Henry Stone on Recording John Lee Hooker: “I Cut A Whole LP With Him”

“One time when I was in Cincinnati, I was at the Manse Hotel. That’s the black hotel I used to stay at. I used to go there a lot cause that’s where they had the recording studios, and thats where I had my DeLuxe Label, out of Cincinnati with King Records.

So John Lee Hooker was at the hotel and John used to record for everybody, for ten different labels, not at the same time, but different times through the years. When he’d need some money he’d go cut sides, just like Ray Charles, when he needed money.

I took him to the studio and I cut a whole LP with him. In fact I wonder, I put it back out on Atco. And one of the songs that he did…I didn’t know, I sort of picked up when I was talkin’ to him that he stuttered, he says, “H-h-h-h-henry w-w-w-w-w-when ww-w–we g-g-g-gonna do a s-s-s-session?” So when I was recording I says, “Ey John, why don’t you cut a song called “Stuttering Blues.” And he said “W-w-w–w-ell I l-l-l-l-love ya baby, i l-l-l-l-love ya baby.” The record’s out there, you can pick it up. It should be on the internet.

Recorded that in Cincinnati in the King studio.

I always loved to make records. That was my hobby like instead of playing golf I played at makin’ records.”

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