Review #477: Moanin’ In The Moonlight, Howlin’ Wolf
#477: Moanin’ In The Moonlight, Howlin’ Wolf
So technically, this is yet another compilation album. But don’t worry, it’s also technically Howlin’ Wolf’s debut, and is made up of previously released singles that were recorded from 1951–1959. And it’s only half an hour! Perhaps the shortest compilation album we’ve seen so far.
Howlin’ Wolf (born Chester Burnett) is a Delta blues legend, famous for having massive hands and a voice that could raise the dead. He grew up in Mississippi and had to overcome a number of hurdles before he finally found his way to music. In the 1930s, he was protecting a female friend from her boyfriend and ended up killing the man; it’s unclear if he fled the scene or if he went to jail. Then he served in the Army and struggled through a short term of service, experiencing bouts of confusion and fainting, and was finally given an honorable discharge. After all that, he was discovered in 1951 by a young Ike Turner, who spearheaded the start of his recording career.
And then he proceeded to rip up the blues and put them back together, releasing songs like “Smokestack Lightnin,’” a song about watching trains in the night with a foundational riff that’s full of personality. Then there’s “How Many More Years,” which some have said was the first ever use of the power chord. His guitar playing is riotous and instinctual — see the guitar-harmonica duet on “All Night Boogie (All Night Long)” and the wah-wah solo on “I’m Leavin’ You.” But he isn’t one-speed at all — see “No Place To Go (You Gonna Wreck My Life)” and “Somebody In My Home” is you want to be haunted, and check “Baby How Long” if you’re more interested in a piano-driven twelve-bar blues.
His guitar playing is badass, but his singing is otherworldly. “Moanin’ At Midnight” and “Moanin’ For My Baby” start with the same low howl, which he does so adeptly, it almost sounds like he’s running his voice through Autotune. “Evil (Is Goin’ On)” proves that he can stretch his voice in all kinds of ways, making it singsongy, low and dirty, full of falsetto, and just plain old mean. Howlin’ Wolf doesn’t just howl — he’s got range.
Wolf wrote most of these himself, but a few of them are re-imaginings of blues standards. For instance, “I Asked For Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)” is a new take on Tommy Johnson’s “Cool Drink of Water Blues.” (And Wolf’s own version was later covered by Lucinda Williams on her self-titled record.) And “Forty-Four” is a take on a classic about carting around a .44 caliber revolver. I particularly loved the twist at the end: Pawned gun to have some gold.
It was also truly a pleasure to learn about how Howlin’ Wolf’s career panned out. So many times I dive into an artist’s life and learn about their heartbreaking death or slow demise. But Howlin’ Wolf made it! Despite being illiterate for most of his life, he returned to school in his forties with the goal of learning how to better manage his career. He succeeded so completely that he was actually able to offer his band health insurance, meaning he hung on to musicians for a lot longer than most people at the time. What’s more, he was happily married until his death. He was so shrewd, and so badass. And now I can’t stop listening to the blues.
