John Lee Hooker

The Hook is a Mississippi native who became the top gent on the Detroit blues circuit in the years following World War II. The seeds for his eerily mournful guitar sound were planted by his stepfather, Will Moore, while Hooker was in his teens. Hooker had been singing spirituals before that, but the blues took hold and simply wouldn't let go. Overnight visitors left their mark on the youth, too -- legends like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, and Blind Blake, who all knew Moore.