![]() įurther overdubbing took place at the Chess studios in Chicago with Chess regulars Lafayette Leake on piano and Phil Upchurch on bass, and horn players Jordan Sandke, Dennis Lansing, and Joe Miller of the 43rd Street Snipers, Carp's band. In the initial album credits, Starr is listed as "Richie," as Dayron was under the impression that, being a Beatle, his name could not be used directly. Many showed up, but only recordings featuring Klaus Voormann and Ringo Starr were released from that day. On the first day, May 2, Watts and Wyman were unavailable, and a call went out for immediate replacements. Sessions took place between May 2 and May 7, 1970, at Olympic Studios. Initially, Marshall Chess did not want to pay the expense for flights and accommodations to send Wolf's long-serving guitarist Hubert Sumlin to England, but an ultimatum by Clapton mandated his presence. Dayron approached Clapton and, on impulse, asked "how would you like to do an album with Howlin' Wolf?" After confirming that the offer was legitimate, Clapton agreed, and Dayron set up sessions in London through the Chess organization to coordinate with Clapton's schedule.Ĭlapton secured the participation of the Rolling Stones rhythm section (pianist Ian Stewart, bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts), while Dayron assembled further musicians, including 19-year-old harmonica prodigy Jeffrey Carp, who died in 1973 at age 24. It peaked at #79 on the Billboard 200.īackstage at the Fillmore Auditorium, after a concert by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Electric Flag, and Cream, Chess Records staff producer Norman Dayron spotted the guitar players of the latter two bands, Mike Bloomfield and Eric Clapton, talking and joking around. It was one of the first super session blues albums, setting a blues master among famous musicians from the second generation of rock and roll, in this case Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Charlie Watts, and Bill Wyman. The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions is an album by blues musician Howlin' Wolf released in 1971 on Chess Records, and on Rolling Stones Records in Britain. ![]() Great as Rosco was, looks like Leonard won that round.Įlectric Blues 1939-2005.May 2–7, 1970 Olympic Sound Studios, London, England The battle was ultimately settled the next year when Modern held on to Memphis pianist Rosco Gordon (another Phillips discovery claimed by both labels) while the Wolf went to Chess. With Wolf now also on RPM, the feud between Leonard Chess and Modern's Bihari brothers ramped up. "The Modern record company would come in, and we would record the same songs for them and get 25 bucks apiece,"said Turner. Meanwhile, Ike Turner had hipped the Bihari brothers to Wolf's talents and they pacted him to RPM, setting up a session at KWEM that September that yielded Morning At Midnight( Moanin' At Midnightin paper-thin disguise), a How Many More Years variant titled Dog Me Around, and two more titles. How Many More Yearsand its eerie plattermate Moanin' At Midnightwere cut at that first date, and both pierced the R&B charts on Chess, How Many peaking higher at #4. Also on hand were drummer Willie Steele and a pianist. Accompanying Wolf was his sledgehammer guitarist Willie Johnson, a product of Lake Cormorant, Mississippi (he was born March 4, 1923) who played pretty ninth chords one second and barbed-wire leads the next. Sam shipped the results up north to Chess, which requested a full session in either May or August. Phillips brought Wolf into his fledgling Memphis Recording Service in the spring of 1951 for a demo date. Sam Phillips caught one of Wolf's broadcasts and was transfixed. After returning from an ill-fated Army stint during World War II, the big man got more serious about his music, landing a daily 15-minute program on KWEM in West Memphis in 1949. He was playing electric guitar on the streets as early as 1938. Chester picked up harmonica licks from Rice Miller-Sonny Boy Williamson #2-when the harpist was romancing Wolf's sister. His family settled in the Delta in 1923, and the great Charley Patton gave him personal tutelage on guitar in '28. That's what I respected him for."īorn Jin White Station, Mississippi (near West Point), Burnett got his stage moniker from his grandfather (the impressively built lad also answered to Big Foot and Bullcow). "Wolf was not only a musician, he was an entertainer. "Wolf was the greatest that I've ever known,"says his longtime saxist Eddie Shaw. His wheezing harmonica was as distinctive as his unbeatable flair for showmanship he routinely rolled around the stage in simulation of sexual ecstasy or climbed the stage curtains like a deranged madman. Of course, the giant known as Howlin' Wolf possessed the most fearsome, feral vocal cords in the annals of electric postwar blues. For a guy who didn't see the inside of a recording studio until he was 40 years old, Chester Arthur Burnett certainly made up for lost time.
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