From the Shadow of the Blues

A powerful memoir of redemption from the son of blues legend John Lee Hooker. As a teenager, junior was featured attraction at his father's shows, but a broken childhood and drug addiction led to decades in and out of prisons. Emerging sober and finding the Lord, he launched a successful career as a Grammy-nominated artist and became a minister.

Reverend John Lee Hooker Jr., born in Detroit, Michigan, is the son of the blues legend John Lee Hooker and, as a teenager, toured with his dad as the featured attraction. He had a successful career as a blues artist, receiving two Grammy nominations and the Bobby "Blue" Bland Lifetime Achievement Award. Now an ordained minister, Reverend John Lee Hooker Jr. testifies, preaches, and performs gospel music in prisons. Visit johnleehookerjr.com. Julia Simon is a Professor at the University of California, Davis and author of Debt and Redemption in the Blues: The Call for Justice, The Inconvenient Lonnie Johnson: Blues, Race, Identity, and Time in the Blues.

Table of Contents Introduction: Soledad Prison Part One: Growing up in Detroit Chapter 1 Family and Early Fights Chapter 2 Money, Clothes, and Drugs Chapter 3 Heroin, Prostitutes, and First Arrest as an Adult Chapter 4 Wayne County Jail Part Two: Cult Drug Program and Incarceration Chapter 5 The Synanon Cult Chapter 6 Jackson State Prison and Cassidy Lake Chapter 7 California: Crimes, Heists, and the Con Game Part Three: Music, Prisons, and Con Games Chapter 8 Canadian Tour and Prison Chapter 9 Marie's Overdose and Santa Rita Jail Chapter 10 California Rehabilitation Center Chapter 11 On the Run Chapter 12 Back in CRC, Solitary at Chino, and Gilroy Chapter 13 Boxing at Conservation Camps Chapter 14 The Con in Detroit: I'm Shot Part Four: Redemption and Falls Chapter 15 Back in Oakland, I Turn to the Lord Chapter 16 My First Fall Chapter 17 My Band in Redwood City and Second Marriage Chapter 18 My Father's Death and My Third and Final Fall Part Five: From the Blues to the Good News Chapter 19 Musical Success Chapter 20 My New Life in Ministry Chapter 21 Singing about the Lord Chapter 22 Sharing Love and Life in Germany Acknowledgments About the Author