8. Howlin' Wolf - Moanin' in the Moonlight.

 As I said before with my post on Robert Johnson, there is no way at all that I can be considered a student of the blues. For that matter, a student of music in general. I play a little, I listen to a lot, and I really try to like all types of music, because I think if you shut your mind to something you hear, and don't give it a chance to win you over, the only one who loses in the end is you. Now, there is some stuff that is never going to do it for you, no matter what you try. Some of the albums I am going to post about are almost unlistenable to me. But they are part of the fabric, and those who do like it may take something away from it that you don't hear, and use it to make music you love. We'll discuss that more later. Point being, I know very little about the blues, except that in a sweaty bar, swilling quarts of Molson Ex, it makes a perfect soundtrack.

 That being said, Mr. Wolf, (the bluesman, not Harvey Keitel from Pulp Fiction) delivers on this album. It is a compilation of previously released tracks that he recorded for Chess records. The recording sounds like it is from the 1950s, and the tracks are naked and true. The producer was Willie Dixon, who was wise enough not to give it the ol' American Idol treatment, but kept it seamless with the true intention of the music. It is not the commercial harmonies and perfect sounds of Buddy Holly or Elvis, it is primal, down and dirty blues. 

 I defer all matters of the blues to my buddy 'G'. He used to be a minor fixture on the blues scene in Montreal. He has paid his dues, his band won a Maples award at one point, and he continues to play clubs to this day. I sent him a text telling him I was listening to Howlin' Wolf, and he replied with one sentence. 

"It's the pure shit."

 I couldn't agree more. Right from the get go the album opens up with an ethereal set of moans and distorted guitar comes in to take us along into the songs. The feel is rather, well, dirty. But in a great way. There are parts with pounding drums, wailing harp parts and Howlin' Wolf coming across with the same intensity as Little Richard, but the package is still laid back and cool. Apparently the man was well over six feet tall, and must have been an imposing presence on the stage, aggressively rasping out the lyrics and then moaning like some sort of wounded animal with an acute sense of what would sound fantastic in front of a really tight blues band.

 This album grabbed me as soon as I put it on. The bass parts are repetitive and hypnotizing, the guitar distorted and his voice is just like another instrument. I have yet to really listen to the lyrics he sings, I'm just digging the feel of the whole thing. Completely. The playing is fabulous, the songs are short, and you can see why the next generation was borrowing this sound and morphing it into their own.  It is reasonable to assume that Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, who cut his teeth on old blues albums would have listened to this one and likely made a note of the distortion and use of power chords, a practice he perfected. This album is also an ancestor to the Stones, Led Zeppelin and Cream, which are ancestors themselves to everything else.

 Rolling Stone ranked this one at number 153 on the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. I loved it. My favourite track was " I Asked For Water". It seems all disjointed, but all the pieces fit together so that it works. I strongly recommend giving this a listen, "It's the pure shit."

Buy it here.