Week 3A

John Lee Hooker - Crawlin King Snake

The Doors - Crawling King Snake


I would go as far as saying that The Doors is my favorite band of all time.  At the same time, blues music is my favorite genre of music, and having The Doors cover John Lee Hooker, my favorite blues artist of all blues artists, is just a wonderful experience.  I actually listened to The Doors version first, many many years ago when I got into Jim Morrison and the gang, and then shortly after discovered the blues, where John Lee Hooker became my favorite artist of the genre, and much to my surprise wrote a song that I had originally thought was written by The Doors.
The two songs differ greatly, however.  Obvious differences first, the two songs are completely different genres.  John Lee Hooker creates a traditional Delta blues track, while Jim Morrison and The Doors turned the song into a psychedelic rock song, making it sound very much like one of their own tracks.  John Lee Hooker's song keeps a very steady rhythm throughout the entire song, is very laid back, simplistic track with the minimal beat keeping time, the guitar licks, and John Lee Hooker softly singing the blues.  The Doors complicate the track; drums, guitar, keyboards, and the sense that Jim Morrison is almost shouting the lyrics to the song give their version a much more intense sounding song.  The lyrics are the same, and Jim Morrison sings the song at nearly the same speed, but The Doors add multiple instrument breaks that weren't present in John Lee Hooker's original version, making the song almost twice as long. The Doors are much more intense in their presentation, a common theme for the band, especially in their live performances, which totally works for this song, and an attitude that John Lee Hooker could not get away with portraying.
Personally, I enjoy John Lee Hooker's original version better.  The Doors played a fantastic song, and it very much sounds like it could be one of their own, but I enjoy the really chilled out, really relaxed blues music that John Lee Hooker makes himself.  There's a different kind of passion and emotion and feeling that John Lee Hooker gives in his performance that The Doors are lacking.  Years ago when I was younger I would have one hundred percent chosen The Doors, because my young mind was in that "Yeah!  Rock music and guitars!  Jim Morrison is the greatest performer ever!" mindset.  But now that I have grown up and matured, I can appreciate different genres and song writing abilities, and John Lee Hooker just impresses me more.  Although, I do feel as if I am still somewhat biased, as now I prefer blues music to all other kinds of music, and would choose to listen to it before any other kind of generic rock act nowadays.