Album Essentials: Howlin' Wolf "Moanin' in the Moonlight"

By Dave Swanson - Summit FM Contributor

Of all the blues legends in history, few, if any, have the magic and presence of Chester Arthur Burnett, better known as Howlin' Wolf. His transformation of acoustic blues into an electric-charged storm was a major factor in creating rock and roll music. His guitar playing was raw and captivating, and his harmonica skills would charge any given song, but it was his voice, with its almost otherworldly growl, that truly put him on the map.

Legend has it that he learned initial guitar licks from blues legend Charly Patton and harmonica prowess from Rice Miller, aka Sonny Boy Williamson (#2), but that voice came from the big man himself, and there was never another quite like it! His mere presence would shake the room. 

Born in 1910, Wolf was a bit older than most by the time he dove into the music game. It wouldn't be until the late '30s that he started to take flight. Following the aforementioned schooling from Patton and Williamson, Wolf had found a musical calling. After brief stints in prison and the army, Wolf focused on his music. In 1948, Wolf and his band began performing on radio station KWEM in West Memphis. These broadcasts caught Sam Philips's ear. So, in the spring of 1951, Phillips brought Wolf into Memphis Recording Service, soon to become Sun Studios, to record a demo. An entire session followed a couple of months later.

Guitarist Willie Johnson, and drummer Willie Steele backed Wolf. Initial tracks laid down included the classic 'How Many More Years and the haunting 'Moanin' at Midnight' Phillips then sent the finished recordings to Chess Records in Chicago for release. A single featuring those monster songs would rise to No. 4 and 10, respectively, on the Billboard R&B chart in August of 1951.

Wolf's reputation and catalog continued to grow with the release of several singles for Chess from 1951 through 1958. At the same time, Ike Turner's involvement with Howlin' Wolf led to a handful of singles on the Los Angeles-based RPM label. Some, in fact, were variations on the Chess hits with modified titles, but that's a whole other story.

With an ever-growing discography and the rise of this new music called Rock & Roll, (that Wolf had arguably had a significant hand in creating), Chess Records decided it was time to release an LP of some of his finest moments, so in 1959 'Moanin' In The Moonlight' became the first Howlin' Wolf LP. Featured among the twelve tracks were songs as early as 1951 at Memphis Recording, and as recent as 1958, recorded at Chess Studios. Far from sounding disjointed, however, the entire batch of songs jumped out of the speakers, threatening everything else in your record collection!

All songs were written by Wolf, except the classic 'Evil Is Going On,' penned by another blues legend, Willie Dixon and 'Forty-Four' by Roosevelt Sykes. Songs like Baby How Long,' 'I Asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline),' 'Moanin At Midnight,' 'How Many More Years, and 'Smokestack Lightning' would become blues standards over the decades. The list of session players on these recordings reads like a who's who of the history of the blues with Hubert Sumlin, Willie Dixon, Ike Turner, Otis Span, and Willie Johnson among those taking part.

The thing about any classic blues records is that modern technology still can't replicate what primitive technology captured way back when. The warmth and power remain fully intact. Other heroes such as Captain Beefheart and Tom Waits have tried to replicate that Wolf howl, but the original still reigns supreme. Wolf is a legend, and it wasn't just his recordings. His stage manner was also ahead of his time. "Wolf was the greatest that I've ever known," says his longtime saxophonist Eddie Shaw. "Wolf was not only a musician, he was an entertainer. He routinely rolled around the stage in simulation of sexual ecstasy or climbed the stage curtains like a deranged madman. That's what I respected him for."

'Moanin' in the Moonlight' is not only essential but also a cornerstone of American music!