Howlin' Wolf

Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chicago blues, and over a four-decade career, recorded blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and psychedelic rock. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians ever.

Born into poverty in Mississippi, Burnett became a protégé of Delta blues musician Charley Patton in the 1930s. In the Deep South, he began a solo career by performing with other notable blues musicians of the day. By the end of the decade, he had established himself in the Mississippi Delta. Following a number of legal issues, a stint in prison, and Army service, he was recruited by A&R man Ike Turner to record for producer Sam Phillips in Memphis. His first record "Moanin' at Midnight" (1951) led to a record deal with Chess Records in Chicago. Between 1951 and 1969, six of his songs reached the Billboard R&B chart. His studio albums include Howlin' Wolf a.k.a. The Rocking Chair Album, a collection of singles from 1957 to 1961, The Howlin' Wolf Album (1969), Message to the Young (1971), The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions (1971), and The Back Door Wolf (1973). His reputation grew throughout the blues revival of the 1960s, and he continued to perform until November 1975, when he performed for the last time alongside fellow blues musician B.B. King. He died on January 10, 1976, after years of deteriorating health. In 1980, Howlin' Wolf was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, and in 1991, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

With a booming voice and an imposing physical presence, he is one of the best-known Chicago blues artists. AllMusic has described him as "a primal, ferocious blues belter with a roster of classics rivaling anyone else, and a sandpaper growl of a voice that has been widely imitated". Several of his songs have become blues and blues rock standards. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed "Little Red Rooster", "Smokestack Lightning", "Killing Floor", and "Spoonful" in its "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll" and “Smokestack Lightning" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 54 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".

Early life Chester Arthur Burnett was born on June 10, 1910, in White Station, near West Point, Mississippi, to Gertrude Jones and Leon "Dock" Burnett. He later said that his father was "Ethiopian", while Jones had Choctaw ancestry on her father's side. He was named for Chester A. Arthur, the 21st President of the United States. The name "Howlin' Wolf" originated from Burnett's maternal grandfather, John Jones; Burnett had been squeezing his grandmother's chicks so hard he was likely to kill them, and his grandfather told him wolves would come and get him. The blues historian Paul Oliver wrote that Burnett once claimed to have been given his nickname by his idol Jimmie Rodgers.

Burnett's parents separated when he was a year old. Dock, who had worked seasonally as a farm laborer in the Mississippi Delta, moved there permanently while Jones and Burnett moved to Monroe County. Jones and Burnett would sing together in the choir of the Life Boat Baptist Church near Gibson, Mississippi, and Burnett would later claim that he got his musical talent from her. Jones kicked Burnett out of the house, for unknown reasons, during the winter when he was a child. At the peak of his success, he returned from Chicago to see his mother in Mississippi and was driven to tears when she refused to take money offered by him, saying it was from his playing the "devil's music".

He moved in with his great uncle Will Young, who had a large household and treated him badly. While in the Young household he worked almost all day and did not receive an education at the school house. When he was thirteen, he killed one of Young's hogs in a rage after the hog had caused him to ruin his dress clothes; this enraged Young who then whipped him while chasing him on a mule. He then ran away and claimed to have walked barefoot to join his father, where he finally found a happy home with his father's large family. During this era he went by the name "John D." to dissociate himself from his past, a name by which several of his relatives would know him for the rest of his life.

His physique garnered him the nicknames "Big Foot Chester" and "Bull Cow" as a young man: he was tall and weighed .

Musical career Beginnings, 1930s On January 15, 1928, at the age of 17, Burnett gathered enough money to buy his first guitar. It was a date that Burnett reportedly never forgot until "the day he died".

In 1930, Burnett met Charley Patton, the most popular bluesman in the Mississippi Delta at the time. He would listen to Patton play nightly from outside a nearby juke joint. There he remembered Patton playing "Pony Blues", "High Water Everywhere", "A Spoonful Blues", and "Banty Rooster Blues". The two became acquainted, and soon Patton was teaching him guitar. Burnett recalled that "the first piece I ever played in my life was... a tune about hook up my pony and saddle up my black mare"—Patton's "Pony Blues". He also learned about showmanship from Patton: "When he played his guitar, he would turn it over backwards and forwards, and throw it around over his shoulders, between his legs, throw it up in the sky". He played with Patton often in small Delta communities and would perform the guitar tricks he learned from him for the rest of his life.

Burnett was influenced by other popular blues performers of the time, including the Mississippi Sheiks, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Ma Rainey, Lonnie Johnson, Tampa Red, Blind Blake, and Tommy Johnson. Two of the earliest songs he mastered were Jefferson's "Match Box Blues" and Leroy Carr's "How Long, How Long Blues". The country singer Jimmie Rodgers was also an influence. Burnett tried to emulate Rodgers's "blue yodel" but found that his efforts sounded more like a growl or a howl: "I couldn't do no yodelin', so I turned to howlin'. And it's done me just fine". His harmonica playing was modeled after that of Sonny Boy Williamson II, who taught him how to play when Burnett moved to Parkin, Arkansas, in 1933.

During the 1930s, Burnett performed in the South as a solo performer and with numerous blues musicians, including Floyd Jones, Johnny Shines, Honeyboy Edwards, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Robert Johnson, Robert Lockwood Jr., Willie Brown, Son House and Willie Johnson. By the end of the decade, he was a fixture in clubs, with a harmonica and an early electric guitar. It was around this time that Burnett got into some legal trouble in Hughes, Arkansas: While he was in town, he tried to protect a female acquaintance from an angry boyfriend, and the two men fought, with Burnett killing the man with a hoe. What happened after this is a matter of dispute; Burnett either fled the area, or did some jail time.

Military service, 1940s

On April 9, 1941, he was inducted into the U.S. Army and was stationed at several bases around the country. Years later, he stated that the plantation workers in the Delta had alerted military authorities because he refused to work in the fields. He was assigned to the 9th Cavalry Regiment, which was famous for being one of the units dubbed "Buffalo Soldiers". Burnett was first sent to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, for basic training, and was given long hours performing menial work. Then he was transferred to Camp Blanding, in Starke, Florida, where he was assigned to the kitchen patrol. During the day he would cook food for the enlisted soldiers, and at night he would play the guitar in the assembly room. Burnett was later sent to Fort Gordon in Georgia, and he would play his guitar on the steps of the mess hall, which is where a young James Brown, who came to the Fort nearly every day to earn money shining shoes and performing buck dances for the troops, first heard him play.

Burnett was then sent to a tutoring camp in Tacoma, Washington, where he was in charge of decoding communications. Because Burnett was functionally illiterate, having never received formal education, he was repeatedly beaten by the drill instructor for reading and spelling errors. Soon, he began having uncontrollable shaking fits, dizzy spells, fainting, and also began experiencing mental confusion.

Burnett participated in the Louisiana Maneuvers in 1941, where one of the earliest photographs of him was taken cleaning the frog of a horse's hoof. In 1943, he was evaluated at an Army mental hospital. In November 1943, Burnett was found unfit for duty and given an honorable discharge on November 3. Recalling his experiences in the Army years later, Burnett stated, "The Army ain't no place for a black man. Jus' couldn't take all that bossin' around, I guess. The Wolf's his own boss." Turner brought him to record several songs for Sam Phillips at Memphis Recording Service (later renamed Sun Studio) and the Bihari brothers at Modern Records. Phillips praised his singing, saying, "God, what it would be worth on film to see the fervour in that man's face when he sang. His eyes would light up, you'd see the veins come out on his neck and, buddy, there was nothing on his mind but that song. He sang with his damn soul." Howlin' Wolf quickly became a local celebrity and began working with a band that included the guitarists Willie Johnson and Pat Hare. Sun Records had not yet been formed, so Phillips licensed his recording to Chess Records. Howlin' Wolf's first singles were issued by two different record companies in 1951: "Moanin' at Midnight"/"How Many More Years" was released on Chess, while "Riding in the Moonlight"/"Morning at Midnight" and "Passing By Blues"/"Crying at Daybreak" were released on Modern's subsidiary RPM Records. In December 1951, Leonard Chess was able to secure Howlin' Wolf's contract, and at the urging of Chess, he relocated to Chicago in late 1952.

In Chicago, Howlin' Wolf assembled a new band and recruited the Chicagoan Jody Williams from Memphis Slim's band as his first guitarist. Within a year he had persuaded the guitarist Hubert Sumlin to leave Memphis and join him in Chicago; Sumlin's understated solos and surprisingly subtle phrasing perfectly complemented Burnett's huge voice. The lineup of the band changed often over the years. Wolf employed many different guitarists, both on recordings and in live performance, including Willie Johnson, Jody Williams, Lee Cooper, L.D. McGhee, Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers, his brother Little Smokey Smothers, Jimmy Rogers, Freddie Robinson, Buddy Guy and others. He was able to attract some of the best musicians available because of his policy, unusual among bandleaders, of paying his musicians well and on time, even including their unemployment insurance and Social Security contributions. With the exception of a couple of brief absences in the late 1950s, Sumlin remained a member of the band for the rest of Wolf's career and is the guitarist most often associated with the Howlin' Wolf sound.

Howlin' Wolf had a series of hits with songs written by Willie Dixon, who had been hired by the Chess brothers in 1950 as a songwriter. During that period, the competition between Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf was intense. Dixon reported "Every once in a while Wolf would mention the fact that, 'Hey man, you wrote that song for Muddy. How come you won't write me one like that?' But when you'd write for him he wouldn't like it." So, Dixon decided to use reverse psychology on him, by introducing the songs to Wolf as written for Muddy, thus getting Wolf to accept them.

In the 1950s, Howlin' Wolf had five songs on the Billboard national R&B chart: "Moanin' at Midnight", "How Many More Years", "Who Will Be Next", "Smokestack Lightning", and "I Asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)". His first LP, Moanin' in the Moonlight, was released in 1959. As was standard practice during that time, it was a collection of previously released singles.

Album releases and European tours, 1960s and 1970s In the early 1960s, Howlin' Wolf recorded several songs that became his most famous, despite receiving no radio play: "Wang Dang Doodle", "Back Door Man", "Spoonful", "The Red Rooster", "I Ain't Superstitious", "Goin' Down Slow", and "Killing Floor", many of which were written by Willie Dixon. Several became part of the repertoires of British and American rock groups, who further popularized them. Howlin' Wolf's second compilation album, Howlin' Wolf—often called "the rocking chair album" from its cover illustration—was released in 1962.

During the blues revival in the 1950s and 1960s, black blues musicians found a new audience among white youths, and Howlin' Wolf was among the first to capitalize on it. He toured Europe in 1964 as part of the American Folk Blues Festival, produced by the German promoters Horst Lippmann and Fritz Rau. Also, in that year, the Rolling Stones recording of "Little Red Rooster" reached number one in the UK. In 1965, at the height of the British Invasion, the Stones came to America for an appearance on ABC-TV's rock music show, Shindig! They insisted, as part of their appearing on the program, that Howlin' Wolf would be their special guest. With the Stones sitting at his feet, Wolf performed an empassioned version of "How Many More Years" with a few million people watching his network TV debut.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Howlin' Wolf recorded albums with other established musicians starting with The Super Super Blues Band (1968), which featured Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters. The Howlin' Wolf Album (1969) had psychedelic rock and free-jazz musicians like Gene Barge, Pete Cosey, Roland Faulkner, Morris Jennings, Louis Satterfield, Charles Stepney and Phil Upchurch.The Howlin' Wolf Album, like rival bluesman Muddy Waters's album Electric Mud, was designed to appeal to the hippie audience. The album had an attention-getting cover: large black letters on a white background proclaiming "This is Howlin' Wolf's new album. He doesn't like it. He didn't like his electric guitar at first either." The album cover may have contributed to its poor sales. Chess co-founder Leonard Chess admitted that the cover was a bad idea, saying, "I guess negativity isn't a good way to sell records. Who wants to hear that a musician doesn't like his own music?"

British rock musicians Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ian Stewart, Bill Wyman, and Charlie Watts backed him for The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions, which proved more successful with British audiences than American. When Wolf switched guitarists and added Hubert Sumlin to his lineup, his sound became less aggressive with Sumlin adding "angular riffing" and "wild soloing". He also adopted the backbeat that Chicago blues was mainly known for.

The musician and critic Cub Koda noted, "no one could match Howlin' Wolf for the singular ability to rock the house down to the foundation while simultaneously scaring its patrons out of its wits." Producer Sam Phillips recalled, "When I heard Howlin' Wolf, I said, 'This is for me. This is where the soul of man never dies.

Equipment Although Sumlin was the main guitar player in Wolf's band, Wolf played a number of guitars himself throughout the years. He played a 1965 Epiphone Casino on his musical tour in Europe, a Fender Coronado, a Gibson Firebird V in the "Down in the Bottom" video recorded in 1966, a white Fender Stratocaster, a Teisco Tre-100, and he also played a Kay K-161 ThinTwin in his earlier years. The Kay K-161 ThinTwin is currently residing in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.

Accolades In 1980, Burnett was posthumously inducted into the Blues Foundation's Blues Hall of Fame.

On September 17, 1994, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 29 cent commemorative postage stamp depicting Howlin' Wolf.

On September 1, 2005, the Howlin' Wolf Blues Museum opened at 57 E. Westbrook Street in West Point, Mississippi. An annual festival is held there.

The Howlin' Wolf Foundation, a nonprofit corporation organized under the US tax code, section 501(c)(3), was established by Bettye Kelly to preserve and extend his legacy. The foundation's mission and goals include preserving blues music, providing scholarships for students to participate in music programs, and support for blues musicians and blues programs.

The experimental rock band Swans performs a song titled "Just A Little Boy (for Chester Burnett)" on their 2014 album To Be Kind. The song takes heavy blues inspiration and features lead singer Michael Gira vocalizing in a manner similar to Burnett's howling style.

In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Howlin' Wolf at number 59 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Health Burnett's health began declining in the late 1960s. He suffered his first heart attack in 1969 as he and Hubert Sumlin were traveling to a show at University of Chicago. He fell against the dashboard of the car he was riding in, and Sumlin, who was driving, pulled over and grabbed a two-by-four piece of wood that was lying in the road. Sumlin then rammed the wood into Burnett's back, which kick-started his heart. In May that same year, while he was in the United Kingdom to record The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions, his health problems worsened. A year later, Burnett suffered another heart attack, and his kidneys had failed. He also began suffering from high blood pressure. By May 1973, Burnett was back performing again.

Awards and nominations In 1972, Howlin' Wolf was awarded an honorary doctor of arts degree from Columbia College in Chicago.

Grammy Hall of Fame In 1999, Wolf's recording of "Smokestack Lightning" was selected for a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, an award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old and have "qualitative or historical significance".

Howlin' Wolf Grammy Award history Year Title Genre Label Year inducted 1956 "Smokestack Lightning" Blues (Single) Chess 1999

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed three songs by Howlin' Wolf in its "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".

Year recorded Title 1956 "Smokestack Lightning" 1960 "Spoonful" 1961 "The Red Rooster"

The Blues Foundation Awards Howlin' Wolf: Blues Music Awards Year Category Title Result 2004 Historical Blues Album of the Year The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions Nominated 1995 Reissue Album of the Year Ain't Gonna Be Your Dog Nominated 1992 Vintage or Reissue Blues Album—US or Foreign The Chess Box—Howlin' Wolf Winner 1990 Vintage/Reissue (Foreign) Memphis Days Nominated 1989 Vintage/Reissue Album (US) Cadillac Daddy Nominated 1988 Vintage/Reissue Album (Foreign) Killing Floor: Masterworks Vol. 5 Winner 1987 Vintage/Reissue Album (US) Moanin' in the Moonlight Winner 1981 Vintage or Reissue Album (Foreign) More Real Folk Blues Nominated

Inductions

Discography Albums 1959: Moanin' in the Moonlight (Chess) 1951–1958 recordings 1962: Howlin' Wolf (Chess) 1957–1962 recordings 1962: Howling Wolf Sings the Blues (Crown) 1951–1952 RPM recordings 1965: The Real Folk Blues (Chess) 1956–1965 recordings 1967: More Real Folk Blues (Chess) 1953–1956 recordings 1968: The Super Super Blues Band (Chess) with Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley 1969: The Howlin' Wolf Album (Cadet Concept) 1971: Message to the Young (Chess) 1971: The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions (Chess) 1972: Chester Burnett A.K.A. Howlin' Wolf (Chess) 1951–1965 recordings 1972: Live and Cookin' (Chess) 1973: The Back Door Wolf (Chess) 1974: London Revisited (Chess) split album with Muddy Waters 1975: Change My Way (Chess) 1958–1966 recordings 1977: The Legendary Sun Performers: Howlin' Wolf (Charly) 1979: Heart Like Railroad Steel (Memphis & Chicago Blues 1951–57) (Blues Ball) 1979: Can't Put Me Out (Chicago 1956–72, Volume II) (Blues Ball) 1984: Muddy & the Wolf (Chess) split album with Muddy Waters 1984: His Greatest Sides, Volume One (Chess) 1991: The Chess Box—Howlin' Wolf (Chess/MCA) 1991: Howlin' Wolf Rides Again (Flair/Virgin) 1994: Ain't Gonna Be Your Dog (Chess Collectibles, Vol. 2) (Chess/MCA) 1997: His Best (Chess/MCA); reissued as The Definitive Collection (Geffen, 2007) 1999: His Best, Vol. 2 (Chess/MCA) 2011: Smokestack Lightning (The Complete Chess Masters 1951–1960) (Hip-O Select/Geffen)

