I´m Hooked

Somewhere in the late 50´s a French newspaper compared Gilbert Becaud with a small power plant because of his display of energy during concerts. This gave him a nickname that would stick with him for the rest of his life (1927 - 2001). Now, 45 years later, we definitely entered the nuclear age with Ellis Hooks. This guy has enough energy to light up New Work.
The story of Ellis sounds familiar in the sense that there are a lot of Blues / Soul artists with similar life stories. The difference is that Ellis is relatively young and it all happened just a few years ago. Ellis is the thirteenth kid from a nest of sixteen. His father was (is) an African-American share-cropper and his mother was (is) partly Cherokee.
Ellis left home at the age of 15 and traveled all over the US doing odd jobs. In that period Ellis became more and more a street musician. He must have been pretty good already, because the story goes that Diana Ross heard him perform on a street corner in New York and offered him some recording time in a studio. Ellis turned her down. He wasn´t ready´.
Later Ellis went to Europe and by accident got in a studio with John Tiven (producer of B.B. King and Wilson Picket). That´s the start of his recording career.
Ellis´mixture of Blues, Soul and Rock gained him international recognition and by now he can count people like Bonnie Raitt and Solomon Burke to his ever increasing crowd of fans
This album is his second album. Listen to it and know why I´m hooked.

2003 - Up Your Mind

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