Customer Reviews

Howlin at the Sun

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That famous line from Sam Phillips about Chester Arthur Burnett, Howlin' Wolf, is best illustrated by this disc - the best single disc collection of the Mighty Wolf's earliest recording period out of the Sun studios. Forget the recording flaws and just listen to how it was the Wolf made his rep in the first place - not just his soul-deep phrasing and singular vocal sound but the flat-out rawest blues group in the United States in the early 1950s, including Willie Johnson, arguably the inventor of guitar distortion and fuzz. He wasn't exactly the creme de la creme of guitar soloists - his few solos are elementary and passable - but as an accompanist who pumped his boss to the absolute crest of his blues power, Johnson was in a class by himself and, ultimatley, influenced a generation of the first rock guitar heroes, from Rick Burlison of the Rock and Roll Trio to Link Wray, as well as his successor and lifelong Wolf partner Hubert Sumlin. The rhythm section is so dead-on dropping on the backbeat that it was surely an influence on future soul rhythm sections. And, in case you were wondering, these cuts also make the case for Wolf as the top-rank blues songwriter he was right out of the box. Great as Muddy Waters was, this disc makes the case that, in the long term, maybe Howlin' Wolf had the better of the real deep blues. Maybe.

I have plenty of Wolf in my LP collection but not like this. His early Sun recording's are his best. For me the early recording's are just the best Blues that was done for these Chicago Blues great's of The Wolf,M.Waters,& the guy's of that era.know wonder it's more money for early recording's it's more worth having.I think it's safe to say The Wolf would agree along with his buddy's thar early playin' was best in every way.
Len!