Howlin' Wolf

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Chester Arthur Burnett
harmonica, guitar, vocals
born: June 10, 1910 in West Point, Mississippi
died: January 10, 1976 in Hines, Illinois (kidney failure)
buried: Oak Ridge Cemetery, Hillside, Cook County, Illinois
Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame: 1980
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: 1991

"People talk about how mean Howlin' Wolf was. That's a total lie. I didn't find Wolf to be mean.
Wolf was a big pussycat. He could bark a lot but he wouldn't bite. I learned a lot from that guy.
I mean positive things, not negative things." Sam Lay

Here is one of the legends of the Blues. A man with a very distinctive voice and a master on the blues harp.
Howlin' Wolf starts playing the guitar after listening to Charley Patton. A fulltime career in music begins in the late '40s.
He formed his first band in Memphis, where he works as a DJ in 1948. It is in this city where he does his first recordings, produced by Sam Phillips and Ike Turner, the year is 1951.
Signing to the Chess label, the Wolf moves to Chicago, his rural blues changes into the modern Chicago-blues.
Teaming up with producer/songwriter Willie Dixon produces many classic recordings.
Amongst his sidemen were the likes of Willie Johnson, Johnny Jones, Henry Gray and none other than Hubert Sumlin...

Extended biography will be put up

Singles:
How Many More Years
Moanin' At Midnight
Smokestack Lightning
Forty Four
Evil
I Asked Her Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)
Spoonful
The Red Rooster
Back Door Man
Wang Dang Doodle
All My Life
Dust My Broom
Goin' Down Slow
Howlin' For My Darlin'
I Didn't Mean To Hurt Your Feelings
Love Me
Rockin' The Blues
Shake It For Me

Essential Howlin' Wolf album: Howlin' Wolf - His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection)

