Collection [Import]

Howlin' Wolf | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 30, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Spectrum Audio UK
• ASIN: B00004WMXL
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #257,258 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Wang Dang Doodle

2. Spoonful

3. Smokestack Lightnin'

4. Back Door Man

5. The Little Red Rooster

6. Do The Do

7. I Ain't Superstitious

8. Tail Dragger

9. Built For Comfort

10. Evil

11. Sittin' On Top Of The World

12. I Asked For Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)

13. The Natchez Burning

14. Three Hundred Pounds Of Joy

15. Down In The Bottom

16. How Many More Years

17. Killing Floor

18. Going Down Slow

Editorial Reviews

18 track collection from the 'golden years' of Howlin' Wolf's Chess recordings, from mid-1950's to early sixties. This compilation contains most of the recordings that helped makehim a blues legend'. Featuring the hit, 'Smokestack Lightnin' as well as other Howlin' Wolf classics like, 'Wang Dang Doodle', 'Spoonful' and 'The Little Red Rooster'.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Esential Wolf, September 4, 2006

By 

Pitoucat (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Collection (Audio CD)

A welcome budget price collection by one of the most charismatic and influential blues artists of all time. Many of Wolf's best known numbers are here, commencing with 'How Many More Years' from his first session in 1951 in Sam Phillips' Memphis studio, and continuing through the 1954 to 1965 period with Chess Records. The material is licensed from MCA, and therefore in excellent sound quality, with stereo mixes being used on some of the later dates. Just reading the titles reveals that most of the essential tracks are present, including the ones that were to feature strongly in the white blues boom of the 1960s: 'The Little Red Rooster', 'Spoonful', 'Killing Floor', and the inevitable 'Smokestack Lightnin''.

Wolf's songs were notable for their innovative lyrics, mostly composed by Willie Dixon, who, as a member of the Chess house band, played bass on many of these numbers. The CD could almost be considered a tribute to Dixon's songwriting talents. The lyrics of 'Tail Dragger' are particularly interesting in that they describe how the prowling wolf would wipe his tracks out with his tail, a theme borrowed from the 1930 recording 'Howling Wolf Blues No.3' by J.T. 'Funny Paper' Smith, the original Howling Wolf, from whom Chester Burnett obtained his pseudonym.

The rich, dynamic sound of the original recordings is well captured on this reissue, with the stunning guitar of Hubert Sumlin well to the fore on most numbers, and Otis Spann's piano featured here and there, including 'Wang Dang Doodle' and the moody 'Evil'. If you don't already own these classic recordings then this is an excellent place to start.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great cover shot of Wolf - it's (c)1968 by S G Schoenfeld, December 4, 2004

By 

Sandy G. Schoenfeld "musician ,songwriter and... (S.F. CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Collection (Audio CD)

you may have seen this dynamic, iconic and fully copyrighted photo of Wolf in many places, a number of which used it unintentionally without receiving permission of the owner, Wolf's photographer, friend and harmonica student S. G. Schoenfeld, who has since taken measures to correct this problem from re-occuring, and who has the story of this great photo and many others on his website www.howlingwolfphotos.com