2/5/08

Howlin' Wolf - The Howlin' Wolf Album - 1968


This is an awesome album from blues legend Howlin' Wolf!
Great guitar as you would expect,
but for a blues album there are a lot of
weird and unique sounds and ideas in it...
But, that's just Howlin' Wolf showing off his genius!

The first track is "Spoonful"
and YES! It IS the Spoonful Cream covered,
so if you're a cream fan or even just an Eric Clapton fan,
you NEED to hear this song!
Cream did a better job on the song
and they made it a lot longer,
but you still need to hear this version!
It's pretty damn good too!

The second track "Tail Dragger"
is great if only for the fact that
it starts off with Howlin'
talking about why he doesn't like
the electric guitar even
though he's playing one, ha ha!
It's just like a normal blues song,
but Howlin' Wolf is doin' his howlin' thing,
the guitar sounds like a buzzing noise (in a good way),
and the bass, when it's playing, is pretty fat.

The third track "Smokestack Lightning"
sounds great! Howlin's howling can get a bit boring,
but the music is great! The flutes
and the other crazy noises are pretty bad ass
and the echoing guitar solo that slips in there
is really experimental for a blues song
and his howling actually works with it!
I really like this one. :]

The fourth track "Moanin' At Midnight"
is a lot slower then the three before
and the harmonica fades in and out perfectly!
Oh, and instead of howling, he hums!
No drums, but there's three stringed instruments
which I assume are guitars, but one almost sounds like a sitar...
Great song, really. It's pretty slow,
but if you're into blue, you'll love it!
If not... don't listen to this album!

The fifth track "Built For Comfort"
is another really great song!
The guitar is just really buzzing
and the bass and drums
have an awesome groove goin' on
and Howlin's words just flow over it quite smoothly!
Plus, I think it's funny that he's trying to say
that he isn't 'fat', he's just 'built for comfort', ha ha!
Probably one of my favorites on the album. :]

The sixth track "The Red Rooster"
has a great guitar sound
with wah wah going on in the background
and the drums have got a pretty good groove
going on with just mostly the snare drum.
And when the dueling guitars come in
both using wah wahs, it's just amazing!
They've got a very nice, gentle touch on the guitars.
It's quite beautiful!

Track seven, "Evil"
is full of great stop-go action from the bass and drums
and well... more wah wah! =D Once you start using it,
it's impossible to stop! But, why would you want to?
But, there's also another guitar soloing through out
the whole thing just buzzing around in the background
and although you don't notice it much
until it's the only thing making sound,
it's still pulling off some pretty cool blues solos!
I dig it. :]

"Down In The Bottom" is the eighth track
and the drums are just jammin' in the back
while the guitars are just doin' their thing.
The beat really isn't a blues beat at all,
but the rest of the music is strictly
electric blues, so any blues fan
will still completely love it!

The ninth track "Three Hundred Pounds Of Joy"
is another track about Howlin' Wolf's weight
and how he really thinks it a good thing.
Who knows? It could be a good thing.
But, it's still a great song
and everyone is just jamming even harder!
It's a great and somewhat humorous song!

The tenth track "Back Door Man"
starts off with Howlin talking about
how the "blues" music that everyone was
playing at the time isn't real blues
and he's gonna teach them how to play it.
He then proceeds to play the bluesiest song on the album
and it's just one of the greatest slow blues jams
that you will EVER hear!
This is THE best song on the whole album!
It will leave every true blues fans
speechless and drooling
all over them self!


Track Listing

1. Spoonful - 3:52

2. Tail Dragger - 4:34

3. Smokestack Lightning - 3:57

4. Moanin' At Midnight - 3:16

5. Built For Comfort - 5:11

6. The Red Rooster - 3:51

7. Evil - 4:07

8. Down In The Bottom - 2:46

9. Three Hundred Pounds Of Joy - 2:35

10. Back Door Man - 631

3 comments:

BlackSpring said...

Great description. I'm downloading it and will check it out. Thanks

Chase The Drummer said...

Welcomes!
If you liked the album,
feel free to give your own review on it and/or spread the link around!

Mosku said...

This is the most under-rated album ever. Great music!