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fantastic. All the usual verses are here, and it’s back to ‘Bottle up and go.’He
answers his ‘nickel’ line with, “Come on pretty baby, let’s buy some wine.”

Finally, for this segment, K. C. Douglas’ 1960s waxing.

KC-Douglas-Clip

Douglas was born in Mississippi. He moved to California in

1945, where Chris Strachwitz sought him out to make an
album for Bluesville. They really embraced the concept of

stereo recording on this one.

John Lee Hooker

I thought I’d deal with John Lee Hooker’s versions separately.

He first recorded, ‘Bundle Up And Go’ for VeeJay in Chicago in
1958.

John-Lee-Hooker-1958
Accompanied by bass and drums, he sings of nickels and
chickens and ” You may be old, you may be grey, you ain’t too

old for to shift them gears.”

The first verse answers the ‘nickel’ line with “A house full of children and ne’er one
mine.” Rather than ‘high-powered’ women, John Lee has a ‘high pile of women”.

In 1959 he recorded two versions. A solo, acoustic, Bundle Up And Go, and a

rocking, ‘You Gotta Shake It Up And Go’ with horns and a rhythm section:

John-Lee-Hooker-1959-1
John-Lee-Hooker-1959-2
Here, he includes a ‘scat’ verse and alternates his ‘high pile of women’ with high-
powered ones.

In 1965 John Lee Hooker recorded his only album for the Impulse label. On this
slow, brooding, masterful version he is backed by an alert, sympathetic Jazz rhythm

section.

John-Lee-Hooker-1965-Clip
Finally, in 1971 Hooker made the album, “Hooker N Heat”. On it, he recorded a
version of ‘Bottle Up And Go’ with Al Wilson on piano:

John-Lee-Hooker-1971-Clip
The list above is by no means exhaustive or complete, but hopefully it illustrates the
flexibility and variety of forms and themes in Blues.