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Rolling Stones songs: Hoo Doo Blues
Let her go, just as quick as you can/ You know that hoodoo girl is going to hoodoo the hoodoo man…
Mick Jagger: lead vocals, harmonica Keith Richards: rhythm guitar Ron Wood: slide guitar Charlie Watts: drums Guest musicians: Darryl Jones (bass), Chuck Leavell (piano), Matt Clifford (Wurlitzer piano), Jim Keltner (percussion)
Long before the blues became a badge of authenticity The Rolling Stones were already living inside it. Drawn to the raw pulse of American roots music, they gravitated toward the humid, shadowy corners of Southern blues where groove mattered as much as grit.
Early covers of Slim Harpo classics like I’m a King BeeandShake Your Hips revealed more than influence—they showed understanding. The Stones didn’t polish the swamp sound; they leaned into its hypnotic repetition, its low-slung menace, and its conversational intimacy. This wasn’t revivalism. It was absorption.
As their career expanded, that swamp-blues sensibility (like in their version of Hoo Doo Blues) never disappeared. Instead, it resurfaced in unexpected places, reshaped by the band’s own energy and attitude. By filtering Southern blues through a rock framework, the Stones created something both reverent and original. The result is a lasting dialogue between tradition and transformation—proof that their connection to the blues wasn’t borrowed style, but a lifelong commitment.
More about The Rolling Stones’ take on Hoo Doo Blues
*By Marcelo Sonaglioni
Lightnin’ Slim: The Swamp Blues Pioneer
Otis Hicks, better known as Lightnin’ Slim, was a key figure in the birth of swamp blues. In 1954, he stepped into producer J.D. Miller’s studio in Crowley, Louisiana, and recorded Bad Luck Blues, introducing the world to a raw, haunting blues style. Soon after, he joined Excello Records in Nashville, Tennessee, launching a remarkable career that often intertwined with that of his brother-in-law, Slim Harpo.
One of Lightnin’ Slim’s most striking compositions, Hoo Doo Blues, was recorded in 1958 with Jerry West as co-writer. Featuring Lightnin’ Slim on vocals and guitar, Lazy Lester on harmonica, and Roosevelt Semple on drums, the track perfectly embodies the essence of swamp blues. Its eerie, anguished tones transport listeners into the misty Louisiana bayous, evoking an atmosphere where magic and mystery linger in the air. The song’s lyrics reference hoodoo, the mystical side of voodoo, a spiritual practice deeply rooted in Louisiana culture.
The Rolling Stones and the Swamp Blues Legacy
Decades later The Rolling Stones, eternal students of the blues, found themselves drawn to this evocative Southern sound. Long before it became a point of discussion, the band had already immersed itself in the world of swampy rhythms and earthy grooves, as heard in their early covers of Slim Harpo’sI’m a King BeeandShake Your Hips. These performances weren’t casual nods but declarations of allegiance, signaling how deeply the band understood the atmosphere and attitude of the music they admired.
As their career evolved, the Stones continued to embrace the murky, hypnotic pulse of swamp blues. They absorbed its humid textures and laid-back menace, filtering them through their own restless energy and unmistakable style. The result was a kind of musical alchemy: familiar traditions transformed into something distinctly theirs. By channeling swamp blues through a rock lens, the Stones reaffirmed their lifelong bond with the blues—not as imitators, but as devoted interpreters who carried its spirit forward into new territory.
Mick Jagger (2016): “I’ve always liked Lightnin’ Slim’s Hoo Doo Blues. Although the song’s been around in many different versions, it’s not particularly well known in this style”
Anyway, What’s ‘Hoodoo’?
Hoodoo is a deeply rooted spiritual tradition shaped by layers of history, survival, and cultural exchange. It emerged from a blend of influences that includes Christianity, Spiritualism, and the Islamic practices carried to the Americas by enslaved West African Muslims. Far from being a single belief system, Hoodoo functions as a living practice—one that weaves faith, ancestral knowledge, folk magic, and practical spirituality into everyday life. Within African-American cultural heritage, it has long served as a vital link between the material and spiritual worlds, offering tools for resilience in the face of hardship.
As African-Americans moved north and west during theGreat Migration, Hoodoo traveled with them, expanding well beyond its Southern roots. In cities and rural communities alike, the tradition adapted to new environments while retaining its core purpose: empowerment, survival, and connection to ancestral wisdom. Its flexibility allowed it to absorb local influences without losing its identity.
Practitioners of Hoodoo are known by many names—rootworkers, conjure doctors, root doctors, and swampers—each reflecting regional customs and terminology. They are respected for their ability to work with spiritual forces to bring healing, protection, luck, and guidance. Depending on geography, Hoodoo may also be called conjure or rootwork, emphasizing its hands-on nature. Above all, Hoodoo remains a dynamic, evolving tradition, grounded in history yet continually reshaped by the communities that practice it.
A Rolling Stones’ Swampy Reinvention of Hoo Doo Blues
The Rolling Stones’ take on Hoo Doo Blues brings a weightier intensity to Lightnin’ Slim’s original. Recorded on December 15, 2015, it was the last track completed for the album, and the only one recorded that day. The band dives deep into the swamp blues spirit, layering their signature sound over the raw essence of the original.
Charlie Watts’s bass drum takes center stage, driving the rhythm with force, while Jim Keltner—making his first and only appearance—adds subtle yet essential percussion, likely on claves, echoing the song’s roots. The guitars roar with distortion, Ron Wood sliding through thick, swampy riffs, as Keith Richards lays down the rhythmic foundation. Darryl Jones’s bass, though minimal, anchors the track with just the right amount of depth. Clifford’s Wurlitzer hums in the background, while Chuck Leavell’s piano sits out on this one. Jagger delivers a standout performance, his vocals plunging effortlessly into the song’s lowest registers. His harmonica work, raw and unfiltered, adds an authenticity that makes this version a masterful tribute—steeped in the murky, hypnotic groove of the bayou.
Mick Jagger (2016): “I’m not sure everyone knew all these songs… Hoo Doo Blues, for instance, I don’t think Ronnie was terribly familiar with that”
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