The Howlin' Wolf Anthology

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Customer reviews

review by: Music Matador date: 2009-02-17 rating:
Wolf anthology hits the spot!!!!
This compilation of wolf's 50's and 60's output is very good.All the classics are included goin' down slow,tail dragger etc...This is well recommended for those who have not heard howling's music.There is one flaw with the recording of this cd.I noticed when playing "smokestack lightning" you get half way through the tune then it jumps straight into second tune "you cant be beat".Not too sure if this is a defect with the production of the cd or just my copy.Apart from that this is well recommended!!!!

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review by: date: 2008-11-27 rating:
Why is this album sold with incomplete songs
The first song on this album is cut short. Quite annoying when I bought the album specificaly for this song. And I feel that Amazon should flag this up at the top of the page. No one buys an original album to only get half of a song!

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review by: date: 2008-01-16 rating:
A definitive anthology? Well, not really!
This 2-CD set comes enclosed in a "large" jewel box. It features 48 tracks recorded for the Chess label from 1956 to 1973. The playing time is generous at more than two hours of music (131:07.) br / br /The selections are, often, of the highest order. No less than 34 of these tracks previously appeared on "His Best", "His Best, Vol. 2" and/or "The Chess Box", which is a reference indeed! br / br /The 14 remaining tracks are more of a mixed bag. They include gems like ""I'm Leavin' You" or "Somebody In My Home" but also largely dispensable material like the instrumental "The Back Door Man" (with awful harpsichord playing"), the average "Mama's Baby" or "Do The Do". br / br /What is most puzzling here is that none of Howlin' Wolf's eleven singles released on Chess between 1951 and 1955 are featured. These tracks - many of them cut in Memphis with Willie Johnson on guitar and Willie Steele on drums - are masterpieces. No Howlin' Wolf anthology can be complete without tracks like "Moanin' At Midnight", "How Many More Years", "Evil", "Forty-Four", "All Night Boogie", "Evil", etc. The liner notes surprisingly inform us that these latter tracks are merely "heralding a session in January 1956 which produced the legendary... hit "Smokestack Lightnin'" ... and is the starting point of this anthology..." This is as astute as writing that Elvis' Sun recordings were heralding "Heartbreak Hotel"! br / br /Speaking of liner notes, those available here are nothing more than a hodgepodge of previously available notes from earlier MCA/Chess releases. br /After a short biography of Wolf until his move to Chicago, the author writes: "Tracking the personnel on Wolf's Chess sessions is exhausting in itself..." He then comments various tracks giving only piecemeal information regarding the accompanying musicians. Well, readily available discographical details would have been a much better proposition. br /The author also forgets to mention Howlin' Wolf first Chess single ("Moanin' At Midnight") released in 1951. br /This is not nitpicking; it merely emphasizes the fact that this is a shoddy, cheapo-cheapo booklet. br / br /The sound quality is very good, which is not surprising since the Spectrum label is part of the Universal conglomerate (Universal owns the rights to all of the original Chess recordings.) br / br /As already reported on the Amazon website, there is an awful glitch as the aforementioned "Smokestack Lightnin'" - which opens disc one - is abruptly cut at 1:59. The complete take has a normal length of 3:09. br / br /Despite the above reservations, this compilation is good value with so many great tracks. Should you wish to buy a more balanced overview of the Wolf recordings, I think that the "His Best" and "His Best, Vol. 2" compilations would better serve you. They include 40 tracks between themselves, but no one is a dud. They also feature material released between 1951 and 1955. br /Moreover, if you buy them from Amazon Sellers, they will not cost you much more than the anthology under review. br /

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review by: date: 2007-11-18 rating:
Great if you can tolerate a minute chopped off Smokestack Lightnin'
This is a great thorough selection of the Wolf's music from 1956-73 but, if like me, your favourite Howlin' Wolf song is Smokestack Lightnin' be prepared for disappointment, as the song is abruptly ineplicably cut off at 1:59' chopping off a full minute from the full track. How stupid is that!? br / br /That aside, Howlin' Wolf is a unique voice in popular music and has been a profound influence on everyone from Led Zeppelin to Captain Beefheart.


review by: RUEBEN AMOS RUNACRE date: 2007-06-21 rating:
Brilliant!!!!
This box set cd represents terrific value for money and is a great introduction to Howlin'Wolf. Highly recommended!

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