“The beyond awesome “Spoonful” has a midtempo, one chord structure with Sumlin’s stinging guitar leads dominated by extremely forceful, insistent single notes, and runs up and down the frets and a superb brief guitar break, Below’s rhythmic drumming and wonderful rolling piano from Otis Spann. Despite appearing in 1965 from a man associated with gruff electric blues, this song is FUNKY.” “I was going to say that ‘Killing Floor’ has a fantastic rhythm section, but that would be an understatement. Killing Floor (The Real Folk Blues, 1966) “The equally strong “How Many More Years” has Ike Turner”s thumping piano on an uptempo setting, Johnson’s effective guitar work and Wolf’s searing harmonica and anguished vocal, as he bewails his woman’s mistreatment of him”ģ. How Many More Years (Moanin’ In The Moonlight, 1959) “Even better is the superlative “Back Door Man” played at a slow, loping tempo with Sumlin’s biting guitar and Below’s backbeat drums, Wolf delivers a domineering, leering, lascivious declaration of his overwhelming carnal power and attraction to married women, slipping in the rear entrance of their houses to sexually satisfy them as their men go out the front door”Ĥ. “Moanin’ at Midnight” has Wolf’s wordless, primeval moaning on the intro of a fast tempo highly rhythmic performance, Wolf’s great harmonica, Willie’s Johnson’s guitar and the ultra-tight rhythm section all contributing strongly to a fine musical accompaniment as Wolf’s vocal expresses his blues feelings, before the growling moaning returns, the emotional intensity of the record never flagging for a moment.” Moanin’ at Midnight (Moanin’ In The Moonlight, 1959) “Accompanying Wolf’s belligerent yet anxious vocal the musicians play at slow pace, Sumlin’s slide guitar generating a marvellous undertow, Johnny Jones supplying rolling piano, the drums being inconspicuous yet laying a firm rhythmic foundation”Ħ. Guaranteed to be the life of any self-respecting groover’s party.”ġ0. “It is somewhat surprising to be exposed to The Wolf’s unearthly growl in full-on brass-heavy surroundings, with some hip-swivelling’ New Orleans-sounding syncopations to boot, but the results are pretty devastating, like a more abrasive prototype to Dr John’s hoodoo. Built for Comfort (The Howlin’ Wolf Album, 1969) But he’s behind all the rest of them in the other ways.”ġ1. He’s only the frontman on something like 5 or 6 of these songs. He was more of a songwriter and producer (and, of course, bassist). “So Dixon is unlike pretty much all the other major figures in post-war blues in that he rarely led groups. I Walked from Dallas (The Chess Box, 1991) Click below and experience true blues songs.ġ2. In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 54 on its list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. This is where the soul of man never dies.’” Several of his songs, including “Smokestack Lightnin’”, “Killing Floor” and “Spoonful”, have become blues and blues-rock standards. The musician and critic Cub Koda noted, “no one could match Howlin’ Wolf for the singular ability to rock the house down to the foundation while simultaneously scaring its patrons out of its wits.” Producer Sam Phillips recalled, “When I heard Howlin’ Wolf, I said, ‘This is for me. With a booming voice and imposing physical presence, he is one of the best-known Chicago blues artists. Originally from Mississippi, he moved to Chicago in adulthood and became successful, forming a rivalry with fellow bluesman Muddy Waters. Definitely not the place to start (unless you have money to burn), but maybe just the perfect place to end up.Chester Arthur Burnett (J– January 10, 1976), known as Howlin’ Wolf, was a Chicago blues singer, guitarist, and harmonica player. If you've heard the sound of the Wolf, here's where you go to get a lot of it in one place. A really nice bonus on this box set is the inclusion on the first two discs of snippets from a 1968 Howlin' Wolf interview and two performances of Wolf playing solo acoustic. The final disc runs out the last of the Dixon sessions into mid-'60s classics like "Killing Floor," taking the listener to a nice selection of his final recordings. The disc finishes with an excellent cross section of early Chicago sessions, including classic Wolf tracks like "Evil," "Forty Four," "I'll Be Around," and "Who Will Be Next?" Disc two picks it up from there, guiding listeners from mid- to late-'50s barnburners like "The Natchez Burning" and "I Better Go Now" to the bulk of the Willie Dixon classics. Disc one starts with the Memphis sides that eventually brought him to the label, including hits like "How Many More Years," but also compiling unissued sides that had previously only been available on vinyl bootlegs of dubious origin and fidelity. This three-CD box set currently rates as the best - and most digestible - overview of Howlin' Wolf's career.
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