The great Lightnin’ Hopkins was one of the most natural of bluesmen — a poet who would often make up lyrics as he recorded. Because his meters and chord changes were frequently irregular, he was at his best when unaccompanied, as on this 1961 Prestige date. Besides such blues standards as “Wine Spodee-O-Dee,” “Blues in the Bottle,” and “Catfish Blues,” the album contains originals, including “Beans, Beans, Beans” about his stint on a railroad track gang and “DC-7” about his aversion to flying.