The Real Folk Blues is an album by the legendary blues musician John Lee Hooker, released in 1966 by the Chess label. The album features nine original songs by Hooker, recorded in Chicago with a backing band that included Lafayette Leake on piano and organ, Eddie Burns on guitar, and S.P. Leary or possibly Fred Below on drums. The album showcases Hooker’s distinctive style of country blues and Chicago blues, with his deep and expressive voice, rhythmic guitar playing, and improvisational lyrics. Some of the songs on the album, such as “I’m in the Mood” and “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer”, have become classics of the blues genre. The album was part of a series of albums by Chess that aimed to present the blues as a form of folk music, hence the title The Real Folk Blues. The series also included albums by other blues artists such as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Etta James. The Real Folk Blues was well received by critics and fans, and has been reissued several times, sometimes with additional tracks from the same sessions.