Memphis Days: Definitive Edition, Vol. 1

by Howlin' Wolf

Overview

These are Howlin' Wolf's earliest and rarest sides recorded at the Sun studios, as raw and explosive as blues records come. Much of this was issued on various European albums during the '70s, always transferred off of muffled-sounding copy tapes. These 21 tracks (all but two of them off the master tapes) feature the amp-on-11 guitar work of Willie Johnson and the cave-man drumming of Willie Steele; they're loose and somewhat chaotic, with Wolf sounding utterly demonic. The real bonus on this volume is the first-time inclusion of both sides of the only known acetate of Wolf's first session at Sam Phillips' 706 Union Avenue studio from 1951. With only Johnson and Steele in support (no bass, no piano), these early versions of "How Many More Years" and "Baby Ride with Me (Riding in the Moonlight)" are Wolf at his most primitive. ~ Cub Koda

Product Details

Release Date:	06/27/1994
Label:	Bear Family Records
UPC:	4000127154606
Rank:	67700

Tracks

1. Oh, Red!
2. My Last Affair
3. Come Back Home
4. California Boogie
5. California Blues
6. Look-A-Here Baby
7. Smile at Me
8. My Baby Walked Off
9. Drinkin' CV Wine (CV Wine Blues)
10. My Troubles and Me
11. Chocolate Drop
12. Mr. Highway Man
13. Bluebird Blues
14. Color and Kind
15. (Everybody's) In the Mood
16. Dorothy Mae
17. I Got a Woman (Sweet Woman)
18. Decoration Day Blues
19. (Well) That's All Right
20. How Many More Years
21. Baby Ride with Me (Ridin' in the Moonlight)

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Howlin' Wolf   Primary Artist,Harmonica,Vocals,Guitar
James Cotton   Guest Artist,Harmonica
William Johnson   Piano
Ike Turner   Piano
Walter "Tang" Smith   Trombone
L.C. Hubert   Piano
William "Cat" Johnson   Piano
Willie Steel   Drums
Albert Williams   Piano
Willie Johnson   Guitar,Drums
Charles Taylor   Sax (Tenor)

Technical Credits

Ernest C. Withers   Photography
Jorg Siemer   Mastering
Sam Phillips   Producer
Sonny Boy Williamson I   Composer
Colin Escott   Reissue Producer,Liner Notes
Chester Burnett   Composer
Dave Sax   Liner Notes
Howlin' Wolf   Composer