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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