Latest / Booked On Rock with Eric Senich / John Lee Hooker Jr. Returns With New Song 'Heaven Rules' [Episode 293]

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John Lee Hooker Jr. Returns With New Song 'Heaven Rules' [Episode 293] · Booked On Rock with Eric Senich

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: On this episode of Booke Don Rock. It's the return
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: of John Lee Hooker Junior and he's got some brand
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: new music to share with us.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Oh, we're totally rock and roll.
• 0:10
  Speaker 3: I meant to leave you. You're reading Little Hands says
• 0:12
  Speaker 3: it's time to rock and roll. Roll up.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: I totally booked everybody. Welcome back to Booked on Rock
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: and Eric Senitch returning to the podcast as Reverend John
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Lee Hooker, Junior, musician, minister, author of the recently released
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: book From the Shadow of the Blues, My Story of Music,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Addiction and Redemption, and son of the great John Lee Hooker.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Reverend Hooker. Great to have you back on.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: And thank you for having me again. Thank you so much.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: This is exciting. What we last spoke in late January
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: early February to talk about the book, and at that
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: time you mentioned having new music coming out, and that
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: time has come. We connected this week and you sent
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: me the single which is due our June thirteenth, and
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: it's titled Having Rules. I absolutely love song. Thank you
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: for sharing it with me and allowing us to hear
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: some of it today before it's released. Tell us about the.
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: Song, Well, it's a song that kind of have built
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: in my spirit because I watch a lot of documentaries.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: I watched some youtubes, I watched the news, I was
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: seeing NL I just watch everything because I love media.
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: I love seeing what the music industry, the television industry
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: is doing.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: But I just kept hearing and.
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: Watching how the world and I'm not going to say general,
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: but most of the world is under the impression that
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: all of their material belongings, all of their fame and gain,
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: gives them power, and that there is no end and
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: none gave glory and the recognition and the credibility to God,
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: who created everybody and have blessed them with things. Jesus
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: said these words, really you have received freely give. No
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: one is born with gold and literally in his hands.
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: But I just got tired of seeing all of the
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: narcissism express through media, through everything. You walk down the streets,
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: you go to a festival, you watch a movie.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: So I was kind.
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: Of exhausted from seeing that, and I said, I'm going
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: to write something against narcissism. I'm going to write something
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: to the glory of God and let the industry know
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: those who have these egos on stereos. I'm going to
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: write something to center message that know, you don't rule,
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: Heaven rules, and I wanted to make sure that it
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: was scripturally based so that people wouldn't think that it
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: was me. So the video in the song begins with
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: the messages from the Book of Daniel of the fourth
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: chapter indicating that this is not me saying it.
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: This is not me saying it, this is God. So
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: that's why I wrote that song.
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: In the Book of Daniel of the fourth chapter, King
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: never connessed his lord of a dream by the prophet
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: of God that if he did not desist from his
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: sinful pride, that he would be stripped of his kingdom
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: and given a mind to that of a peace, and
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: will reside with the animals for seven years until he
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: acknowledged that the God of Heaven ruthe. This is to
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: all of you ballers who jangle on your chain and
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: pop on your collar, you from the streets to the
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: shiny sea, if you'll allow me just a few minutes
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: of your Undergod OF's attention, then.
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  Speaker 2: I'm about to preach.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Reason.
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  Speaker 3: The love of money is the roof to all evil.
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: It's like taking steroids. It will inflate your ego, it
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  Speaker 3: will make you do it cain that the're able to
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  Speaker 3: gain monetary wealth instead of giving God the glory. You
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: say that you did it all by yourself. Jesus said,
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  Speaker 3: he just speaks of himself, seeks his own glory, and
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: it's like death given a round of applause to rigamous,
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: and that's real love.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: Heaven rules.
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  Speaker 1: You turn the Book of Daniel, chapter four, the story
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: of never Cadness her. What is the story in the message?
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  Speaker 3: The story is because never Caness, of course, was a
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: wicked king, and he always gave glory to himself, and
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: he treated people unrighteous because of his fame.
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  Speaker 2: And he will.
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  Speaker 3: He received a dream by an angel of God that
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: if he did not desist from his sinful pride, that
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  Speaker 3: he would be stripped of his kingdom and given a
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: mind to that of a beast, and would reside with
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: the animals for seven years until he acknowledged that only
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: the God of Heaven rules. The scripture goes that a
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: haughty spirit goes before a fall. And certainly he was
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: walking on his palace one day and looked at the
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: wonderful battle arm that he said that he created with
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  Speaker 3: his own hands. So he didn't heed the warning of
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: the Angel of God, and of course right then his
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  Speaker 3: kingdom was taken away.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: And we see that in the PI ditties.
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  Speaker 3: The archallis and all of the big shots that look
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  Speaker 3: at me and what I have obtained with my own hand,
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  Speaker 3: and you see it on video.
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  Speaker 2: You see it on YouTube.
