Celebrating the 75th anniversary of three Top 10 R&B singles: “Hobo Blues,” “Hoogie Boogie” and “Crawlin' King Snake.” This 4-track EP includes the bonus track “Hastings Street Boogie,” which is also celebrating its 75th anniversary. Sixty years ago, in June 1964, John Lee Hooker entered the UK charts for the first time with “Dimples,” reaching No. 23. The track had been recorded for the Vee-Jay label in America about eight years earlier in Chicago. “Boom Boom,” released in the UK in 1963, had already caught the attention and the eye of the emerging mod movement. These two songs became staples of the British blues scene, and The Animals covered them on their first UK LP, released later in 1964. But in 1952, long before sharply dressed mods were drawn to John Lee Hooker’s equally sharp look and infectious music, the British label Vogue had released “Hoogie Boogie,” recorded in 1949, on a 78 rpm record. At the time, blues was reserved for aficionados, and the four tracks on this EP recall those early John Lee Hooker recordings. “Hobo Blues,” “Hoogie Boogie” and “Crawlin' King Snake” all reached the Top 10 of the US R&B chart in 1949. This is John Lee Hooker stripped down, getting to the heart of his blues and boogie, just guitar, vocals and tap dancing, 15 years before his music caught the ears of a wider and enthusiastic British audience. The decades may have passed, but the music remains fresh and vital. This EP is presented in a superb period sleeve designed and created by Niall McCormack.