If you’re looking for electric Chicago Blues, look no further than The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions. The man, Chester Arthur Burnett aka Howlin’ Wolf has a legacy as vast as the universe. There isn’t a single song that this man has sung that hasn’t been revered. Where Robert Johnson rules the legend of blues from the Mississippi Delta, Howlin’ Wolf captured the famed Chicago scene, important for its electrification of the blues. And there lies an important and crucial element to the birth of electric rock and roll as displayed by upcoming talent such as The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds.

In 1970, Chess giant, Howlin’ Wolf traveled to London to record an historic session album with Eric Clapton of Cream, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones, and Steve Winwood of Traffic. The point of the session was to get these people together to see what magic would occur. There were interesting obstacles but eventually the entire thing came together. And they were right. Magic did occur.

The enjoining of a blues great and the current rock/blues talent of the time combined to produce a collection of tunes that literally boil out of your speakers. While these sessions were intended to incorporate the above named artists, it quickly grew to include many others. To answer the call of needed musicians, luminaries like Ringo Starr, Alan White, Klaus Voorman, and others showed to lend a hand and to claim part in one of the most exciting events of rock and roll.

Which brings us back to The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions. The collection of talent that create the atmosphere of this set was assembled by Norman Dayron with the supreme blessing of Chess Records’ Marshall Chess. At 60, Howlin’ Wolf made the trip over the ocean to complete the venerated recordings. What we have is the quintessential collection of blues talent creating a highly charged historical set. And that’s why Chess/MCA gave The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions a Deluxe Edition workover.

Disc One of this set is the original album with the original mix. There are 13 songs of greatness, some penned by the equally great Willie Dixon, including "The Red Rooster" and "Wang Dang Doodle". The set also includes 3 bonus tracks from another album, 1974's London Revisited. And while this is fine and good, the real treat is in the second disc that contains alternate mixes and rehearsal takes of the songs on disc one. There are even extended alternate takes and mixes with alternate lyrics.

The songs are torrid, the perfomances so incendiary it's a wonder the studio didn't burn down. It did, figuratively speaking. And that's why this album is worthy of receiving a Deluxe Edition. You can't listen to this disc without realizing and understanding the bedrock on which Rock music was built. The heart and soul of it is neatly embedded in this gem of a set.

This set includes a 28 page insert booklet with an exhaustive essay on the sessions written by Bill Dahl. There are extensive credits with full track listings and explanations. Photos round out the booklet with a commemorative painting of the sessions done in period art. The casing is a double fold set that opens to the trays and include additional b/w photos of Chester “Howlin’ Wolf” Bennett with the trays showing the discs’ tape master covers sheets. The digipak is encased in the usual Deluxe Edition plastic slipcase.

I consider the importance of a Deluxe Edition to fully embody the greatness of a recording, bringing out every aspect that is available to give the listener not only of the beloved original music but also the sense of what went into the creation of the album. Deluxe Editions do that admirably by providing you with the extras that give insight into the formation of the original. This may seem a sham to many; a way to resell and gain extra mileage out of a great record. And for those that think in that vein, Deluxe Editions are not for you. But for those that want every drop of what went into a classic, including the unearthed outtakes and rehearsals that coalesced into the end result, Deluxe Editions become an essential historical document.

This set is necessary for inclusion into your library of essential titles.

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Howlin' Wolf

The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions
Deluxe Edition

Released: March 04, 2003
Origination Year: 1971
Time: 56:33 - Disc 1
Time: 52:39 - Disc 2
Tracks: 28
Produced by: Norman Dayron
Engineered by: Glyn Johns
Mastered by: Bob Ludwig
Remastered by: Erick Labson at Universal Mastering Studios West - Hollywood, CA
Deluxe Edition by: Andy McKaie
Style: Studio
Format: CD
Enhancement: Remastering
Label: Chess/MCA Records
Website:
www.howlinwolf.com

Rockin' Daddy
I Ain't Superstitious
Sittin' On Top of The World
Worried About My Baby
What a Woman!
Poor Boy
Built for Comfort
Who's Been Talking?
The Red Rooster (false start and dialogue)
The Red Rooster
Do The Do
Highway 49
Wang Dang Doodle
Goin' Down Slow *
Killing Floor *
I Want To Have A Word With You *