Description
Blues legend Lightnin’ Hopkins (1912–1982) was born Samuel John Hopkins in Centerville TX. Listening as a child to the masters of the blues, Sam was smitten with the guitar at an early age. At age eight, as legend has it, he realized he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life picking cotton. He preferred to have fun playing his guitar — which he did until he died. Lightnin’ toured the US and the world, wrote songs, recorded for over 20 labels, and even recorded a psychedelic album with the 13th Floor Elevators.
Lightnin’s 1982 obituary in the New York Times called him “one of the great country blues singers and perhaps the greatest single influence on rock guitar players.” His Gibson J-160-E “hollowbox” is on display at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.