Memphis Days: The Definitive Edition Vol. 1 [Import]

Howlin' Wolf | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 28, 1999)
• Original Release Date: 1992
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Bear Family
• ASIN: B0000070YU
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #270,243 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Oh, Red! [Take 1]

2. My Last Affair [Take 1]

3. Come Back Home [Take 1]

4. California Boogie

5. California Blues

6. Look-A-Here Baby

7. Smile at Me

8. My Baby Walked Off

9. Drinkin' CV Wine (CV Wine Blues)

10. My Troubles and Me

11. Chocolate Drop

12. Mr. Highway Man

13. Bluebird Blues

14. Color and Kind

15. (Everybody's) In the Mood

16. Dorothy Mae [Number 2]

17. I Got a Woman (Sweet Woman)

18. Decoration Day Blues

19. (Well) That's All Right

20. How Many More Years

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

The sound quality of this Bear Family CD is just unbelievably GREAT! This album is a must! Aggressive, loud, and excellent guitar playing by Willie Johnson. Some of the roughest and best blues ever recorded in Memphis. Includes some previously unissued titles. All original Sun recordings, 21 tracks and a 12-page booklet.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Where the soul of man never dies" Sam Phillips, January 24, 2000

By 

"blindmowin" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Memphis Days: Definitive Edition 1 (Audio CD)

Sam Phillips was devistated by the news that the Wolf was going to move to Chicago. It just spoiled all his plans to back Howlin' Wolf as the main man from Sun records (Memphis,Ten). After the Wolf left, Sam decided to back the young trucker named Elvis. Howlin' Wolf had a hat full of tunes pooring out of his head years before he ever recorded, some tunes we will never hear. You will find a lot of the available CDs carry the same cuts, except for this one. THUNDERING music from the source. When Sam Phillips said of the Wolf, "this is where the soul of man never dies" these were the recordings he spoke of. The two voices from his throat, the terrible piano runs, the dirty guitar, and the drums like popping balloons. You will be able to listen to these cuts a million times over and always find yourself startled to your foundation.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll want Volume 2 as well..., March 12, 2003

By 

Edwin Graf Diemer (Red Bank, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Memphis Days: Definitive Edition 1 (Audio CD)

Great to see this back in print! Nothing more to add to the above, except it is just magnificent in every way, and the documentation is a music course in itself. Save time and grab the other volume while you're at it-you'll want it anyway! The two disks really should have been packaged together because the documentation at times refers to material in the other set. Essential!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prime Wolf, April 11, 2009

By 

Gordon Pfannenstiel (Russell, KS United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Memphis Days: The Definitive Edition Vol. 1 (Audio CD)

The word is that the Memphis tracks are "primitive" compared to Wolf's later work for Chess. This is true and not true. In fact, the sound quality on this release is quite good and the band is cooking. Willie Johnson's guitar work is simultaneously jazzy and distorted. It's actually very compelling and unique, and Wolf's harp work, while basic and limited, is absolutely perfect in this context. He and Johnson compliment each other very well. Bear Family does a great job with the remastering, considering it was done 20 years ago. Many of these tracks were finally released on The Chess Box and Don't Wanna Be Your Dog, but this is still a definitive collection and prime Wolf. He certainly went on to great heights with Chess, and had access to Dixon's songs and Chess's production excellence, but whether he bettered these sides is certainly debatable.