The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions

Howlin' Wolf | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 26, 1989)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Chess
• ASIN: B000002OAZ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,028 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #14 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > Memphis Blues
  • #80 in Music > Blues > Chicago Blues
  • #89 in Music > Blues > Traditional Blues

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely amazing, September 29, 2002

By 

Greg Tallent (Lexington, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions (Audio CD)

When you take Howlin' Wolf-one of the greatest Chicago bluesmen ever-and put him together with Eric Clapton, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts and Steve Winwood, what do you get? You get one exciting blues album. I read somewhere that blues purists don't like this album, but I know from listening to it that this is pure, electric, energetic, rockin' blues.

The album starts off strong; the first thing you hear is Clapton's beautiful slide guitar riff on "Rockin' Daddy." On this track, we have Phil Upchurch on bass, Winwood on piano, The Wolf's long time lead guitarist Hubert Sumlin on rhythm guitar, Charlie Watts on drums, and The Wolf himself singing the vocals in his famous growling stlyle. We hear a wonderful solo from Clapton, who plays off the melody of the tune beautifully.

Ringo plays drums on "I Ain't Superstitious" and the results are awesome. With a horn section (Joe Miller, Jordan Sandke, Dennis Lansing) holding the roots of the chords, and Clapton playing a slide riff to back The Wolf's vocals, we get a truly great jam.

The rest of the album is as exciting has the first two songs. We hear Jeffrey M. Carp's soulful harp on "Sittin' On Top Of The World," and The Wolf's vocals are just as astounding. Clapton adds another creative solo, again playing off the beautiful melody of the song. Later in the album, we hear the amusing Willie Dixon tune "Built For Comfort" in which the horn section mentioned before adds its unique touch. "Highway 49" is one of the highlights of the album, with classic guitar riffs and The Wolf's soulful, bluesy singing. You get the feeling that no one could sing this song like The Wolf. Basically, when buying blues, you can't go wrong with Howlin' Wolf. Overall, this album is excellent. It is a beautiful display of classic blues performed by an all-star cast.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wang Wang Doodle, September 14, 2004

By 

Johnny Heering "trivia buff" (Bethel, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions (Audio CD)

After the success of Muddy Waters' Fathers and Sons album, Chess Records decided to do something similar with Howlin' Wolf. So, they got young rock stars like Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts to record with Wolf. The results were good, although not as good as Wolf's older recordings. Practically all of these songs had been recorded by Wolf before, in better versions. Wolf's voice was not quite as strong as it once was, and the younger musicians didn't quite mesh with Wolf as well as the old bluesmen he usually worked with did. But this is still an enjoyable album that blues fans should enjoy.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic Blues-Rock Summit Meeting, July 18, 2000

By 

Michael Strom (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions (Audio CD)

Howlin' Wolf sings his classic songs. The Rolling Stones rhythm section of Wyman & Watts. Clapton plays lead guitar & Stevie Winwood handles the keyboards. Really, is there any way this could have gone wrong? Well, it didn't. The band never would have forgiven themselves if they'd screwed it up.

If you had taken Wolf out of the equation, these guys probably could not have fit their swollen heads & bloated egos into the same room. But they did it for Wolf, & they did it the right way.

Clapton's lead lines, fills & solos were creative without getting showy -- he worked to make every song better without making it the Eric Clapton show. Wyman & Watts had it the easiest, since they always checked their egos at the door w/the Stones while pushing the beat. Winwood contented himself to just be a sideman for an entire album, which may have been the biggest surprise of all.

So, is this a Blues album or a Rock album? Either or both. In fact, it is the best evidence available of how little difference there could be between the two, properly approached. OK, it may be just the teensiest bit too antiseptic to be a genuine Blues album. That having been said, it is perfect for what it is. The acolytes giving props to the elder master, helping him to a late career payday that he surely needed, and the master acknowledging that (as we say on the South Side these days) the kids could play. All concerned acquitted themselves honorably.

It sounded great in the '70's, & still does.