Wolf Is At Your Door, The (Charly Blues Masterworks Vol.5) - Howlin' Wolf

Advantages: Every one you can think of
Disadvantages: none

...is all about. Love, hate, pathos, hope, despair with some fantastic blues and blues slide guitar technique. The next track, I'm a Man by Bo Didley is interesting. It is still obviously The Blues, yet it is Chicago Blues, vastly different from the Delta Blues that Howlin' Wolf is such a fine exponent of. However, one thing you must realise about Bo Didley is that although Bo Didley performs in the Chicargo Blues idiom, Bo Didley is, first and foremost, Bo Didley. When they made Bo Didley, they broke the mould. His style is truly unique. Apparently even to the extent of making his own guitar effects such as a wah wah unit from an old alarm clock before the wah wah unit was heard of. The songs are not politically correct. But then, they reflect the harsh reality of lives gone bad. Your Funeral and My Trial sung by Sonny Boy Williamson is a good... Read review

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Advantages: Graet album from agreat artist
Disadvantages: Not to everyones taste

...is a fairly fast number which is nothing to write home about, a pleasant song ably done, but it does nothing for me, the weakest track on the album. Track nine is Blues leave me alone, another so-so tune, almost dreary with average vocals and no great guitar licks, but a standard harmonica solo thrown in. Ten – Sinners prayer is almost a dark tune, with excellent vocals, and a wonderful piano backing and sparse guitar licks thrown in with a short solo from Eric. Motherless child at eleven sees the return of the acoustic (twelve string?) a bright medium tempo tune will get you tappin’ your toes. Track twelve, It hurts me too, and some great distorted guitar Clapton trying to do a Howlin’ wolf but a great track nevertheless. Track thirteen, excellent, vies with track three for best song on the album, with it’s trademark guitar from Clapton... Read review

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Advantages: guitar
Disadvantages: none

...This is a good and cheap selection of some of the greatest blues musicians ever. The collection opens predictably with a muddy waters track (rollin’ stone) although probably not his best and then there appears the great elmore james performance on slide guitar in ‘dust my broom’ – a fantastically modern style of blues for the time. The j l hooker song is not ‘boom, boom’ thank god and the howlin’ wolf track ‘smokestack lightning’ features as track 9, this is a great song and I think once a budweiser advert song. There is a beautifully rough recording of memphis slim’s ‘guess I’m a fool’ towards the end which is for me the pick of the tracks. This is a solid album, nothing too new, but touches all the bases and is successful.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful