The John Lee Hooker estate has released a one-year-late, 60th-anniversary edition of 1962’s Burnin’ and the opportunity to rediscover the latent classic is priceless.

Featuring stereo and mono mixes of the original LP and an alternate take on “Thelma”  – it does little more than prove once Hooker’s arrangements were set, they were set – this Burnin’ offers little in the way of new music. The stereo mix is shinier and brighter than its mono counterpart; however, the latter sports a deep richness when Hooker and the band – the future Funk Brothers – begin to cook on such tracks as “Boom Boom” and “Keep Your Hands to Yourself.”

Despite the dearth of new material, the expanded Burnin’ is entirely worthwhile as it replants one of Hooker’s important albums in the contemporary space.