1961
BOOM BOOM * JOHN LEE HOOKER * STATESIDE 203 * UK
Released April 1962 in the USA on Vee Jay 438 and in the UK two years later with a different flip. Boom Boom became one of the most enduring Blues tunes synonymous with the British Mods. And although he had had two 78 RPM discs issued in the UK a decade before, they never clicked the way this did when it was released in Britain during 1963, it may have been something to do with the backing, on the earlier British releases John Lee Hooker is presented in the traditional Blues format - singing and accompanying himself on guitar, Boom Boom has John Lee Hooker singing and playing guitar but also backed by saxes, piano, guitar, bass and drums.
The recording was a commercial success both sides of the Atlantic, and has been recorded by many artists world wide, as can be witnessed by the version by Japanese group The Spiders (see below).
BOOM BOOM * THE SPIDERS * PHILIPS 1007 * J
Update a nice story of the songs conception.
According to Hooker, he wrote the song during an extended engagement at the Apex Bar in Detroit.
I would never be on time [for the gig]; I always would be late comin' in. And she [the bartender Willa] kept saying, 'Boom boom – you late again'. Every night: 'Boom, boom – you late again'. I said 'Hmm, that's a song!' ... I got it together, the lyrics, rehearsed it, and I played it at the place, and the people went wild"
Obrecht, Jas (2000). Rollin' and Tumblin': The Postwar Blues Guitarists
See also: