Howlin' Wolf/Moanin' in the Moonlight

1	Shake for Me 2:12
2	The Red Rooster 2:22
3	You'll Be Mine 2:23
4	Who's Been Talking? 2:18
5	Wang Dang Doodle 2:22
6	Little Baby 2:43
7	Spoonful 2:42
8	Goin' Down Slow 3:18
9	Down in the Bottom 2:05
10	Back Door Man 2:48
11	Howlin' for My Baby 2:28
12	Tell Me 2:52
13	Moanin' at Midnight 2:43
14	How Many More Years 2:58
15	Smokestack Lightning 2:23
16	Baby How Long 2:18
17	No Place to Go 2:31
18	All Night Boogie (All Night Long) 2:16
19	Evil 3:01
20	I'm Leaving You 2:29
21	Moanin' for My Baby 2:17
22	I Asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline) 2:47
23	Forty-Four 3:02
24	Somebody in My Home 2:59

Barnes & Noble

It's not often the record biz performs an act of kindness for the greater good of mankind. But the release of Chester "Howlin' Wolf" Burnett's Moanin' In The Moonlight and Howlin' Wolf -- the first two albums by the most volcanic blues roarer of all time -- as a single tidy package is a true public service. Moanin' captures Wolf's 1951-1961 recordings from Chicago and Memphis. Guitarist Willie Johnson, whose amp-rattling tones were the instrumental equivalent of Wolf's thunderous voice, handles fret duties on the Memphis cuts, while the Windy City sessions -- which featured "Shake for Me," "Evil," and the mantric "Smokestack Lightning" -- were backed by notable axmen Hubert Sumlin, Jody Williams, and Lee Cooper. Howlin' Wolf offers the classics "Little Red Rooster," "Back Door Man," "Wang Dang Doodle," and "Spoonful," all of which sound as gritty and exciting as ever. There are other Wolf collections designed to appeal to completists, but this bargain set will do the trick for everyone else. It captures a true blues giant -- hey, he weighed more than 300 pounds -- at the top of his game. Tim Schuller

All Music Guide

Howlin' Wolf's first and second Chess albums are essential listening of the highest order. They were compiled -- as were all early blues albums -- from various single sessions (not necessarily a bad thing, either), and blues fans will probably debate endlessly about which of the two albums is the perfect introduction to his music. But this CD reissue renders all arguments moot, as both album appear on one disc, making this a true best buy. Wolf's debut opus -- curiously tacked on here after his second album -- features all of his early hits ("How Many More Years," "Moanin' at Midnight," "Smokestack Lightning," "Forty Four," "Evil," and "I Asked for Water [She Gave Me Gasoline]"), and is a pretty potent collection in its own right. But it is the follow-up (always referred to as "the rocking chair album" because of Don Bronstein's distinctive cover art) where the equally potent teaming of Willie Dixon and Wolf produced one Chicago blues classic ("Spoonful," "The Red Rooster," "Back Door Man," "Wang Dang Doodle") after another. It's also with this marvelous batch of sides that one can clearly hear lead guitarist Hubert Sumlin coming into his own as a blues picking legend. The number of blues acolytes, both black and white, who wore the grooves down to mush learning the songs and guitar licks off these two albums would fill a book all by itself. If you have to narrow it down to just one Howlin' Wolf purchase for the collection, this would be the one to have and undoubtedly the place to start. This and The Best of Muddy Waters are the essential building blocks of any Chicago blues collection. And seldom does the music come with this much personality and brute force. Cub Koda