Lightnin Hopkins Interview
"People have learned how to strum a guitar, but they
don't have the soul. They don't feel it from the heart.
It hurts me. I'm killin' myself to tell them how it is."
Lightnin' Hopkins criticized musicians he believed were
detached from real life in a 1968 interview with the Los
Angeles Times. Lightnin' Hopkins saw his popularity come
and go, but for five decades he has remained an essential
influence for many dedicated musicians and an inspiration
to loyal fans.
Hearing Lightnin' Hopkins on the radio in Los Angeles changed
Chris Stachwitz' life. Stachwitz, inspired
by Hopkins' music, founded Arhoolie Records to document
the spectacular folk music being lost to the growing popular
recording industry.
Hopkins treaded the streets of Houston. Two streets were
his regular stomping grounds: Dowling Street in the heart
of Third Ward where Hopkins lived, and West Dallas Street
where he earned money playing guitar.
Lightnin' was born Sam Hopkins in Centerville in 1912. He
had two older brothers, but his father died in 1915 when
Hopkins was only 3 years old. Sam Hopkins rambled around
the churches and beer joints of Leon County with blues legend
Blind Lemon Jefferson and his own larger-than-life cousin
Texas Alexander. Both men had a lasting
impact on young Sam and his music. Hopkins would sit in
the shadow of Blind
Lemon Jefferson at church socials and play
along on his home-made guitar. Jefferson later invited Hopkins
to perform concerts with him.
Hopkins came to Houston in 1950 to try to earn his living
playing music. A woman made arrangements for a record label
scout to hear Hopkins play in a Houston bar. He was invited
to Los Angeles where he made a series of recordings for
Aladdin Records. He was paired with pianist Thunder Smith
for several recording sessions. His flashy nickname Lightnin'
natuarally came naturally out of the partnership with Thunder
Smith.
Hopkins didn't rehearse his songs; he lived them. He played
day in and day out and made up songs about things he experienced
in his neighborhood or witnessed on TV. When he went into
the studio he recorded whatever came into his mind.
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