Today in Music (1962): Howlin' Wolf released his second album

1/11/1962: Howlin Wolf Moanin’ in the Moonlight/Howlin’ Wolf released

Moanin’ in the Moonlight/Howlin’ Wolf (aka “The Rocking Chair Album”) Howlin’ Wolf

Released: 1959 M, Jan. 11, 1962 R Recorded: 1951-58 M, 1957-62 R Peak: -- Sales (in millions): -- Genre: blues M Moanin’ in the Moonlight R Howlin’ Wolf (aka “The Rockin’ Chair Album”)

Tracks M: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. How Many More Years (8/15/51, #4 RB) Moanin’ at Midnight (8/15/51, #10 RB) All Night Boogie (All Night Long) (1953 single) No Place to Go (1954 single) Baby How Long (1954 single) Evil (1954 B-side of “Baby How Long”, #43 RB in 1969) Forty-Four (1954 B-side of “I’ll Be Around”) Smokestack Lightning (3/17/56, #8 RB, #42 UK) I Asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline) (11/10/56, #8 RB) Somebody in My Home (1957 single) Moanin’ for My Baby (1958 B-side) I’m Leaving You (1958 single) Tracks R: Tell Me (1960 single) Who’s Been Talking? (1960 B-side of “Tell Me”) Spoonful (1960 single) Howlin’ for My Baby (1960, B-side of “Spoonful”) Wang Dang Doodle (1960 single) Back Door Man (1960 B-side of “Wang Dang Doodle”) Down in the Bottom (1961 single) Little Baby (1961 B-side of “Down in the Bottom”) The Red Rooster (1961 single) Shake for Me (1961 B-side of “Red Rooster”) You’ll Be Mine (1962 single) Goin’ Down Slow (1962 B-side of “You’ll Be Mine”)

Rating: 4.565 out of 5.00 (average of 17 ratings) Quotable: “The cream of Wolf’s Chicago blues work.” – Stephen Cook, All Music Guide Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Howlin’ Wolf’s first two albums, Moanin’ in the Moonlight (1959) and Howlin’ Wolf (The Rockin’ Chair Album) (1962) weren’t so much albums as compilations since both were collections covering several years of Wolf’s career. In the CD era, the two albums have been packaged together as one release. Moanin’ in the Moonlight served as Howlin’ Wolf’s debut album, gathering a dozen of his Chess singles from 1951 to 1958. “The arrangements and the instrumental accompaniments, particularly the guitar, harmonica and piano, capture the fullest the concept of ‘blue tonality.’” PA Moanin’ in the Moonlight and How Many More Years, were recorded in July 1951 in Memphis, Tennessee at Sam Phillip’s Memphis Recording Service and, after being sold to Chess Records, were released as singles in August 1951. WK-M The former “is a mood piece which captures the eerie, lonesome atmosphere of an isolated dwelling, is hard to match.” PA The latter, “with its strongly-marked piano figure, changes the pace and atmosphere entirely, for it presents the point of view of the man who finds his nagging wife too much to bear.” PA All Night Boogie was recorded in Memphis in 1953 and was also sold to Chess Records. It “is an uptempo blues with a rollicking beat which bellies the essential sadness of the theme: that of the man who wakes up and finds his ‘baby’ gone.” PA The remainder of the songs “were recorded in Chicago, Illinois and produced by either the Chess brothers and/or Willie Dixon.” WK-M Among them is Smokestack Lightnin’, which has probably become the best-known song by Howlin’ Wolf. It is “a powerful side with a world of flavor, presents a picture of anguish as the man asks his ‘baby’ where she stayed during the night.” PA The collection included a couple of other songs which hit the R&B charts. I Asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline). was the fourth top-ten R&B single for the Chicago blues singer/guitarist/harmonicist. Evil was initially released in 1954, but didn’t chart until 1969. It “is sung in Howlin’ Wolf’s best shouting style. The lyric is vastly interesting and entertaining – being a catalog of things to be suspicious of, if one is to persevere a happy home. The piano here, particularly the right hand, is of amazing flexibilty.” PA Howlin’ Wolf’s second eponymously-titled album gathered another dozen previously-released singles, this time from the late ’50s and early ‘60s. “Because of the illustration on its sleeve (by Don Bronstein), the album is often called The Rockin' Chair Album, a nickname even added to the cover on some reissue pressings of the LP.” WK-R Some of these songs have become well-known covers for other artists, including Koko Taylor’s cover of Wang Dang Doodle (1966, #4 RB). In 1963, Sam Cooke re-recorded The Red Rooster as “Little Red Rooster” (#7 RB, #11 US) and the Rolling Stones recorded it the following year, taking it all the way to #1 in the UK. Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” tapped lyrics from Shake for Me and Back Door Man. WK-R Cream covered Spoonful. When, in 2012, Rolling Stone named it one of the 500 greatest albums of all time, they described it as “an outrageous set of sex songs written by Willie Dixon.” WK-R In addition to his writing talents, Dixon, who was the Chess house producer, lent his bass-playing talents while Hubert Sumlin played guitar. SC The album, which Mojo magazine ranked as the third greatest guitar album of all time in 2004, WK-R “qualifies as one of pinnacles of early electric blues and is an essential album for any quality blues collection.” SC Both albums have been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. Combined, the two albums capture “the cream of Wolf’s Chicago blues work.” SC Notes: Moanin’ in the Moonlight and Howlin’ Wolf (The Rockin’ Chair Album) were initially released as separated albums, but were paired together in the CD era as one package. Note: the track listing above has been re-ordered based on when the songs were released.

Resources and Related Links: PA Paul Ackerman, album liner notes (Moanin’ in the Moonlight) SC Stephen Cook, All Music Guide (Howlin’ Wolf – Rockin’ Chair Album) WK-M Wikipedia (Moanin’ in the Moonlight) WK-R Wikipedia (Howlin’ Wolf – Rockin’ Chair Album) Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 11/13/2008; last updated 3/17/2024.