Howlin' Wolf and Elmore James

Chester Burnett was well known as the Howlin’ Wolf, and The Chess Box is an excellent three compact disc boxed set which is a fine survey of his compelling recordings starting with a healthy dose of his early Memphis recordings for Sam Phillips with the great Willie Johnson on guitar through his classic Chicago recordings with the likes of Otis Spann and Hubert Sumlin. While some of his later recordings perhaps showed the wear from his health, the music remains as gripping, whether on his reworking of Charlie Patton’s Saddle My Pony, Smoke Stack Lightning, How Many More Years, I Asked For Water, Rocking Daddy, Spoonful, Who’s Been Talking, Back Door Man, Killing Floor and others. There is one recording from his London session album with a variety of rock superstars, a couple of solo acoustic selections recorded at the otherwise best forgotten psychedelic album and some brief excerpts from an interview. The booklet contains biographical information and a review of his music. Another classic boxed set reissue.

One artist who diffused Robert Johnson’s music was Elmore James, whose most celebrated recording, Dust My Broom, married Johnson’s riff from Rambling on My Mind, with the lyrics for I’ll Believe

I’ll Dust My Broom. Elmore recycled this along with several other themes throughout his recordings career that spanned from 1951-1963. His last recordings (from 1959 to 1963 (with the exception of a 1960 Chess session) were made for Bobby Robinson’s Fire, Fury and Enjoy labels. Recently I noted a fine Relic collection Rollin’ and Tumblin’, that had most of his best recordings for Robinson. Poor Relic, insofar as Capricorn has just issued Elmore James, King of Slide Guitar, The Fire/Fury Recordings, that may represent all of the songs Elmore recorded for Bobby Robinson. There is a booklet that includes remembrances of Elmore by Sam Myers, Bobby Robinson and others, a biography, general appreciation and discographical information. Although I have heard this on a preview cassette, the sound (like the Relic) seemed particularly good. Unless you already have the Relic, this is a must buy, and it isn’t extravagantly priced.

This review originally appeared in the December 1992 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 177)  (along with reviews of Lightnin' Hopkins box sets that was posted yesterday). I likely received review copies from the record companies. Both sets are available as downloads and can be obtained as used (although Collectables has also has a box set of the Elmore). While not perfect, a recent public domain reissue of Elmore James, The Ultimate Collection (Not Now) is a handy compilation surveying his recordings from the entire span of his recording career although includes a few accompaniments to others as well as his featured recordings).

Smokestack Lightning- Howlin' Wolf's Musical Evolution

Chester Arthur Burnett, known as Howlin' Wolf, was one of the seminal blues artists of all time. Sam Phillips who recorded Wolf’s earliest sides said of Wolf “This is where the soul of man never dies.” Having produced similar compilations of Little Walter, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley amongst others, Hip-O-Select takes us to what is likely two sets of the Chess recordings of the Wolf over four discs, The Complete Chess Masters 1951-1960, in an attractive hard back book with sleeves to have ready access to the four CDs that include 97 tracks and a little under 5 hours of music.

The book package contains an overview of Wolf’s music from Peter Guralnick and an overview of the included recordings by Dick Shurman, along with a variety of photos and newspaper clippings with full discographical information. The music ranges from Sam Phillips earliest recordings of Wolf in Memphis that were sent to Chess in Chicago through the 1960 Chicago session that produced Back Dog Man, Wang Dang Doodle and Spoonful. Roughly a third of the recordings on this were recorded by Phillips in Memphis with the remainder in Chicago after the Chess brothers convinced him to move north.

Many of Wolf’s signature recordings are included ranging from the initial release of Moanin’ At Midnight and How Many More Years from his first session in Memphis along with other deep south sounds as Bluebird (Blues), Streamline Woman, Mr. Highway Man and Saddle My Pony, to the Chicago recordings by him including No Place To Go, Forty Four, Smokestack Lightning, The Natchez Burning, Sittin’ On Top Of the World, Mr. Airplane Man, and Back Door Man.

As the selected song titles suggest, there are many impressive sides included that if an artist had simply recorded a couple of songs would be regarded as the basis of a legendary career. In Wolf’s case, his body of work merits this consideration as well as the iconic songs. And the recordings start with the Memphis sides with Willie Johnson on guitar, Willie Steele on drums, Ike Turner, L.C. Hubert or Bill ‘Struction’ Johnson on piano, and on one session James Cotton (who plays on Saddle My Pony). After relocating to Chicago, Wolf’s sessions included Otis Spann and Hosea Lee Kennard on piano, Willie Dixon on bass, Willie Johnson, Jody Williams, Otis “Smokey” Smothers and Hubert Sumlin on guitar, Abb Locke on saxophone and Earl Phillips and fred Below on drums.

While Williams and Johnson are very prominent on the earlier Chicago sessions, these recordings also allow us to appreciate the emergence of Hubert Sumlin as an important and original guitar voice whose guitar lines snaking against the rhythm provided a bite in addition to Wolf’s powerful vocals that provided an immediately recognizable as the recordings evolved with the rollicking boogies of the Memphis days to storming shuffles and emphatically performed slow blues that hit like the Chicago winter winds.

All of the issued recordings are included along with alternate takes and several compilations of alternate takes and studio banter. From a listening standpoint, one wishes some of these alternates were not included in the generally chronological presentation of material, but perhaps at the end of the package. While there is a value of illustrating how the sessions shaped what was ultimately released, one wonders if so much of these multi-take tracks was included to fill out four CDs so they could split Wolf’s Chess recordings into two volumes. This is the only fault one might suggest about this reissue. The sound is quite good on this reissue of some of the greatest blues recordings of the past six or so decades. With the holidays around the corner Howlin’ Wolf’s The Complete Chess Masters 1951-1960 will make a terrific gift.

This was a purchase.