Dodger Blues

When you think about it, the blues and baseball are inextricably intertwined: Every year, every team except one--and its fans--has the blues all winter long. Blues legend and die-hard Dodger fan John Lee Hooker, who plays at the Ventura Theatre on Saturday night, knows all about both the musical genre and the sport. And he likes to talk about both.

He may be 80, but Hooker always seems to have a few innings left. He comes from the Mississippi Delta but took off in 1934 and headed to Memphis, moving to Detroit in 1941. A Californian for nearly 30 years, he is in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and is a Grammy winner who has influenced countless artists.

Must be that beat. “Back in 1932, I invented the boogie,” Hooker is likely to announce at a show. The boogie is a rockin’ beat that makes sitting no longer an option. Hooker’s first big hit and million-seller was “Boogie Chillen” in 1948. Since then, he has played everywhere with everyone. His latest album, “Don’t Look Back,” begins with a raging rocker called “Dimples,” featuring a pretty tight East L.A. backup up band called Los Lobos--Dodger fans, no doubt.

This year, Dodger blue became the Dodger blues when the heavily favored locals lost out to the Giants. But the defeat did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of one die-hard fan, as Hooker indicated during a recent phone interview from his Bay Area home.

*

I understand you’re a Dodger fan.

A Dodger fan? That’s me. John Lee Hooker, Dodger fan.

*

Yeah, but you’re from Mississippi by way of Detroit--so how’d you become a Dodger fan?

When I was a little kid in Mississippi, we had Little League and like that but we didn’t know nothing about the major leagues. Later, I moved to Detroit and traveled around and I saw the Dodgers. Man, I loved Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider and all those guys.

*

What’s it like living in the Bay Area with all those Giants fans?

If they don’t like what I do, it’s their problem. I kind of like the Giants, but not as much as the Dodgers. I talk to Dusty [Baker] all the time.

*

What happened to the Dodgers last year?

Hey, it’s a game. You win some, you lose some. The Giants won, the Dodgers lost. Life goes on.

*

What do the Dodgers need to do to win next year?

Do better than they did this year. Wait and see, I guess. They made some mistakes.

*

You mean like leaving in closer Todd Worrell too long?

Oh, yeah--they knocked the fool out of Worrell and knocked the ball out of the park too many times.

*

Worrell is gone, and so are [Greg] Gagne and [Tom] Candiotti.

Worrell is gone? That’s great! And that Candiotti, the knuckle-ball pitcher, they knocked the fool out of him too. The Dodgers have some great young arms, like that Darren Dreifort.

*

What do you think of Dodger manager Bill Russell?

Well, I’ve got a little problem with him. For me, Tommy Lasorda was the man.

*

It seems like the Giant fans hate the Dodgers more than the Dodger fans hate the Giants. Do they?

“Oh, no, John, they don’t hate each other”--that’s what Dusty tells me. The players don’t hate each other. They go out and have lunch together. It’s a rivalry, but it’s mostly for the fans. The fans think they hate each other, but the players don’t.

*

So, how’s the album doing?

It’s doing good, real good.

*

Did winning a Grammy change anything for you?

Probably did. Made my price go up some.

*

OK, John, thanks; this story is going to be for your upcoming Ventura gig.

Ventura, where’s that? In L.A.?

*

No man, it’s between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.

I’ll be there.

*

Go Dodgers.

Yeah, man.

BE THERE

John Lee Hooker & the Coast to Coast Blues Band, with Jackie Lomax opening, at the Ventura Theatre, 26 Chestnut St., 9 p.m. $25. 653-0721.