Albums:
- * Moanin' In The Moonlight [Chess LP-1434, 1958]
Howlin' Wolf Sings The Blues [Crown CLP-5240, 1962]
- The Rockin' Chair Album [Vogue 600111, 1962] with Fred Below, J.T. Brown, Willie Dixon, Henry Gray, Buddy Guy, Little Johnny Jones, Sam Lay, Lafayette Leake, Freddy Robinson, Jimmy Rogers, Otis "Smokey" Smothers, Otis Spann, Hubert Sumlin, Jody Williams
- * Howlin' Wolf [Chess LP-1469, 1962]
Tell Me [1964]
Poor Boy [1965]
- ** The Real Folk Blues [MCA/Chess LP-1502, 1966] with Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy, Willie Johnson, Little Johnny Jones, Sam Lay, Lafayette Leake, Otis "Smokey" Smothers, Hubert Sumlin, Jody Williams
- Big City Blues [United/Superior US-7717, 1966]
Original Folk Blues [United/Superior US-7747, 1967]
- ** More Real Folk Blues [MCA/Chess LPS-1512, 1967] with Fred Below, Willie Dixon, Henry Gray, Willie Johnson, Otis Spann, Hubert Sumlin, Jody Williams
Howlin' Wolf's Twenty Greatest R&B Hits [1967]
- His Greatest Sides, Vol.1 [Chess, 1967]
The Howlin' Wolf Album [1969]
This Is Howlin' Wolf's New Album [Cadet LPS-319, 1969]
Howlin' Wolf [Cadet LPS-324, 1969]
Evil [1969]
- Goin' Back Home [Syndicate 003, 1970] with Fred Below, James Cotton, Willie Dixon, Henry Gray, Otis "Smokey" Smothers, Hubert Sumlin, Ike Turner, Jody Williams
Message To The Young [Chess CH-50002, 1971]
- The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions [MCA/Chess CH-60008, 1971] with Hubert Sumlin, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, Steve Winwood, Ringo Starr, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, Ian Stewart
- Live And Cookin' at Alice's Revisited [Chess CH-50015, 1972] with Fred Below, Dave Myers, Eddie Shaw, Hubert Sumlin, Sunnyland Slim
Howlin' Wolf Aka Chester Burnett [Chess 2CH-60016, 1972] 2LP-set
- The Back Door Wolf [Chess CH-50045, 1973] with Detroit Junior, Eddie Shaw, Hubert Sumlin
- Change My Way [Chess CHV-418, 1975] with Willie Dixon, Henry Gray, Buddy Guy, Little Johnny Jones, Sam Lay, Lafayette Leake, Jimmy Rogers, Otis Smokey Smothers, Hubert Sumlin, Jody Williams
Chess Blues Masters Series: Howlin' Wolf [Chess, 1976] 2-lp set
Howlin' Wolf [Chess, 1977]
The Legendary Sun Performers [1977] 2-lp set
- Can't Put Me Out [Blues Ball 2002, 1979] with Hubert Sumlin
Heart Like A Railroad Steel [1979]
Chess Masters [Chess, 1981]
Chess Masters, Vol.2 [Chess, 1982]
Ridin' In The Moonlight [1982]
Chess Masters, Vol.3 [Chess, 1983]
Chicago: 26 Golden Years [Chess CH-9183, 1984]
All Night Boogie [1984]
The Wolf [1984]
Golden Classics [1984]
His Greatest Sides, Vol.1 [1984]
Collection [1985]
The Rocking Chair Album [1986]
Greatest Hits [1986]
Howlin' For My Baby [Charly, 1987]
Live In Europe 1964 [1988]
Red Rooster [1988]
I Am The Wolf [1988]
Moanin' & Howlin' [1988]
Chess Masters, Vol.4 [1988]
Smokestack Lightnin' [1988]
- Cadillac Daddy: Memphis Recordings, 1952 [Rounder 28, 1989] with James Cotton, Willie Johnson.
- Memphis Days: The Definitive Edition, Vol.1 [Bear Family 15460, 1989] with James Cotton, Willie Johnson, Ike Turner; earliest recordings at the famous Sun studios with producer Sam Phillips.
- Memphis Days: The Definitive Edition, Vol.2 [Bear Family 15500, 1990] with James Cotton, Willie Johnson, Ike Turner; recorded at the famous Sun studios with producer Sam Phillips.
Smokestack Lightnin', Vol.1 [1991]
- The Chess Box [Chess 9332, November 1991] 3 CD Box set with Hubert Sumlin
- London Sessions [Chess 9297, July 1989]
Howlin' For My Baby [Sound Solutions, 1992]
Back Door Man [1992]
The Gold Collection [1992]
- Live in Cambridge, MA, 1966 [New Rose Blues 5082, October 1992] with Sam Lay, Hubert Sumlin, Eddie Shaw
- Howlin' Wolf Rides Again [Ace 333, December 1993] with Hubert Sumlin
Moanin' In The Moonlite: 26 Hits [1994]
- Ain't Gonna Be Your Dog [Chess 9349, 1994] 2 CD set with J.T. Brown, James Cotton, Willie Dixon, Henry Gray, Willie Johnson, Calvin "Fuzz" Jones, Little Johnny Jones, Sam Lay, Lafayette Leake, Eddie Shaw, Otis "Smokey" Smothers, Hubert Sumlin, Jody Williams
Chicago Blue [1995]
Genuine Article: The Best Of Howlin' Wolf [1995]
- Highway 49 and Other Classics [Intercontinental 1124, February 1996]
- Bluesmaster [MCA Special Products 20939, March 1996]
- Rockin' The Blues [Collectables 5701, June 1996]
- Killing Floor [Charly 1041, October 1996] with Hubert Sumlin
- His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection) [Chess 9375, April 1997] with Willie Dixon, Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Rogers, Otis Spann, Henry Gray, Willie Johnson, Freddy King, Buddy Guy, Ike Turner, Jody Williams
Revue Collection [1997]
Howlin' At The Sun [1997]
Cause Of It All [1997]
- The Gold Collection [Fine Tune 2212, September 1998]
- The Masters: Howlin' Wolf [Cleopatra, October 1998]
Real Folk Blues [Chess Records 9273]
- His Best, Vol.2 [Chess 12026, July 1999] with Willie Dixon, Jimmy Rogers, Otis Spann, Hubert Sumlin, Buddy Guy, Willie Johnson, Henry Gray, Jody Williams, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman
Best Of Howlin' Wolf
Rhythm & Blues With Howlin' Wolf
Howlin' Wolf [Python]
I'm The Wolf
Smokestack Lightning
Tail Dragger
Legendary Howlin' Wolf
Walk That Walk [Chess]
16 Classic Tracks [Cleopatra, 2000]
Goin' Down South [2000]
Great [BCD]
In Concert [Vivid]
The Legendary Masters Series
Power Of The Voice [Benco]
Spoonful [Benco]
The Red Rooster: 14 Blues Greats
- The Howlin' Wolf Collection [Universal/Spectrum, October 2000]
Sun Years [Blufa]
- Legendary Blues Recordings: Howlin Wolf [Direct Source, May 2001]
- Killing Floor [Magnum 74, May 2001]
- Electric Blues [Delta 17192, May 2001]
- Masters [Cleopatra, June 2001]
- Smokestack Lightning [TKO 26, November 2001]
- Chicago Blues [Tomato 2103, September 2002]
- The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions [Chess 112985, March 2003] 2 CD set
- 20th Century Masters - Millennium Collection: The Best of Howlin' Wolf [MCA 35802, June 2003] with Eric Clapton, Jody Williams
- Sings the Blues [Ace, August 2004]
- Howlin' the Blues [Music Avenue 125, July 2006] 2 CD set with James Cotton, Willie Dixon, Clifton James, Otis Spann, Hubert Sumlin, Sunnyland Slim, Ike Turner, Jody Williams

