The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions: Rarities Edition (CD - 1971)

Personnel: Howlin' Wolf (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica); Eric Clapton, Hubert Sumlin (guitar); Jeffrey M. Carp (harmonica); Joe Miller, Jordan Sandke, Dennis Lansing (horns); Steve Winwood (piano, organ); Ian Stewart, Lafayette Leake, Phil Upchurch, John Simon (piano); Bill Wyman, Klaus Voorman (bass); Ringo Starr (drums); Charlie Watts (percussion)

Recorded in Olympic Sound Studios, London, England in 1971. Originally released on Chess (60008). Includes liner notes by Don Snowden.

Digitally remastered by Doug Schwartz (MCA Studios, North Hollywood, California).

The Masterdisc version of LONDON SESSIONS contains 3 bonus tracks from Howlin' Wolf's 1974 release, MUDDY AND THE WOLF, LONDON REVISITED.

This deluxe edition contains newly remixed bonus tracks from LONDON REVISTED,

and previously unreleased remixes from the original session tapes.

Personnel: Howlin' Wolf (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica); Eric Clapton, Hubert Sumlin (guitar); Jeffrey M. Carp (harmonica); Joe Miller, Jordan Sandke, Dennis Lansing (horns); Steve Winwood (piano, organ); John Simon, Lafayette Leake, Ian Stewart (piano); Bill Wyman (bass, shaker, cowbell); Klaus Voorman, Phil Upchurch (bass); Charlie Watts (drums, congas, percussion); Richie (drums).

Recorded at Olympic Sound Studios, London, England in 1970. Originally released on Chess Records. Includes liner notes by Bill Dahl.

For the casual blues fan with a scant knowledge of the Wolf, this 1971 pairing, with Eric Clapton, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts from the Rolling Stones, Ringo Starr, and other British superstars, appears on the surface to be one hell of a super session. Although that's not really the case, it's nowhere near as awful as some blues purists make it out to be. ~ Cub Koda

For the casual blues fan with a scant knowledge of the Wolf, this 1971 pairing, with Eric Clapton, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts from the Rolling Stones, Ringo Starr, and other British superstars, appears on the surface to be one hell of a super session. But those lofty notions are quickly dispelled once you slip this disc into the player and hit play. While it's nowhere near as awful as some blues purists make it out to be, the disparity of energy levels between the Wolf and his U.K. acolytes is not only palpable but downright depressing. Wolf was a very sick man at this juncture and Norman Dayron's non-production idea of just doing remakes of earlier Chess classics is wrongheaded in the extreme. The rehearsal snippet of Wolf trying to teach the band how to play Willie Dixon's "Little Red Rooster" shows just how far off the mark the whole concept of this rock superstar mélange truly is. Even Eric Clapton, who usually welcomes any chance to play with one of his idols, has criticized this album repeatedly in interviews, which speaks volumes in and of itself. ~ Cub Koda minimize