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Dimples (song)
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Wikipedia article
"'Dimples'" is a song written and recorded by blues singer-songwriter John Lee Hooker in 1956. It is an ensemble piece, with Hooker accompanied by Jimmy Reed's backup band. Eight years after its first release, it became Hooker's first record to appear in the British record charts. Called a "genuine Hooker classic" by music critic Bill Dahl,
it is one of his best-known songs, with interpretations by several artists.
Recording and composition
"Dimples" was one of the first songs recorded by John Lee Hooker for Vee-Jay Records. Unlike his previous record labels, Vee-Jay producers saw Hooker as a Jimmy Reed-style performer and in fact provided him with Reed's backup band for two recording sessions in 1955 and 1956. However, when the recording commenced, it became apparent that Hooker's sense of rhythm and timing was uniquely his. The backing musicians guitarist Eddie Taylor, bassist George Washington, and drummer Tom Whitehead adapted to his style and by the time "Dimples" was recorded they became "adept at anticipating his capricious moves".
According to music historian Ted Gioia, "Dimples" is a moderate-tempo blues that "sounds like a twelve-bar blues with a few beats amputated ... imparting a lopsided feeling ... [that] was precisely the 'hook' that gave the song its odd appeal". Hooker has given at least two different accounts about what inspired the lyrics: in one, he claimed to have written the song about a friend's wife and another where the subject is his own girlfriend. Music critic Charles Shaar Murray commented that although "Dimples" just "skimmed the lower reaches of the R&B charts and nudged its way into the pop listings ... it's about as close to pop perfection in two minutes and nine seconds as any '50s bluesman ever got".
Releases and charts
Eight years after its initial release, "Dimples" was issued in the UK in 1964, where it reached number 23 on the singles chart.
In 1970, John Lee Hooker recorded "Dimples" with slightly different lyrics as "I Got My Eyes on You" with Canned Heat for the album 'Hooker 'n Heat' (in 1966, Canned Heat recorded a demo of "Dimples" that was later released on 'Vintage'). During the sessions for Hooker's 'Boom Boom' and 'Chill Out' albums in 1992 and 1995, two attempts at recording "Dimples" with guest performers were made, but were not released. However, a version with Los Lobos was recorded and released on Hooker's 1997 Grammy Award-winning album 'Don't Look Back'.
Reviews
In a song review for AllMusic, Richie Unterberger described the song as "one of John Lee Hooker's most famous recordings, and certainly one of the best he did in his early career with electric full-band accompaniment".
He also noted:
References
Category:1956 songs
Category:Songs written by John Lee Hooker
Category:1956 singles
Category:Vee-Jay Records singles
Category:John Lee Hooker songs
Category:Blues songs
Category:The Spencer Davis Group songs
Category:1964 singles
Category:The Animals songs
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