This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
“If God wanted man to fly,” John Lee Hooker is said to have quipped, “He’d have paid for the tickets.”
Likewise, some might argue, if the Big Bluesman above had wanted Hooker to finish this album, He wouldn’t have booked him into His juke joint in the sky back in 2001. And maybe they’re right. For those who disagree, here’s Hooker’s musical last will and testament: The 15-song Face to Face. Completed by daughter Zakiya after the singer-guitarist’s death, this loose, low-wattage set delivers about what you’d expect from a posthumous Hooker CD: A slew of his hypnotic one-chord boogie workouts, a handful of cuts that seem like jams or works-in-progress, some studio tomfoolery, a few acoustic demos and plenty of guest spots from the likes of Van Morrison, George Thorogood, Johnny Winter and Dickey Betts. All told, it’s hardly illuminating or essential — but it’s not the worst cash-grab around, either. And for a fan, undoubtedly it’s just the ticket.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mzmnjygvxc3fbehmXvlYbyylAt6wrZdow&feature=shared
