Once considered a long-lost (and in most cases, complete unknown) studio recording from John Lee Hooker, The Standard School Broadcast Recordings is the first commercial release of a rare 1973 fully electric blues band recording.

Performed direct-to-tape at Coast Recorders in San Francisco, the session captures Hooker at a tumultuous and deeply transformative time of his career, accompanied by his reliable standby rhythm section of bassist Gino Skaggs and drummer Ken Swank, plus Hooker’s pianist son Robert.

The Standard School Broadcast, initiated in 1928, was a multiple-award-winning educational radio series sponsored by Standard Oil (aka Esso, later Exxon). Based in San Francisco, the collections specialized in music appreciation and American history. Copies of some of its shows were also supplied to schools on vinyl LPs.

The CD will also contain two bonus tracks – “Sallie Mae” and “Instrumental”.