Rating: - Essential Wolf
A welcome budget price collection by one of the most charismatic and influential blues artists of all time. Many of Wolf's best known numbers are here, commencing with 'How Many More Years' from his first session in 1951 in Sam Phillips' Memphis studio, and continuing through the 1954 to 1965 period with Chess Records. The material is licensed from MCA, and therefore in excellent sound quality, with stereo mixes being used on some of the later dates. Just reading the titles reveals that most of the ... Read More
Rating: - A good place to start
This is actually a pretty good compilation. It has most of Wolf's best-known songs, the fidelity is good, and the price is reasonable. It doesn't quite measure up to MCA/Chess' "His Best", however, and if you're into Howlin' Wolf, "His Best" and "His Best, vol. II" are an ultimately more satisfying purchase.
Rating: - A good place to start
This is actually a pretty good compilation. It has most of Wolf's best-known songs, the fidelity is good, and the price is reasonable. It doesn't quite measure up to MCA/Chess' "His Best", however, and if you're into Howlin' Wolf, "His Best" and "His Best, vol. II" are an ultimately more satisfying purchase.
Rating: - The main man.
When the blues hit Chicago and got lectrified there were two competing champs for the heavyweight title.
Muddy Waters is the better known, and no slouch in my book, but this guy is the real king.
Listen in awe to that primal bellow. Hubert Sumlin was no slouch on guitar either. Truelly a giant of the blues, and with Willie Dixon penning most of the songs, how can you lose?
So turn your blues-lite Clapton cds into coasters and get your ears round the Wolf.
Rating: - A good compilation with some cracking songs.
This is a great compilation if Howlin Wolf's best known work and as such is not going to be of much use to die hard fans but as an introduction it works just fine. Howlin Wolf had one of the greatest blues voices, a kind of melodic growl, that was almost an instrument in its own right. It is in fine especiaaly on such songs as "Backdoor Man" (which is a classic) and "Smokestack Ligthning". The tunes are fine and great if you like delta blues but the whole compilation lacks depth (probably due to the ... Read More
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