SESSION NOTES
Johnny Ace's Notes from ...
JOHN LEE HOOKER'S
LAST RECORDING
SESSION

GUILTY OF LOVE

About 11:30 am in the morning of June 14th, 2001, I called up my friend the blues singer and guitarist Tommy Castro to see if we could get together and have a meeting of the minds. He said he'd love to, but business called. He had to go to John Lee Hooker's pad up in Los Gatos to record John's voice on a track for Tommy's song "Guilty of Love" for the soon to be released CD by the same title. Tommy asked me if I would like to shoot the photos for the session--and maybe help the vibes along since I was pretty close to John Lee. I happily accepted the invite.

Since Tommy was in a big rush to get there, I had to meet him out in the avenues of San Francisco. We hurriedly drove out to Los Gatos, following the long lines of freeways, and when we got there on that sunny afternoon, we found Tommy's sound man Steve Spirn waiting for us at John Lee's gate. Steve got out of the car and buzzed the buzzer--and no one answered. Five minutes later--no answer. Ten minutes later--no answer. Then twenty minutes --still no answer. I said to Tommy, "This is crazy!" and got out of Tommy's truck and yelled "Archie!" (Archie is Hooker's nephew who lives with him). Suddenly Archie came out of the front door, squinting sheepishly at us--and looking guilty too!

Archie led us inside John's long, dark hallway and we all watched with surprise as two ladies dressed in tight skirts and high heels, accompanied by John's friend Amy, strutted directly into our path. They were fixing their lipstick and hair, and I could smell wine on their breath. One of the ladies said to me, "Are you a musician?" in a very flirty way. I said "Yes." Amy took her by the arm and directed her and the other woman towards the door, saying sarcastically "Yes, Johnny is a musician." As the two ladies made their exit, Tommy and I exchanged knowing glances.

Steve Spirn was all business; he was already setting up the recording equipment in the other room. Amy escorted us into the parlor and then John Lee appeared. He came in looking a bit tired. He'd grown a beard and I had never seen John with a beard. It made him look older but it did give him a more distinguished and worldly look. John was also shrinking a bit from old age. He moved slowly and carefully. He had on a little brown suit that he had on the last time I was there, but it was now a bit more worn. I shook John 's hand. His handshake was very weak. I looked into his eyes, and he asked me how I was. He asked me to call up some mutual friends -- to say hello for him. John then greeted Tommy and asked him how his work was going. Tommy's career was on the upswing and John really liked that. John liked it even more when Tommy gave him the check for the session. His tired eyes lit up.

Steve had by this time all the equipment ready to go and John sat down in his favorite chair and asked Amy to get him a cold beer. He put the head phones on his head, and got ready to get the balance on his microphone. John Lee was talking away on the mic as the song "Guilty of Love" played in the background. John was now singing along with it. The song ended and Tommy asked Steve, "Did you get it?" Steve said, "No, I was just getting the levels set." I looked at Tommy and Tommy looked at me, and we both knew that some real good stuff had been missed. John Lee was a little upset too. He was one-take man.

John's parlor was very dark, so I nonchalantly opened up a blind to get more light into the room as John Lee hated a flash. I opened up the lens, got in position and started to shoot. One vocal take was completed and then John Lee did one more to try and get it better. John sang in a repetitive, percussive way unique only to him. He would come into, under and around the melody of the song and then in a plaintive deep voice, he would deliver his heavy message. That day, he did his thing as he always did--great! John let Tommy know that he was satisfied with his performance. I had taken enough shots, so I felt pretty happy. Tommy was just in seventh heaven. He was a great fan of John Lee's, and he had always wanted to do a project with him. For Tommy, just being in the same room with the great blues master was an honor.

As the session came to a close, John and I began to softly talk about dying and the afterlife. We had had conversations like this before over the years, so when I heard him talking so seriously about this, I wasn't too upset or worried about him. I calmly said with love in my voice, "John when you pass on, you'll go in your sleep. Then you'll be with all your friends and everything will be beautiful." John did not respond. To change the mood I had a tape in my pocket of a song Tommy and I had written just for John. I pulled it out and as Amy was getting the boom box ready so John could hear it, we described the song to him. Without even hearing the tape, John started to softly sing his own words--and they fit right in. It was really amazing. Tommy and I knew the song was just perfect for him and felt very confident as Amy put the tape in. Suddenly this weird sound of an Italian mandolin spilled into the room. John Lee started to make a face--like he just ate a lemon. Tommy looked at me; his eyes were getting really big. Then we heard this man's warbly voice singing in Italian. Suddenly John Lee yelled out "That's not the Johnny Ace I know--where's the funk!" Tommy's face was now red with embarrassment. I knew what had happened. By mistake, I had picked up the wrong tape from home. I had brought a Christmas tape given to me by my Italian cousin from New York City. Between spasms of laughter from everyone in the room, Tommy said "Johnny--you've done it again!"

Well, the session and the visit were winding down and so Amy said to me, "Johnny--you want to go into the garage and see John's new car?" John already had three cars and I really didn't care. I felt that John was really too deep for that sort of thing and that the people around him always influenced him. Still I tried to play along with it all and followed Amy into the garage so she could show it to me. When I saw the new car , I got very mad and said to Amy, "John already has enough cars, he doesn't need another car!" As I left and walked into the back yard, Tommy and Steve came in to take their look.

As I got into the back yard, the late afternoon sun was shining brightly. I took a few more steps and I saw John Lee standing outside by his kitchen door. The soft golden light was falling all around him, and he looked transfixed--almost angelic , holy. He was looking at me in a way he had never looked at me before. He was staring right through me. I mean he was really vibing me. It made me feel very, very uneasy, to say the least. It was bizarre.! I paused about 8 seconds and then I couldn't take it anymore. and slowly walked over to him to ask him, "John what's the matter?"

John paused a beat, and then gave me the most beautiful smile. His low baritone voice was shaking a bit and he said, "Johnny I la la la love ya." And he hugged me. I hugged him back and took my right hand and placed it on his heart. I said, "John I love you too." Because I was so moved by it all, I asked him if I could take some more pictures of him--right there--with the bright sun and deep shadows cutting shapes--and he said it would be all right. I was able to get three or four really nice shots in before Tommy, Amy and Steve came into the back yard. Then I went ahead and took some shots of them--and that was it.

After we had said our goodbyes to John and Amy, Tommy and I got into his truck--and we both fell silent as we drove off. The neat rows of suburban streets were quiet now. All you could hear were the leaves tingling from a slight breeze . I looked at Tommy and said, "Tommy, that was no ordinary day." Tommy agreed, "There were some other spirits in there with us--or something." I smiled at him as we drove off into the beautiful, warm, California sun. For about ten minutes, we said nothing. Then I told Tommy how lucky he was--to have John sing on his record. And Tommy knew it was a special thing .

Seven days later, John Lee Hooker passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in Los Gatos, CA. John Lee was 87 years old and had lived a long and full life. I will never forget him. He was loved by so many people all over the world. And his music and spirit will never die. I was honored to have known him--to have played with him--to have been his friend. I feel that the photographs I was able to create that day from what turned out to be his last recording session were a gift from John Lee--and the gods.
Johnny Ace
September 2, 2002