The miracle of "The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions", is that they happened at all. The surprise of these sessions is that the music is simply incredible.
These London recording sessions were, indeed, a dream come true, especially for the English lads, who had been worshipping Howlin' Wolf's music since they first learned to talk. One of wonders of American Blues, is that it struggled to find an audience in the U.S., while in England the youth culture adopted American blues as their own. Indeed, while the Beatles recycled American Rock-n-Roll, members of the Rolling Stones bought every available blues record in London, and spent many hours trying to duplicate it. By 1965, when Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had perfected their blues stylings, and composed "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" everyone assumed it had been written by an African-American. Guitarist Eric Clapton was such a devoted fan of Mississippi Delta Blues guitarist Robert Johnson, that he learned to mimic Johnson's guitar licks with such ease and precision, that he never lacked for having a band to feature his blues playing.
I should add that American Jazz could not find an audience outside the city limits of New Orleans, and Chicago, while in Paris the French absolutley adored American Jazz, and worshipped African-American jazz musicians.
When he helped form Cream, the trio's inside joke was that Eric Clapton believed the power trio to be a blues band, while bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker (veterans of the London jazz scene), snickered behind his back, saying, No, what we really are is a jazz band. Whatever they were, their records topped Billboard's record charts for the entire summer of 1968.
But I digress: getting back to the London Howlin' Wolf Sessions, two of the English musicians--drummer Ringo Starr and bassist Klaus Voorman--were so spooked by Wolf's pranks and larger-than-life character--that they walked out of the Olympic Sound Studio after the fist day of recording, and never returned! They were replaced by the Stone's rhythm section of Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman. Mick Jagger did his part by shaking tambourine. Eric Clapton was almost a casualty himself, as Wolf nearly broke Clapton's wrist in one of his large hands, while showing the Englishman his way of playing bottleneck guitar.
Indeed, when Clapton arrived for the first session he was dismayed to learn that he was designated to be Wolf's lead guitarist, while Wolf's regular lead guitarist--the incomparable Hubert Sumlon--would be Wolf's rhythm guitarist. Keyboard players included Steve Winwood, and the Stones' regular keyboard man, Ian Stewart. The horn section would be added later, as an afterthought
This is blues played Howlin' Wolf's way, which is say, with a decided lack of pretension, edgy and raucous, with a no-holds barred, anything goes, assault on your nerves and senses. My favorite cuts include "I Ain't Superstitious", "Sittin' On Top of the World" (a Cream favorite), "Little Red Rooster"(eat your heart out, Mick Jagger), and "Who's Been Talking?"
Originally released as Chess LP CH-600008 in 1971, "The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions" was a final high-water mark in Wolf's stellar recording career. Still, upon returning to the U.S, ever the perfectionist, Wolf had doubts about the veracity of these recordings, until his friend B. B. King assured him that, yes, this was indeed a great album, one of his best.
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