Vinyl Records > Howin' Wolf - The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions (180gram)

Chess CH-60008
"The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions" - Howlin’ Wolf (voc, hca, g); Eric Clapton, Hubert Sumlin (g); Steve Winwood (p, org); Ian Stewart (p); Jeffrey M. Carp (hca); Bill Wyman, Phil Upchurch (b); Charlie Watts (dr, cga, perc); a.o.

With the sixties British blues boom, which included acts such as John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, early Fleetwood Mac, and The Rolling Stones, a number of attempts were made to record the original blues masters such as Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker (actually the tradition was continued in the nineties by John Lee Hooker with his "The Healer" project) with some of the young upcoming 'white' blues players. Unfortunately many of the projects lacked real impact (usually the recordings were done on the cheap, over short periods, with most of the young musicians simply too intimidated by their idols to offer any real creative input), however these sessions with the great Howlin' Wolf proved to be one of the exceptions. Although pushing 60, and suffering from heart and kidney problems, the 'Wolf' was still in imposing form, and with backing musicians including his own superb guitarist Hubert Sumlin, Eric Clapton (one of the main catalysts of the sessions – along with producer Norman Dayron), Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, Ian Stewart, Stevie Winwood, plus numerous drop in guests, the resulting sessions produced 'blues gold'.
Apparently Howlin' Wolf was somewhat skeptical of the idea of recording with white Brits, as one can see in some of the cover photos. But the music tells quite another story. One is always wiser after the event!

Recording: 1971 at Olympic Sound Studios, London, by Glyn Johns
Production: Norman Dayron