"Boom Boom" is a blues song written by John Lee Hooker and recorded in 1961. The song was a hit in the US in 1962 and 1992 in the UK. It is one of Hooker's most identifiable songs and has been recorded by numerous blues and other artists, including a 1965 Pop hit by The Animals.
"Boom Boom" is an uptempo stop-time blues song that does not follow a typical twelve-bar blues pattern. "Hooker's sense of timing was his and his alone, demanding big-eared sidemen".[2] Backing John Lee Hooker (vocal and guitar) are members of the Funk Brothers (Joe Hunter (piano), James Jamerson (bass), and Benny Benjamin (drums)); plus Larry Veeder (guitar), Hank Cosby (tenor saxophone), and Andrew "Mike" Terry (baritone saxophone).
The song became a hit, reaching #16 in the Billboard R&B chart where it spent eight weeks in 1962.[3] "Boom Boom" also made an appearance on the US Billboard Hot 100 (1962 at #60), one of only two Hooker singles to do so.[3] Thirty years later, after being featured in a Lee Jeans commercial in 1992, the song reached #16 in the UK Singles Chart.[4] Hooker recorded several later versions, including a reworking of the song as "Bang Bang Bang Bang" from his Live at Soledad Prison album and as a South Side Chicago street musician in the film The Blues Brothers, but the song itself is not included in the film soundtrack.
John Lee Hooker (ur. 22 sierpnia 1917 w Clarksdale, Mississippi, zm. 21 czerwca 2001[1][2]) – amerykański muzyk bluesowy.
Hooker grał na gitarze i śpiewał. Jeden z najlepiej znanych przedstawicieli klasycznego bluesa oraz jego gatunku bluesa Delty. Do najbardziej znanych jego utworów należały prymitywistyczne, oparte na boogie-woogie, ballady. Hooker wywarł wielki wpływ na brytyjski blues rock. Wzorowały się na nim takie zespoły i artyści jak Jimi Hendrix[3], The Animals i Yardbirds. Do najbardziej znanych utworów Johna Lee Hookera należą "Boogie Chillen" oraz "Boom Boom".
W 1980 roku został wprowadzony do Blues Hall of Fame, a w 1991 do Rock and Roll Hall of Fame[4]. Zmarł 21 czerwca 2001 r. we śnie w Kalifornii.