Free Form Patterns


Free Form Patterns,, is an album by blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins backed by the rhythm section of The 13th Floor Elevators recorded in Texas in 1968 and released on the International Artists label.

Reception

's Al Campbell stated: "While not as revolutionary as John Lee Hooker's sessions with Canned Heat, Free Form Patterns steers clear of the late-'60s psychedelic trappings that screwed up such similar sessions as Electric Mud. No one tried to bend Hopkins to fit a foreign musical approach on Free Form Patterns; he made the music bend to him". Record Collector observed "Free Form Patterns isn’t some hippy hybrid, it’s a pure blues album – actually, scrub that; it’s a pure Lightnin’ Hopkins album". Raul de Gama said "True to form – to free form, actually – Lightnin’ Hopkins’ music unfolds as the avant-garde of the day. His notes carry a singular drawl – a Texas drawl – as they roll over each other to form that seminal wave travelling so fast, and yet as sinuous as it makes its way into the inner ear of the mind... The considerable degree of balance and integration of melody, harmony and rhythm, of composition, individuality and tradition is impressively maintained throughout". The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings said: "Despite these interpolations it's a rather lacklustre affair".

Track listing

All compositions by Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins except where noted
  1. "Mr. Charlie" – 7:02
  2. "Give Me Time to Think" – 3:49
  3. "Fox Chase" – 2:53
  4. "Mr. Ditta's Grocery Store" – 5:30
  5. "Open Up Your Door" – 3:54
  6. "Baby Child" – 3:35
  7. "Cooking's Done" – 3:48
  8. "Got Her Letter This Morning" – 4:57
  9. "Rain Falling" – 4:33
  10. "Mini Skirt" – 3:10

    Personnel

Performance

Billy Bizor, harmonica and vocals

Production