Additionally, some of the tunes, like the talking blues of "Look-A-Here Baby" and "Everybody's In The Mood" swing hard for being blues. Jazz boogie wasn't so uncommon in blues at that time; T-Bone Walker and Louis Jordan rode that mix to great popularity. But Wolf pulls it off without losing any of his Delta influence. There were a few other uncommon touches here and there, like the use of horns in a small group setting ("Oh Red"), and even a drum solo on the track "Hold Your Money".
The next phase of Wolf's recording career, the first Chicago years from 1954 to 1959, are covered from "Come To Me Baby" to "My People's Gone". This was a transitory period for Wolf with much of the Memphis sound still intact, but Johnson's guitar being increasingly replaced by a maturing Humlin Sumlin and the overall sound becoming more refined. The use of reverb increases and puts a very effectively haunting effect in the "Moaning For My Baby" alternate "Midnight Blues".
The four tracks that follow "My People's Gone" are during Wolf's early sixties peak, with three of those tracks penned by the Cole Porter of the blues, Willie Dixon. While these tunes are less familiar than, say "Wang Dang Doodle" or "Spoonful", "Long Green Stuff" and "Mama's Baby" were Dixon's chaff that still exceeded most other blues composers' wheat. And it didn't matter anyway when Hubert Sumlin, a boy that Wolf took under his wing at just 14 years old in the late forties, had by then blossomed into one of the most formidable electric guitarists on the Chicago blues scene. His slinky lines on these and other Wolf sides have been copied and recycled endlessly over the decades, most notably by Robert Cray.
Even if the quality of material started to fall off a tad in the next five tracks representing the mid to late sixties, Sumlin's guitar combined with Wolf's still-potent vocals could be counted on to save the day, like on the otherwise humdrum "I Had A Dream". "The Big House" is almost a dead ringer for Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" until Hubert cuts loose with a Keith Richards sound-alike solo... except that it's been Keith who was imitating Hubert all along.
Article comments
1 - sandy guy schoenfeld
My iconic and rare portraits and concert shots (as well as family pics) of the legendary Howlin' Wolf may be seen on my website.
I was Wolf's friend and harmonica student, as well as chosen photographer. I recently located my additional taped interviews of him and... unique songs by him (and me) playing and singing together that have never yet been published on a CD or record, but are about to be. (Then you can hear how he likely sounded "in the '30s") as it's heavy powerful rocking full acoustic boogie Wolf style country style blues harp as well as me banging drums on the furniture.
2 - Pico
Those are some fantastic pics, Sandy, thanks for sharing those. And some more previously unreleased, done-home recordings of Wolf should be something any blues lover will look forward to.
Joe Morello gave you drumming lessons? Get out! :&)
-P