Blues Search Engine: Lightnin' Hopkins

Sam (Lightnin') Hopkins was born in Centerville, Texas, on March 15, 1912. After his father died in 1915, the family (his mother and five brothers and sisters) moved to Leona. At age eight Lightnin' Hopkins made his first instrument, a cigar-box guitar with chicken-wire strings. By ten Lightnin' Hopkins was playing music with his cousin, Alger (Texas) Alexander, and Blind Lemon Jefferson, who encouraged him to continue. Lightnin' Hopkins also played with his brothers, blues musicians John Henry and Joel. By the mid-1920s Lightnin' Hopkins had started jumping trains, shooting dice, and playing the blues anywhere he could. In 1946 Lightnin' Hopkins had his big break and first recording in Los Angeles for Aladdin Recordings. On the record was a piano player named Wilson (Thunder) Smith; by chance he combined well with Sam to give him his nickname, Lightnin'. The album has been described as "downbeat solo blues" characteristic of Hopkins's style. Aladdin was so impressed with Lightnin' Hopkins that the company invited him back for a second session in 1947. He eventually made forty-three recordings for the label. Over his career Lightnin'Hopkins recorded for a total of close to twenty different labels. Between 1946 and 1954, his records for the most part were not big outside the black community. It was not until 1959, when Lightnin' Hopkins began working with legendary producer Sam Chambers, that his music began to reach a mainstream white audience. Lightnin' Hopkins switched to an acoustic guitar and became a hit in the folk-blues revival of the 1960s. During the early 1960s Lightnin' Hopkins played at Carnegie Hall and in 1964 toured with the American Folk Blues Festival. Lightnin' Hopkins toured Europe during the 1970s, playing for Queen Elizabeth II at a command performance. Lightnin' Hopkins also performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. In 1972 he worked on the soundtrack to the film Sounder. Lightnin' Hopkins was also the subject of a documentary, The Blues According to Lightnin' Hopkins, which won a prize at the Chicago Film Festival for outstanding documentary in 1970. Lightnin' Hopkins made his second and final visit to Europe in 1977, playing dates in Germany and the Netherlands. Lightnin' Hopkins died of cancer in Houston on 30 January 1982.