Singles

Sessionography

Title Date Studio Location Comments Baby Ride with Me Early 1951 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Audition session Ridin' in the Moonlight Early 1951 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Audition session Baby Ride with Me (Ridin' in the Moonlight) 1951-14-05 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN How Many More Years 1951-14-05 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN How Many More Years 1951-00-07 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Chess 1479 Moanin' at Midnight 1951-00-07 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Chess 1479 Baby Ride with Me (Ridin' in the Moonlight) 1951-00-09 KWEM West Memphis, AR RPM 333 Dog Me Around 1951-00-09 KWEM West Memphis, AR Morning at Midnight 1951-00-09 KWEM West Memphis, AR RPM 333 Keep What You Got 1951-00-09 KWEM West Memphis, AR Passing By Blues 1951-10-02 Private home West Memphis, AR RPM 340 Crying at Daybreak 1951-10-02 Private home West Memphis, AR RPM 340 My Baby Stole Off 1951-10-02 Private home West Memphis, AR RPM 347 I Want Your Picture 1951-10-02 Private home West Memphis, AR RPM 347 Howlin' Wolf Boogie 1951-12-18 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Chess 1497 California Blues #1 1951-12-18 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN California Boogie 1951-12-18 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Look-a-Here Baby 1951-12-18 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN The Wolf Is at Your Door (Howlin' for My Baby) 1951-12-18 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Chess 1497 Smile at Me 1951-12-18 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Worried All the Time 1951-12-18 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Chess 1515 Mr. Highway Man (Cadillac Daddy) 1952-01-23 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Chess 1510 My Troubles and Me 1952-01-23 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Getting Old and Grey 1952-01-23 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Chess 1510 My Baby Walked Off 1952-01-23 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Chocolate Drop 1952-01-23 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN House Rockin' Boogie 1952-02-12 Private home West Memphis, AR Brown Skin Woman 1952-02-12 Private home West Memphis, AR Worried About My Baby 1952-02-12 Private home West Memphis, AR Driving This Highway 1952-02-12 Private home West Memphis, AR The Sun Is Rising 1952-02-12 Private home West Memphis, AR My Friends 1952-02-12 Private home West Memphis, AR I'm the Wolf 1952-02-12 Private home West Memphis, AR Passing the Blues 1952-02-12 Private home West Memphis, AR Everybody's in the Mood (All in the Mood) 1952-04-17 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Color and Kind 1952-04-17 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Bluebird 1952-04-17 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Saddle My Pony 1952-04-17 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Chess 1515 Dorothy Mae 1952-04-17 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Sweet Woman (I've Got a Woman) 1952-04-17 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN (Well) That's All Right 1952-04-17 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Decoration Day 1952-04-17 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Oh Red 1952-10-07 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Chess 1528 My Last Affair 1952-10-07 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Chess 1528 Come Back Home 1952-10-07 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Drinkin' C.V. Wine Blues 1952-10-07 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN I've Got a Woman 1953 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Mastered on 1953-09-24 Just My Kind 1953 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Mastered on 1953-09-24 Work for Your Money 1953 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Mastered on 1953-09-24 I'm Not Joking 1953 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Mastered on 1953-09-24 Mama Died and Left Me 1953 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Mastered on 1953-09-24 Highway My Friend 1953 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Mastered on 1953-10-28 Hold Your Money 1953 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Mastered on 1953-10-28 Streamline Woman 1953 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Mastered on 1953-10-28 California Blues #2 1953 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Mastered on 1953-10-28 Stay Here Till My Baby Comes Back 1953 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Mastered on 1953-10-28 Crazy About You Baby 1953 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Mastered on 1953-10-28 All Night Boogie 1953 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Mastered on 1953-10-28; Chess 1557 I Love My Baby 1953 Memphis Recording Service Memphis, TN Mastered on 1953-10-28; Chess 1557 No Place to Go 1954-03 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1566 You Gonna Wreck My Life 1954-03 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1744 Neighbors 1954-03 Chess Studios Chicago, IL I'm the Wolf 1954-03 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Rockin' Daddy 1954-03 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1566 Baby How Long 1954-05-25 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1575 Evil 1954-05-25 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1575 I'll Be Around 1954-10 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1584 Forty Four 1954-10 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1584 Who Will Be Next 1955-03 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1593 I Have a Little Girl 1955-03 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1593 Come to Me Baby 1955-03 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1607 Don't Mess with My Baby 1955-03 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1607 Smokestack Lightning 1956-01 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1618 You Can't Be Beat 1956-01 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1618 I Asked for Water 1956-07-19 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1632 So Glad 1956-07-19 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1632 Break of Day 1956-07-19 Chess Studios Chicago, IL The Natchez Burnin' 1956-07-19 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1744 Going Back Home 1956-12 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1648 Bluebird 1956-12 Chess Studios Chicago, IL My Life 1956-12 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1648 You Ought to Know 1956-12 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Who's Been Talking? 