An astute businessman, Bessman paid looker a handsome advance and leased his recordings ut to numerous other labels. Thus, within weeks of re Modern release of 'Boogie Chillen', Hooker ?as recording for a variety of labels under an enormous umber of pseudonyms. He was Texas Slim on King, telta John on Regent, Birmingham Sam on Savoy, ihnny Williams on Prize, Staff and Gotham, the oogie Man on Acorn and John Lee Booker on ihance and Chess. It did not seem to affect his lies on Modern, where he had solid sellers such as iobo Blues', 'Crawlin' King Snake Blues' and nother Number One hit on the Billboard R&B charts, 'm In The Mood'. For most of his career, Hooker aid little attention to the exclusivity aspect of wording contracts.
Hooker Hits The Road Boogie guitarist JohnLee Throughout the period 1948—51, Hooker worked mostly Hooker relaxes in the studio. in Detroit. Usually playing either solo or in a duo, he was very irregular in his patterns, rarely adhering to the 12-bar structure; this informal approach to timing must have made ensemble work difficult for him and the other musicians, which may be one reason why Hooker appeared to prefer solo work rather than delving into jump blues and jazz bands in the manner of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. While succeeding in keeping the traditional country blues set-up of a bluesman alone with his guitar, there was a certain slickness and sophistication to Hooker's playing and general demeanour that gave his sound a distinctly urban feel.