Howlin' Wolf Albums (16)
'Rockin' the Blues Live in Germany'
Release Date 11/25/2003
Tracks 9
Label Acrobat
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What The Critics Say
Rockin' the Blues Live in Germany 1964 is still one of the few essential unauthorized live performances by Howlin' Wolf to emerge. Unlike Chess Records' own Wolf concert disc, Live and Cookin' at Alice's, cut more than a half-decade later, there are no apologies or explanations needed here over the late date of the recording in his career. This is prime Chester Burnett at work, in his prime, and if Clifton James' drums aren't always recorded with quite enough presence, then Hubert Sumlin's lead guitar (and Wolf's harp and occasional guitar flourishes), Sunnyland Slim's piano, and Willie Dixon's bass are right there with Wolf's voice, up close and personal. Everyone concerned seems fully primed and energized by the size and enthusiasm of the audiences they found on this tour (as well as the money, more than ten times what they were used to seeing playing the same sets in the U.S.A., even if half of it was in the currency of whatever country they were in). This is not only a great set and a superb show, but the individual songs, including "Rockin' the Blues" and "All My Love," are among the most accessible in Wolf's repertory. Unlike most unauthorized concert documents of his work, this CD would be a great place for a person to start listening to the man. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
'Demon Drivin' Blues Man'
Release Date 4/16/1995
Tracks 10
Label Black Label
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'Wolf Is at Your Door'
Release Date 10/30/1992
Tracks 18
Label New Rose Blues
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What The Critics Say
Although his tenure with Willie Dixon at Chess Studios is what made him a star, Howlin' Wolf's short-lived association with Ike Turner, Sam Phillips, and Sun Studios in the early '50s produced some of the most powerful and raucous music ever recorded. (Muddy Waters' first electric recordings are downright tame in comparison.) The Wolf Is at Your Door is a sizeable chunk of Howlin' Wolf's Sun sessions -- a diverse slate of music recorded over the span of 11 months. Seven of these songs (including the legendary "Moanin' at Midnight" b/w "How Many More Years") were leased to Chess, while the rest were left unissued until the late '70s. This is about as unrestrained as Wolf ever got in a studio setting, thanks in part to the crude backing he got from guitarist Willie Johnson and drummer Willie Steel. Wolf often stuck to the same themes in his songwriting (he constantly gripes about getting old), but as a singer he could mix it up, at least to the extent that his producers let him. Only in Memphis -- and with Phillips at the helm -- would you be able to record Wolf doing a swinging, Louis Jordan-style rap (on "Look-a-Here Baby") or take after take of boogie-woogie. The material here will always be overshadowed by Wolf's Chicago recordings, but that doesn't make it any less vital. ~ Ken Chang, All Music Guide
'Live in Cambridge, 1966'
Release Date 10/30/1992
Tracks 8
Label New Rose Blues
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'The Rockin' Chair Album'
Release Date 1/1/1986
Tracks 12
Label Vogue
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What The Critics Say
Howlin' Wolf's second album brings together some of the blues great's best singles from the late '50s and early '60s. Also available as a fine two-fer with his debut, Moanin' in the Moonlight, the so-called Rockin' Chair Album represents the cream of Wolf's Chicago blues work. Those tracks afforded classic status are many, including "Spoonful," "The Red Rooster," "Wang Dang Doodle," "Back Door Man," "Shake for Me," and "Who's Been Talking?" Also featuring the fine work of Chess house producer and bassist Willie Dixon and guitarist Hubert Sumlin, Rockin' Chair qualifies as one of pinnacles of early electric blues, and is an essential album for any quality blues collection. ~ Stephen Cook, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This, Wolf's last hurrah, is his final studio album. Cut with his regular working band, the Wolf Gang, everything here works well, despite Detroit Junior's annoying use of harpsichord on several tracks. Highlights include Eddie Shaw's "Coon on the Moon," Wolf's own "Moving" and "Stop Using Me," and both takes of "Speak Now Woman." Not the place to start a Wolf collection by any means, but a great place to end up. ~ Cub Koda, All Music Guide
'Live and Cookin' at Alice's Revisited'
Release Date 1/1/1972
Tracks 10
Label Chess
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What The Critics Say
A compact-disc reissue of Wolf's 1972 live album with the addition of two stellar bonus cuts. The first one, "Big House," first showed up on a hodgepodge Wolf bootleg album from the '70s. Its non-appearance on the original abum is somewhat of a mystery since it's arguably one of the best performances here. Set at a medium tempo, Wolf stretches out comfortably for over seven minutes, singing certain verses he likes two or three times as the band locks in with deadly authority. Certainly any list of great Howlin' Wolf vocal performances would have to include this one. The second bonus track, "Mr. Airplane Man," is Wolf working his one-riff-fits-all voodoo for all it's worth. You can tell from note one of his vocal entrance that the pilot light of inspiration is fully lit and the ensuing performance is the Wolf at his howlin' best. Also of special note are the wild and wooly takes on "I Had a Dream," "I Didn't Know" and Muddy Waters's "Mean Mistreater." There are mistakes galore out of the band and some p.a. system feedback here and there, both of which only add to the charm of it all. A great document of Wolf toward the end, still capable of bringing the heat and rocking the house down to the last brick. ~ Cub Koda, All Music Guide
