Deep Down Hard Blues: Tribute to Lightnin by Sarah Ann West
• Lightnin' Hopkins: His Life and Blues by Alan Govenar (Chicago Review Press)

See also[link]

• List of blues musicians
• Texas blues
• Six Strings Down

References[link]

• The Encyclopedia of Folk, Country & Western Music by Irwin Stambler and Grellun Landon, second edition. St. Martin's Press 1983. ISBN 0-312-24818-0
• Liner notes to the CD Country Blues Ryko/Tradition Records

External links[link]

• Blues Foundation Hall of Fame Induction, 1980
• Houston Chronicle story about dedication of Lightnin' Hopkins statue
• Hopkins feature on Big Road Blues
• Campstreetcafe.com - accessed December 25 2007
• Activeguitar.com - accessed December 25 2007
• "Where Lightnin Strikes" Documentary Film
• New York Times obituary