* released as 2-on-1 Howlin' Wolf / Moanin' In The Moonlight [MCA/Chess 5908, 1986]
** released as 2-on-1 The Real Folk Blues / More Real Folk Blues [MCA/Chess 112820, March 2002]

Bo Diddley / Muddy Waters / Howlin' Wolf:
- The Super Super Blues Band [Checker LP-3010, 1968] reissued in 1984 [CH-9169] with Buddy Guy, Clifton James, Otis Spann, Hubert Sumlin

Muddy Waters / Howlin' Wolf:
- Muddy & The Wolf [MCA/Chess, 1974] , the Wolf tracks taken from "The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions, Muddy's from "Fathers And Sons"; with Otis Spann, Hubert Sumlin, Pinetop Perkins, Paul Butterfield, Michael Bloomfield, Eric Clapton, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Steve Winwood, Ringo Starr, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, Ian Stewart.
- London Revisited With Howlin' Wolf And Muddy Waters [Chess 2CH-60026, 1974] 2LP-set
- Back to Back [Edeltone 18215, September 2000]

Howlin' Wolf & The Wolf Gang
- Live At Joe's 1973 [Wolf 120100, January 1995] with Detroit Junior, Andrew McMahon, Eddie Shaw, Hubert Sumlin

He appears on the following albums:
Various Artists - Atlantic Blues [Atlantic 82309, 1986] 4 CD Box set
Various Artists - The Great Tomato Blues Package [Tomato 70386, 1989] 2 CD set
Various Artists - Guitar Player Presents: Legends of Guitar: Electric Blues, Vol. 1 [Rhino 70716, September 1990]
Various Artists - Superblues: All-Time Classic Blues Hits, Volume One [Stax 8551, October 1990]
Various Artists - Guitar Player Presents: Legends of Guitar: Electric Blues, Vol. 2 [Rhino 70564, August 1991]
Various Artists - Tomato Delta Blues Package [Rhino 71567, 1994]
Various Artists - Essential Blues [House of Blues 1149, July 1995] 2 CD set
Various Artists - American Folk Blues Festival: 1962-1965 [Evidence 26100, November 1995] 5 CD Box set
Various Artists - Chess Blues Classics: 1957 to 1967 [Chess 9368, March 1997]
Various Artists - Chess Blues Classics: 1947 to 1956 [Chess 9369, March 1997]
Various Artists - Chess Blues-Rock Songbook: The Classic Originals [Chess 9389, August 1997] 2 CD set
Various Artists - Essential Blues Harmonica [House Of Blues 161300, August 1997] 2 CD set
Various Artists - Safe House: A Collection of Blues [Relativity 1673, April 1998]
Various Artists - Blues Masters, Vol. 16: More Harmonica Classics [Rhino 75346, July 1998]
Various Artists - Golden Age of Blue Chicago [Blue Chicago 5003, October 1998]
Various Artists - Back to Black: 1900-1999 [Universal 541518, February 2001] 10 CD Box Set
Various Artists - Pure Blues [UTV 556176, April 2001]
Various Artists - An Introduction to the Blues: 60 Blues Guitar Greats [Castle Music 91630, January 2003] 3 CD set
Various Artists - Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: The Best of the Blues [UTV 000070402, August 2003]
Various Artists - American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1966 [Hip-O 103002, August 2003]
Various Artists - Blues Story [Shout! Factory 31134, September 2003] 2 CD set
Various Artists - Harmonica Blues, Vol. 2: 1946-1952 [Fremeaux 5059, September 2003] 2 CD Set
Various Artists - Alan Lomax: Blues Songbook [Rounder 1866, September 2003] 2 CD set
Various Artists - Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: Godfathers and Sons [Hip-O 62702, September 2003]
Various Artists - Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: The Road to Memphis [Hip-O 70502, September 2003]
Various Artists - Alan Lomax: Blues Songbook [Rounder 1866, September 2003] 2 CD set
Various Artists - Memphis Blues [JSP 57777, September 2006] 4 CD box set

Various Artists:
- Wolf Tracks: A Tribute to Howlin' Wolf [Telarc 83427, May 1998] starring a.o. Hubert Sumlin, Henry Gray, James Cotton, Taj Mahal, Kenny Neal, Ronnie Hawkins, Sam Lay, Eddie Shaw, Calvin Jones and Debbie Davis.
- Howlin Wolf Blues: Star Talent Records [1993]

U.K. visitors looking for Howlin' Wolf albums? - Canadian visitors looking for Howlin' Wolf albums?

Video:
- The American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1966, Vol. 2 [1962] DVD
- American Roots Music [2001] DVD - On VHS
- The Howlin' Wolf Story - The Secret History of Rock & Roll [2003] DVD

Books:
- Feel Like Going Home - Peter Guralnick [July 1999]
- The Voice of the Blues: Classic Interviews from Living Blues Magazine [November 2001] (Paperback)

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