Week 12
Howlin' Wolf, Howlin' Wolf, aka The Rocking Chair Album / Moanin' in the Moonlight
(MCA 5908)


"When I heard Howlin' Wolf, I said, 'This is for me. This is where the soul of man never dies.'" — Sam Phillips, founder, Sun Records

Few figures loom as large in the history of the blues as Howlin’ Wolf. Known to family as Chester Burnett, his thundering and unmistakable musical presence has rarely been matched, and, together with that of fellow Chess artist and purported rival Muddy Waters, his recorded legacy forms a substantial base of modern electric blues. Accordingly, few recordings offer as essential a package of blues as this collection, which combines on a single CD Wolf’s first two Chess Records LPs.

Born in 1910 in West Point, Mississippi, Wolf didn’t begin recording until age 41, when he cut his first sides for Sam Phillips in Memphis. Included in this collection, these songs (“Moanin’ in the Moonlight” and “How Many More Years”) were strongly rooted in Delta music traditions, particularly that of Wolf’s oft-cited main influence, Charlie Patton. However, the intensity and electricity with which they were played were decidedly urban. Together with Wolf’s now-legendary stage antics, this powerful approach to the blues made Wolf and his band reportedly the most scorching act in town, and each of these songs a substantial national R&B hit.

Upon moving to Chicago in 1953, Wolf recorded exclusively for Chess Records, building the extensive catalog of singles from which the majority of the two LPs on this CD were originally compiled. Spanning the period from 1953 to 1961, these songs feature not only the influential guitar of longtime Wolf accompanist Hubert Sumlin, but also the backing of many Chess luminaries, including pianist Otis Spann, drummers Sam Lay and Fred Below, and bass player Willie Dixon, who wrote many of the most celebrated numbers on this collection. Yet from haunting numbers of loneliness and regret, to strutting compositions of lust and menace, Wolf is always the star, a true and vital presence of incomparable strength and raw humanity. As such, this CD can serve as both an indispensable document of Howlin’ Wolf and a fine introduction to the blues.

Listen: Howlin’ Wolf —"Moanin’ For My Baby"
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