John Lee Hooker – I’m In The Mood

Hooker only needed a guitar and that voice to make any song interesting. If you ever needed proof that less really is more, play this song. 

There’s a reason John Lee Hooker didn’t need a band on this song. He was the band. A one-man rhythm machine with a foot that kept better time than some drummers I’ve seen on stage. In a way, this song is blues stripped to its bones. No solos. No pyrotechnics. Just mood, repetition, and that unmistakable voice. He doesn’t shout to get your attention; he commands, and you come running.

The song was recorded in Detroit, Michigan, where Hooker had relocated in the late 1940s. It was released in 1951 on Modern Records. It features Hooker on guitar and vocals, accompanied by minimalistic instrumentation.

He was fresh off the success of Boogie Chillen, and while that earlier hit was electric blues, this song was something different; smokier and more intimate.

This 1951 song was his first R&B #1 since Boogie Chillen in 1948. It also peaked at #30 on the US Hot 100 that year. It was a hit in the juke joints and on jukeboxes. It made people lean in, not turn up. And it cemented Hooker’s place as something far more than a bluesman.

I’m In The Mood

I’m in the mood, babyI’m in the mood for loveI’m in the mood, babyI’m in the mood for loveI’m in the mood, in the moodBabe, I’m in the mood for love

I say, nighttime is the right time, to be with the one you loveYou know when the night come, baby got no use so far away

I’m in the moodI’m in the mood, babeI’m in the mood for loveI’m in the mood, in the mood, babyIn the mood for love

I said, yes my mama told me, “Don’t leave that girl alone”But my mama didn’t know, God know, yeah, I wouldn’t put it down

I’m the moodI’m in the mood, baby, mood for loveI’m in the mood, I’m in the moodBabe, in the mood for love

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

25 thoughts on “John Lee Hooker – I’m In The Mood”

  2. Pingback: John Lee Hooker – I’m In The Mood – MobsterTiger

  6. One of the amazing things about John Lee Hooker is he badly stuttered – except when he sang and played guitar.

    As Buddy Guy, one of my all-time favorite blues guitarists, has recounted many times, Hooker’s “Boogie Chillin'” prompted him to pick up the guitar. Supposedly, it was the first song Guy learned how to play. He pays homage to Hooker on his new album “Ain’t Done With the Blues,” which I just find dynamite. I’ll have more about it tomorrow! 🙂

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    1. I didn’t know about the stuttering part! He was the man…I mean he just takes over a song and puts his stamp on it completely.
      Cool dude…text me please and I’ll check it out!

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      1. Will do, Max. I think it’s a great album – autobiographic and nostalgic.

        This dude, Tom Hambridge, is a genius, in my opinion – great writer, musician and producer. I feel he’s been instrumental for Buddy Guy’s music for the past 15-plus years!

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      2. Guy sounds like a 20 year old and plays like one…it’s the equivalent of a 55 year old guy playing major league baseball and still on top of his game….it should happen but it does.

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      3. I truly believe playing the blues is what has kept Buddy Guy going. Now that understandably he has retired from bigger touring, I hope he has at least a few more good years ahead of him.

        At first glance, some of the lyrics of his new songs may sound a bit cliche, but in Guy’s case, who has had a 70-year-plus(!) career, I buy it. This man is a living blues legend!

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      4. Oh…lyrics in blues songs…are staple…you just don’t mess with them much…you just don’t…it’s the over all feel you are selling with his blues.

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  10. nice guitar sound in there! Definitely sounds like he would have been a great artist to see in a small club back then, just him and a guitar. Imagine what record companies would have tried to do to that if it was made in the ’80s.

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    1. Oh yea…I can only imagine what they would do…MORE and MORE and MORE…lol…he would have been great to see live.

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