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  Speaker 3: Women wouldn't have dressed, and guys popping on their chains
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: and flashing all of their money raining down from the sky.
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: But it's no break truck will follow none of them
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: six feet under that grave.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, speaking of specific people. At the end of the song,
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: you quote Johnny Cochrane and it's famous. If it don't fit,
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: you must have quit line, which is used during the
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: closing arguments in his defensive og Simpson. It was actually
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: thirty one years ago this week that the news of
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: the murders of Nicole Brown, Simpson and Ronald Goldman broke
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: And that was June thirteenth, nineteen ninety four, not long
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: after O. J. Simpson charge of the crime you set
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: up by saying, quote, what will you say to Jesus
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  Speaker 1: when you stand in front of the Great White Throne
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  Speaker 1: with insurmountable evidence of all the things that you've done wrong?
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  Speaker 3: When you say to Jesus where you stand in front
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  Speaker 3: of the great white throne with insurmountable evidence of all
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: the things that you're done wrong. No, President, your part
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: inside by arguments, g and A analysis, pay his court
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: miss Ritz. If the glove don't fit your must the
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: quitch will not exist. Preliminary examinations that your limitations sensus
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: for rejecting or savior eternal damnation, and that's real time.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: Have a ruse. Is there a story behind that particular
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: verse of a side reason?
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  Speaker 3: Yes it is, Yes, it is all of the things
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: that you won't acknowledge that God is the God that
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: rules and Jesus Christ came to give his life for
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: the sake of mankind. When they won't acknowledge that, When
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: they won't acknowledge that, the story goes on.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: Okay, well, since you.
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: Won't acknowledge that, what will you say to Jesus when
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: you stand in front of the great white throne with
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: all the insurmountable evidence of all the things that you're
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: done wrong?
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: And then I'll lay it out.
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: That these particular things will not help you in the
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: day of judgment. Presidential pardon, side by arguments, DNA analysis,
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: heavior's corpus Ritz.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: If the glove don't fit, you must acquit.
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: And we remember that his glove got him acquitted. But
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: in the day of judgment, when mankind stands, some of
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: mankind stand before those who rejected Jesus Christ as their
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: personal savior was stand in front of the girl great
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: right through, and all of those things will not save them,
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: because it's going to be too late.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: I think to appreciate the lyrics to the song even more.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: People should get a copy of your book if they haven't,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: because you speak from experience. We talked about the book
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: extensively in episode two fifty three. I suggest people go
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: and listen to that, check that out, or watch the
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: interview on YouTube. But if you could briefly talk about
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: the book from the Shadow of the Blues and how
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: this song relates to your story.
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: Well, the song relates to that story because I was
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: a prime example. I was a prime example of narcissistic attitude.
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: I haven't got caught yet. I'm not dead yet, so
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: why don't I just continue to do what I do?
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  Speaker 3: The scripture says whatsoever man? So that shally also, I
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  Speaker 3: was reading this morning that because they didn't listen to
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: the counsel of God Therefore, when they fall, they shall
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  Speaker 3: call on him, but he will not listen, because and
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: and go fast forward, they will eat the fruit of
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: their own devices. And that's exactly what I did. I
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: ate the fruit of my own devices. Shot twice in
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: two different states. Cut in my face, I think it's
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: on this side, stabbed in my back, homeless. I realized
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: that that book is consistent with the song. And you
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: you really shedded light onto that Eric by giving me
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: that question, because that's a prime example right there. And
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  Speaker 3: I failed, and I failed, and I failed, and I
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  Speaker 3: failed until I said the Lord help me.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I remember the story about the woman that was
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: coming out of the grocery store and you, basically, I
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: guess you could say you were a card shark maybe,
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: but you took her money into the heart. That husband
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: came and even at that lowest point, you need that
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: money for drugs so much so that even with this
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: guy pointing a gun at your head saying give me
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  Speaker 1: the money back, he said, no, yeah, you reached that point.
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  Speaker 3: I denied. I denied that I had the money. I
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: had most of it in my back pocket and the
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: drugs in another pocket. I says, do you think that
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  Speaker 3: I I would die over eight hundred dollars. Do you
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: think I would die over this little money? And I
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: don't know if that I know God just looked down
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  Speaker 3: and shook his head give the man them.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, but yeah, that's what it was. A pride and
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  Speaker 2: sheer stupidity being led by the spirit of the flesh,
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: the world and the devil.
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  Speaker 1: That story is so much more in such an inspirational
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: book From the Shadow of the Blues. Now, let's talk
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: about the band. You have an amazing group of musicians here,
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: gospel singers. The organ is beautiful, the horn section, the
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: whole band is tight. Who are credited on this track?
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: Well, I'm gonna first of course, you know, you know,
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: I know God is the.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: Oneed orchestrated all of this.
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: Larry Battiste, my producer, a ranger and co writer, is phenomenal.
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: He is one of the greatest A rangers, producers, musicians
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: and writers of this age.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: So Larry Baptiste, producer, Mike Rogers.
