British Blues Rock 04

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The boogie has always been a ubiquitous groove in British blues-rock music, where many permutations can be found. Most of the early exponents of British blues-rock and R&B were admirers of the ultimate boogie man, John Lee Hooker, and his irresistible riffs, and patterned their offerings on Hooker's innovations. Today's four-bar lick is just such a figure. It is played in E, in the so-called 'nut position' at the first fret, and has two familiar components. The first is a simple slurred line on the E Minor Pentatonic Scale (E-G-A-B-D). This is answered in the second bar by a chugging 'Boom Boom' power chord riff in the low register. Note the stylistic use of E5 in this section with G and A embellishing bass notes. In the following two measures the riff is repeated in slightly varied form, typical of Hooker's improvisatory style. The entire lick is played with an infectious shuffle feel reinforcing the connection with the Hooker boogie approach.

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