1957-06-24 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1750 Tell Me 1957-06-24 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1750 Somebody in My Home 1957-06-24 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1668 Nature 1957-06-24 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1668 Walk to Camp Hall 1957-12 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Poor Boy 1957-12 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1679 My Baby Told Me 1957-12 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Sittin' on Top of the World 1957-12 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1679 I Didn't Know 1958-03 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Howlin' Blues (I'm Going Away) 1958-03 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1726 I Better Go Now 1958-03 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1726 I Didn't Know (rerecorded) 1958-04-03 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1695 Moaning for My Baby 1958-04-03 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1695 Midnight Blues 1958-04-03 Chess Studios Chicago, IL I'm Leavin' You 1958-09 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1712 You Can't Put Me Out 1958-09 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Change My Way 1958-09 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1712 Getting Late 1958-09 Chess Studios Chicago, IL I've Been Abused 1959-07 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1735 Howlin' for My Darling 1959-07 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1762 My People's Gone 1959-07 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Mr. Airplane Man 1959-07 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1735 Wolf in the Mood 1959-07 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Wang Dang Doodle 1960-06 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1777 Back Door Man 1960-06 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1777 Spoonful 1960-06 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1762 Down in the Bottom 1961-05 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1793 Little Baby 1961-05 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1793 Shake for Me 1961-06 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1804 The Red Rooster 1961-06 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1804 You'll Be Mine 1961-12 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1813 Just Like I Treat You 1961-12 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1823 I Ain't Superstitious 1961-12 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1823 Goin' Down Slow 1961-12 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1813 Mama's Baby 1962-09-27,28 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1844 Do the Do 1962-09-27,28 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1844 Tail Dragger 1962-09-27,28 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1890 Long Green Stuff 1962-09-27,28 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Hidden Charms 1963-08-14 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1890 Three Hundred Pounds of Joy 1963-08-14 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1870 Joy to My Soul 1963-08-14 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Built for Comfort 1963-08-14 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1870 Love Me Darlin' 1964-08 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1911 Killing Floor 1964-08 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1923 My Country Sugar Mama 1964-08 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1911 Louise 1964-08 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1923 I Walked from Dallas 1965-04-15 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1945 Tell Me What I've Done 1965-04-15 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1928 Don't Laugh at Me 1965-04-15 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1945 Ooh Baby 1965-04-15 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1928 Poor Wind That Never Change 1966-04-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL New Crawlin' King Snake 1966-04-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1968 My Mind Is Ramblin' 1966-04-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 1968 Commit a Crime 1966-04-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Pop It to Me 1967-06 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 2009 I Had a Dream 1967-06 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 2009 Dust My Broom 1967-06 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Long Distance Call 1967-09 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Ooh Baby/Wrecking My Love Life 1967-09 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Sweet Little Angel 1967-09 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Spoonful 1967-09 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Diddley Daddy 1967-09 Chess Studios Chicago, IL The Red Rooster 1967-09 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Goin' Down Slow 1967-09 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Spoonful 1968-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Tail Dragger 1968-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Smokestack Lightnin' 1968-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Moanin' at Midnight 1968-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Built for Comfort 1968-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL The Red Rooster 1968-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Evil 1968-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Down in the Bottom 1968-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Three Hundred Pounds of Joy 1968-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Back Door Man 1968-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL I'm the Wolf 1968-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Rollin' and Tumblin' 1968-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Howlin Wolf interview 1968-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL I Ain't Gonna Be Your Dog No More 1968-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Woke Up This Morning 1968-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Ain't Going Down That Dirt Road 1968-11 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Mary Sue 1969-07-14 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 2081 Hard Luck 1969-07-14 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Chess 2081 The Big House 1969-07-14 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Tired of Crying 1969-07-14 Chess Studios Chicago, IL I Want to Have a Word with You 1970-05-02 through 07 Olympic Studios London Goin' Down Slow 1970-05-02 through 07 Olympic Studios London I Ain't Superstitious 1970-05-02 through 07 Olympic Studios London Rockin' Daddy 1970-05-02 through 07 Olympic Studios London Poor Boy 1970-05-02 through 07 Olympic Studios London Wang Dang Doodle 1970-05-02 through 07 Olympic Studios London Sittin' on Top of the World 1970-05-02 through 07 Olympic Studios London Do the Do 1970-05-02 through 07 Olympic Studios London Highway 49 1970-05-02 through 07 Olympic Studios London Commit a Crime 1970-05-02 through 07 Olympic Studios London Worried About My Baby 1970-05-02 through 07 Olympic Studios London Built for Comfort 1970-05-02 through 07 Olympic Studios London Who's Been Talking? 1970-05-02 through 07 Olympic Studios London The Red Rooster 1970-05-02 through 07 Olympic Studios London Killing Floor 1970-05-02 through 07 Olympic Studios London If I Were a Bird 1971-10 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Message 1971-10 Chess Studios Chicago, IL I Smell a Rat 1971-10 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Miss James 1971-10 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Message to the Young 1971-10 Chess Studios Chicago, IL She's Looking Good 1971-10 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Just As Long 1971-10 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Romance Without Finance 1971-10 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Turn Me On 1971-10 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Moving 1973-08-14,17 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Coon on the Moon 1973-08-14,17 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Speak Now Woman 1973-08-14,17 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Trying to Forget You 1973-08-14,17 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Stop Using Me 1973-08-14,17 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Leave Here Walking 1973-08-14,17 Chess Studios Chicago, IL The Back Door Wolf 1973-08-14,17 Chess Studios Chicago, IL You Turn Slick on Me 1973-08-14,17 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Watergate Blues 1973-08-14,17 Chess Studios Chicago, IL Can't Stay Here 1973-08-14,17 Chess Studios Chicago, IL