It all began for Lightnin’ Hopkins in Houston with a self-made guitar fashioned from a cigar box and chicken wire. Worried that black artists were not receiving the royalties due them, Hopkins insisted on cash for each studio take. He is recognized as one of the great Blues artists of all time. His album, “Lightnin’ and the Blues,” released on Herald Records in 1960, is worth up to $1,000.00 today. His 1958 album, “Strums the Blues,” on Score Records can now sell for $1,800.00.