His Best (1997)

About this title: With the exception of a vinyl compilation issued in the early '80s (His Greatest Sides, Vol. 1), there'd never really ever been a single-disc Howlin' Wolf best-of package available. That all changed 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 artist's best-of compilation, it's pretty hard to fault what's been collected here. Starting with ... read more

Tracks:

1. Moanin' at Midnight [Howlin' Wolf]
2. How Many More Years [Howlin' Wolf]
3. Evil [Dixon]
4. Forty-Four [Howlin' Wolf]
5. Smokestack Lightning [Howlin' Wolf]
6. I Asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline) [Howlin' Wolf]
7. Who's Been Talking? [Howlin' Wolf]
8. Sitting on Top of the World [Chatmon/Vinson]
9. Howlin' for My Darlin' [Dixon/Howlin' Wolf]
10. Wang Dang Doodle [Dixon]
11. Back Door Man [Dixon]
12. Spoonful [Dixon]
13. Shake for Me [Dixon]
14. The Red Rooster [Dixon]
15. I Ain't Superstitious [Dixon]
16. Goin' Down Slow [Oden]
17. Three Hundred Pounds of Joy [Dixon]
18. Hidden Charms [Dixon]
19. Built for Comfort [Dixon]
20. Killing Floor [Burnett/Howlin' Wol]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.