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Lightnin' Hopkins

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Musician

The Resume

    (March 15, 1912-January 30, 1982)
    Born in Centerville, Texas
    Name was Samuel John Hopkins
    Blues guitarist and singer
    Recorded over 1,000 songs
    Recordings include ‘T-Model Blues,’ ‘Mojo Hand,’ ‘Shotgun Express,’ ‘Give Me Central 209,’ ‘Coffee Blues,’ ‘Fast Woman Blues,’ ‘Short-Haired Woman,’ Baby Please Don’t Go,’ and ‘Woke Up This Morning’

Why he might be annoying:

    His idiosyncratic sense of timing often threw off musicians trying to play with him.
    He would record for just about anyone who paid cash up front, resulting in one reviewer noting, ‘If he was not the most prolific blues recording artist, his discography was certainly the most complex to unravel.’
    Les Blank, who filmed a documentary about him, observed, ‘He turned down tour offers of $2,000 a week yet played in small rough Houston bars for $17 a night.’
    Although R.E.M. named a song after him, it was not really about him; the title was chosen because Peter Buck happened to bring one of Hopkins’ albums with him into the studio when the band was recording the song.

Why he might not be annoying:

    At age eight, he built his first guitar from a cigar box using chicken wire for strings.
    He was reportedly the only person Blind Lemon Jefferson allowed to play with him.
    He bridged the rural and urban styles of blues.
    After he was ‘rediscovered’ by folklorists, he played Carnegie Hall alongside Joan Baez and Pete Seeger (1960).
    The New York Times called him ‘perhaps the greatest single influence on rock guitar players.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying