Howlin' Wolf: His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection)

Howlin' Wolf

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 8, 1997)
• Original Release Date: April 8, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Chess
• ASIN: B000005KQM
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #42,011 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Chester Burnett's ferocious growl was a staple of Chicago's electric-blues heyday. This 20-song compilation ranges from his 1951 debut "Moanin' at Midnight" with Willie Johnson on guitar to 1964's "Killing Floor" with Buddy Guy on guitar. His scratchy, sawed-off vocal approach and his energetic harmonica grace original classics such as "How Many More Years" and "Smokestack Lightnin'." By 1960, he became, along with Muddy Waters, the foremost interpreter of Willie Dixon's songs, lending his coarse voice to legendary Dixon cuts such as "Wang Dang Doodle," "Back Door Man," "Spoonful," "The Red Rooster," and "I Ain't Superstitious." Wolf's style was based on primal raw power, and he ranks among the genre's most distinctive performers. --Marc Greilsamer

Product Description

Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) pressing. Universal. 2008. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

114 of 117 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Is The Real Stuff!, May 8, 2000

By	happydogpotatohead "happydogpotatohead" (New Orleans, LA USA) - See all my reviews

The first thing you hear on this CD is Wolf's unearthly moaning/humming. It gradually increases in volume until it becomes huge, frightening, and distorted. The reason it's distorted is because his voice is overloading the mike. The sound you hear is the mike fixing to blow up. You're hearing the elements of the microphone being rattled by Wolf's gigantic voice. They didn't have equipment that could take the Wolf full-on. Similarly, no one CD is going to contain all of the Wolf; he was just too damn big. But this CD has all the stuff that sent people like Mike Bloomfield and Jimmy Page scuttling into their bedrooms to try and cop the licks. What they never could imitate was the raw pure attitude of the Wolf, a mighty, mighty man among men, "300 pounds of muscle and man" as he says on this very CD.

This CD has all the classic songs on it. If you know anything about blues you probably have this CD. If you're learning about the blues, GET THIS IMMEDIATELY. It makes nearly all modern "blues" artists sound completely pale and anemic. If you want a real laugh, drag out the Doors' first album and compare Jim Morrison's "Backdoor Man" with Howlin' Wolf's version on this CD. Then ask yourself who REALLY "ate more chicken than any man ever seen." I think the answer will be painfully obvious. This is everything the blues should be: raw, dangerous, edgy, filthy with distortion, snarling guitar from Hubert Sumlin and Pat Hare. Raw visceral blues that does not compromise and takes no prisoners. If blues was liquor, Howlin' Wolf would be straight whiskey. Buy this CD and get drunk.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Single Disc Compilation Available..., September 6, 2004

By	"The Woj" (Downers Grove, IL) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

For someone on a budget who is interested in the music of this legendary artist, look no further than this single disc album. The sound and track selection here are excellent. Anyone interested in the blues needs to have at lest one Howlin' Wolf album in their collection and you can't go wrong here. For those interested in further exploring the Wolf's music (or if you have a few extra bucks around), I suggest the Howlin' Wolf Chess Box which contains 3 discs worth of material, but for about 4 times the cost.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This really rates ten stars..., October 15, 2001

By	Karl D. Wiggins "Star Wars Fan" (Northport, AL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

...there just aren't that many available. When I first started listening to blues music - I had in my mind what a blues artist should sound like. I listened to Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Robert Johnson, Buddy Guy, Elmore James, and they all are great - don't get me wrong. But when I heard Howlin' Wolf start up on "I Ain't Superstitious," I knew that was it. Wolf has the best voice in blues, and this is the best collection I've come across of his music. You can make a case for a number of tunes that should be here, but the sound quality and overall impact of the selections just can't be beaten. If you are a blues novice, or just need to hear what the blues should sound like - get it.