Howlin' Wolf - Howlin' Wolf (Acoustic Sounds Series, Chess Records 75th Anniversary Pressing, Mono)

Howlin' Wolf's Howlin' Wolf, the 1962 set better known as the Rockin' Chair Album, distills a crucial run of Chess singles recorded between 1957 and 1961 into one fierce portrait of electric Chicago blues. Rather than a conventional studio statement, it works as a concentrated survey of Wolf at full power, with songs that became part of the blues canon while keeping his huge, grainy voice front and centre.

The album's strength is how much history it gathers without ever feeling archival. Willie Dixon's songwriting and bass helped shape much of the material, while Hubert Sumlin, Sam Lay and Jimmy Rogers give the band its hard, lean drive. That combination turns songs like The Red Rooster, Spoonful and Back Door Man into more than standards: you hear the force that made later versions by rock bands seem like tributes rather than replacements. For anyone tracing the link between post-war Chicago blues and the sound of 1960s rock, this record is one of the clearest places to start.

This Acoustic Sounds reissue keeps that directness intact. Cut in mono from the original analog tapes, it returns one of Wolf's key albums to vinyl with the kind of presentation that suits its raw authority and deep Chess groove.

Features

• Chess Records 75 Series / Acoustic Sounds Series edition
• Mono mix
• Remastered from the original analog tapes
• All-analog mastering by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab
• 180-gram vinyl
• Pressed at Quality Record Pressings
• Tip-on gatefold sleeve printed on high-grade board