HOWLIN' WOLF Howlin' Wolf Album - 2011 CD reissue of classic 1969 Blues album
Format: CD Condition: New Year of Release: 2011 Cat. No.: 54038 Label: Get On Down
The Wolf dubbed this LP 'dog shit', and many blues purists agreed with him. Like his peer Muddy Waters, the Wolf was none too enthused about psych-ing and funking up his sound.
So, is it a steaming pile of dog doo? If you can dig Muddy's 'Electric Mud', then it certainly ain't. There's the same nasty, filthy, super raw vibe here that prevails on Muddy's much maligned psych-funk outing.
"Spoonful" is just lowdown, funkatised blues-rock at its stankiest... The Wolf howls like always, with that big, crackeling voice of his, and guitarist Pete Cosey and drummer Morgan Jennings put in that muddied, electrified, rockin' psych-soul sound...
The fuzz comes on especially strong on a funked up rendition of "Tail Dagger" and it gets even greasier on "Smokestack Lightnin'", which cooks up a groove so down low and in-the-pocket it's insane...
"Moanin' at Midnight" finds a way to incorporate the sitar - a staple of the hippest psychedelic bands around at the time - but it's pretty traditional for the rest... A lurching, droning, one-chorded groove featuring some deep down Mississippah harmonica wailings. But the smelly groove juice of the funk-in-motion is back for a lazy, sleazed, cruisin' take on "Built for Comfort".
"The Red Rooster" is barely recognizable; riding a busy beat and a swampy guitar groove, it drones on relentlessly. The same stutter steppin' rhythm propels "Evil", turning it into a strange, trippy, wah wah-infested rocker. But the most intrictate rhythmic pattern is reserved for "Down in the Bottom", with its busy drums and pumping bass.
It's back to the Funk with another swangin' jam in the guise of "Three Hundred Pounds of Joy", after which Howlin' goes for his, churning out the sole traditional blues piece here. Before sockin' into "Back Door Man", the Wolf laments on how 'the music these days ain't the Blues... it's just a good rhythm they carry'...
Be that as it may, for those into fuzzed rock and psych-funk, this is a pretty sweet smelling serving.
Review by Soulmakossa
TRACK LISTING:
1. Spoonful 2. Tail Dragger 3. Smokestack Lightning 4. Moanin at Midnight 5. Built For Comfort 6. The Red Rooster 7. Evil 8. Down In The Bottom 9. Three Hundred Pounds Of Joy 10. Back Door Man
