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Howlin' Wolf - His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection) (1964)

Track listing:
  1. Moanin' At Midnight 2:53
  2. How Many More Years 2:40
  3. Evil 2:52
  4. Forty-Four 2:45
  5. Smokestack Lightnin' 3:02
  6. I Asked For Water 2:47
  7. Who's Been Talkin' 2:19
  8. Sitting On Top Of The World 2:30
  9. Howlin' For My Darling 2:29
  10. Wang Dang Doodle 2:20
  11. Back Door Man 2:45
  12. Spoonful 2:39
  13. Shake For Me 2:11
  14. The Red Rooster 2:22
  15. I Ain't Superstitious 2:50
  16. Goin' Down Slow 3:59
  17. Three Hundred Pounds Of Joy 3:00
  18. Hidden Charms 2:19
  19. Built For Comfort 2:34
  20. Killing Floor 2:46

Notes

With the exception of a vinyl compilation issued in the early 1980s (His Greatest Sides, Volume 1), there's never really ever been a single-disc Howlin' Wolf best-of package available. That all changes with this entry in MCA-Chess' 50th Anniversary series, a 20-track retrospective that serves as the perfect introduction to the man and his music, some of the very best the blues has to offer. While some naysayers will always decry the exclusion — or inclusion — of any given number of tracks on any artists' best-of compilation, it's pretty hard to fault what's been collected here. Starting with the two-sided smash that brought him from Memphis to Chicago ("Moanin' At Midnight" b/w "How Many More Years"), this compilation hits all the high points and essential tracks, illustrating how his music developed into the mid-1960s. 11 of the 20 tunes on here are either written or co-written by Willie Dixon, and Wolf's original takes on "Back Door Man," "Spoonful," "The Red Rooster," "Wang Dang Doodle," and "I Ain't Superstitious" are truly the definitive ones, a place where personality and material symbiotically become as one. Even if you have already have this material, diehard Wolf fans — and audiophiles in particular — will want to investigate this package as the master transfers used here are absolutely stunning, with stereo mixes of "Killing Floor," "Built For Comfort," "Hidden Charms" (with the full-length Hubert Sumlin guitar solo), "Shake For Me," and the long version of "Going Down Slow" being particular standouts. This is a set so essential that it should on everyone's Top Ten first purchases in building the perfect blues collection. While Wolf's music will take you to many places (both musically and spiritually), here's where you start to absorb it all.