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  Speaker 3: Phenomenal drummer on drums, Wilton Rabb on guitar, Troy Lampton bass, keyboards,
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  Speaker 3: Jimmy McKinney. Of course, the background singers were Larry Baptiste
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: again and Omega Ray, Jeanie Tracey and phenomenal engineers Michael
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: Denton at Infinite Studios in Alameda, and of course his
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: colleague Andy Lopez. Wonderful crew. I couldn't have done it
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: without them. They made that music instrumentally tight and ready
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: for a video. And going back to this mention that
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: you made you mentioned Oj Simpson, when you see the video.
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: When you see the video, Eric, he takes me from
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: the pulpit wild I'm preaching and talking and the glove
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: and if the glove don't fit, and he takes me
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: right from the poolpit and sets me in a court
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: room where Oja was oh Man the glove on, trying
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: to make it fit.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: Then it goes back to the poolpit. You gotta make
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: sure that you see this video.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: And the video comes out on the same day the
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: song is released.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: All the streaming PLATFF sir, Yes, sir, we'll.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: Share a clip of that and we're just playing a
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: short clip of the audio as well, because we want
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: people to go and stream it downloaded. It's going to
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: be available on all the streaming platforms, Spotify, all the
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: places that you can get it.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Is this from a forthcoming album? Is this gonna be
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: part of?
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: Oh? This is just a single, Okay.
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: And what we've decided to do my team Larry Baptist,
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: is to We're going to go up against We're going to.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: Be the Davids of all of the Goliaths.
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: In other words, all of these two hundred and fifty
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: thousand dollars videos, We're going to be the little Davids
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: that's going to submit our video to the Grammys.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: Really awesome. Yeah, as how can we help? Is there
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: a voting process? Can we help? Can we go to
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: the website?
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: This is and I'm not trying to minimize the population,
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: but this is for This is the This.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: Is next to the Oscars.
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: Everybody can't voting the Oscars you have to be a
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: member of the Academy, and the same is with the Grammys.
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: You have to be an Academy member of the Grammys
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: in order to vote.
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: So voting will start in October.
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: All of the Grammy candidates will make their final pitches
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: in July and August, and October voting will open for
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: the Academy members. Then the last voting comes in dec
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: and then the winner, the winner would come in February
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: and I was nominated for a Grammy twice.
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  Speaker 2: You already know that.
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: And just to be I mean, I was this David,
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: this ex drug addict, this ex convict, and I am
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: in the category of the last five with Eric Clapton
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: on one Eda, James bb King and just to be
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: there out of the five, out of all the thousands
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: and thousands of people, I felt great, Amy, elite, great
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: and if we God blessed, will just be recognized as
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: the little bitty guy that was associated with the fire
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: well with the rest of the four brother involved in
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: the five, that would be that would be phenomenal.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Buddy, who has any decision making power that's listening to
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: this or watching this, you have, you have our vote.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: Please vote for this song, because really it is, it's
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: a phenomenal song. One last question I see on your
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: website you've got I think the shows coming up in
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: Germany one May. I think maybe in Switzerland, maybe later
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: in the year. But do you have any plans to
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: perform here in the States.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: That's a great question. I just left America. I've been here.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: I've been home eight days.
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: And what I did was I did a gospel ministry
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: and I visited four churches. I preached in four churches
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: and sing and I sung in four churches. And I
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: visited five prisons, one in California and four in Alaska.
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: So it was a long trip.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: Wow. Yeah, dropping trains bag boom boom boom.
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: I don't have the assistance to carry my bags.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: You are God's work.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: I got a hat box with three or four hats
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: in it.
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: I got on a backpack, and I got two large
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: suitcases and a road it.
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you are doing God's work for certain The single
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: Heaven Rules. It's out June thirteenth on all streaming platforms
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: and the video on YouTube. You could find John Ley
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: Hooker Junior's book From the Shadow of the Blues, My
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: story of music, addiction and Redemption wherever books are sold.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: Highly recommend that you get it. Highly inspirational and where
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: can people find you online.
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: All social media platforms. The music will be available is
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: available now for pre release purchase or order, and will
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: be fully available to listen to as well.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: You have a website right.
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: June thirteenth, Yeah, you can listen to some bits and
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: pieces on my website and you can get a CD
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: for five.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: Dollars okay, five dollars.
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: My other music Grammy Award nominated catalog ten dollars. I'm
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: just doing it just like that because I know what
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: how God has blessed me, and I want to be
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: a blessing to others. And you can get a signature
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: if that's what you would like.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: Outstanding. John Leehooker Junior dot com. John Lehooker Jr. Dot
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: com is where people can go.
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: John Leehooker, Junior dot com.
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: Correct, Reverend John Lee Hooker, Junr. Thank you very much, sir.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: Great to see you again.
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: Having me and we will get that full version of
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: the video to you.
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: On the day.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: I can't wait to see the video. But again, I
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: love the song. The song is outstanding, so congratulations on that.
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much. That's it. It's in the books.