Earlier editions of Chess Record's Real Folk Blues series had been singles compilations. John Lee Hooker's installment of 1966 was a freshly recorded clutch of nine songs that flew in the face of the series' name. There's little folky about Hooker's steamy, electric blues numbers, several of which he stretches like he's burning midnight oil at some wee-hours club. He starts at full fire with the enthralling "Let's Go Out Tonight" and barely lets up from there. Even when he brings the tempo down a bit on things like "Stella Mae" and "You Know and I Know" or way down on "Peace Lovin' Man" and "I Put My Trust in You", the band sounds uncontainable and Hooker sounds infatigable. Only on the closing track, the gorgeously serene "The Waterfront", does he truly relax, sounding like he's still playing as the staff finally starts placing chairs atop tables for the night.There's only one really well known track on Hooker's Real Folk Blues, "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer", but this record is still pretty essential for capturing the state of the electric blues in 1966. Sixty years later, it's finding its place in another Chess series it seems to contradict. As part of the Acoustic Sounds Edition series, the electricity of The Real Folk Blues really comes through, though a little too much in the left channel since the folks at Chess went with the somewhat imbalanced stereo mix, which pushes the rhythm section off to the right, leaving lead guitar occupying the left channel mostly alone for the whole album.
Nevertheless, the music sounds great, with Hooker's voice especially present. The bass is loud and forceful without ever getting mushy or overbearing. There is no groove distortion whatsoever and the vinyl is flat and quiet.
