Howlin' Wolf - 1952-53 Chess Discography Reimagined

Howlin' Wolf's first album was released by Chess Records in 1959. But by that time, he had recorded enough songs for several albums, not counting tracks that were released by RPM Records.

With this blog entry, I put together three Howlin' Wolf albums that could have existed during his first couple of years of recording, including all the songs he recorded at Memphis Recording Service (later to be known as Sun Studio).

 

THE HOWLIN’ WOLF

SIDE A

1. The Wolf is at Your Door (Howlin’ for My Baby)

2. Look-a-Here Baby

3. California Boogie

4. My Troubles and Me

5. Worried All the Time

6. Chocolate Drop

7. Getting Old and Grey

SIDE B

1. Moanin’ at Midnight

2. Smile at Me

3. Mr. Highway Man (Cadillac Daddy)

4. California Blues #1

5. My Baby Walked Off

6. Howlin’ Wolf Boogie

7. How Many More Years

Two of the tracks, "Moanin' at Midnight" and "How Many More Years" were recorded in July 1951 and issued as a single. The remaining tracks were recorded at two sessions in December 1951 and January 1952. So, I can see this album being released in the spring of 1952.

One track I didn't include was "Baby Ride with Me (Ridin' in the Moonlight)," which was recorded in May 1951 at Memphis Recording Service. This is because he recorded it again in September 1951, and this second version was issued on RPM Records (which issued three of his singles and later a compilation album).

Some of his early releases were credited to The Howlin' Wolf, so that's what I titled what would have been his debut album.

 

COME BACK HOME (April 1952-October 1952)

SIDE A

1. Saddle My Pony

2. (Well) That’s All Right

3. Color and Kind

4. Sweet Woman (I’ve Got a Woman)

5. Decoration Day

6. My Last Affair

SIDE B

1. Oh Red

2. Everybody's in the Mood (All in the Mood)

3. Bluebird

4. Dorothy Mae

5. Come Back Home

6. Drinkin' C.V. Wine Blues

All of these tracks were recorded during two sessions, one in April 1952 and another in October 1952. So I can imagine this album being released at the end of the year for the holiday market, or held till early 1953. Both "Saddle My Pony" and "Oh Red" were released as A-sides of singles so I used them to lead off each side of the album. And I used the song "Come Back Home" as the album's title track.

 

ALL NIGHT BOOGIE (Sep 1953 – Oct 1953)

SIDE A

1. I Love My Baby

2. I’ve Got a Woman

3. Just My Kind

4. I’m Not Joking

5. Highway My Friend

6. Work for Your Money

7. Hold Your Woman

SIDE B

1. All Night Boogie

2. Crazy About My Baby

3. My Mama Died and Left Me

4. California Blues #2

5. Streamline Woman

6. Stay Here Till My Baby Comes Back

Howlin' Wolf's final recording sessions at Memphis Recording Service were held in 1953. I'm not sure exactly when during that year, but records show they were mastered in the fall, so this album would likely be released in late 1953. "All Night Boogie" was the only track here released as an A-side of a single, so I used it to lead off the second side and as the title track as well. 

I'm not sure what Wolf's obsession with California was -- he recorded "California Blues #1," "California Blues #2" and "California Boogie." I couldn't find any other song he recorded with a different state named.

The 1953 sessions were kind of the end of an era for Howlin' Wolf. In March 1954, he recorded his first studio session at Chess Studios in Chicago and every subsequent session there (except for one session in London in 1970).

All of these tracks are available on Smokestack Lightning: The Complete Chess Masters 1951-1960.

NOTE: I don't make any claims about the album cover artwork. I just took existing artwork and altered them a bit.

Chuck Berry discography, 1960-66

Chuck Berry's 1960s discography with Chess Records is not dissimilar from his 1950s output in that there was a lot of scrambling of songs from different recording sessions. As I did with my previous post on Chuck Berry last month, I try to rectify that here.


ROCKIN' AT THE HOPS
In February 1960, Chuck recorded seven songs. Not enough for an album. But during his next sessions in March and April, he recorded 14 songs. Now we've got too many! For Chuck's first album of the 1960s, we took his Rockin' the Hops album and rearranged it slightly. We'll use the seven songs recorded that year that were originally on the album, and we'll add the rest of the February session. Most importantly, we do not include the songs that had been recorded the previous year, having already used them on our Let It Rock album.

SIDE A
1. Bye Bye Johnny
2. Worried Life Blues
3. Down the Road a Piece
4. Confessin' the Blues
5. I'm Just a Lucky So and So
6. Mad Lad

SIDE B
1. I Got to Find My Baby
2. Our Little Rendezvous
3. Run Around
4. Sweet Sixteen
5. Driftin' Blues
6. Jaguar and Thunderbird


NEW JUKE BOX HITS
New Juke Box Hits from 1961 is almost perfect, but two songs from older sessions are jettisoned, and two newer tunes take their place. Specifically, I removed "Thirteen Question Method" from the first side and replaced it with "I Still Got the Blues"; and on the second side I replaced "Run Around" with "Crying Steel."

SIDE A
1. I'm Talking About You
2. Diploma for Two
3. I Still Got the Blues
4. Away from You
5. Don't You Lie to Me
6. The Way It Was Before

SIDE B
1. Little Star
2. Route 66
3. Crying Steel
4. Stop and Listen
5. Rip It Up


GO GO GO (EP)
In 1963, Chess released a ridiculous album titled Chuck Berry on Stage. It's ridiculous because not only is it not a live album, but someone took Chuck Berry's songs and audience sounds were overdubbed on the tracks. There were six new songs that Chuck had recorded at this time (and were used on the Chuck Berry on Stage album), but they really don't fit on any album. So, I give you an EP. Six new songs plus a re-recorded version of "Brown Eyed Handsome Man." For the cover, I took the Chuck Berry on Stage album and messed with it.

SIDE A
1. Come On
2. Adulteen
3. The Man and the Donkey

SIDE B
1. Go Go Go
2. Trick or Treat
3. All Aboard
4. Brown Eyed Handsome Man


ST. LOUIS TO LIVERPOOL
The Beatles, Rolling Stones and other British Invasion bands were playing and recording Chuck Berry songs, and Chess saw an opportunity to connect to a new young audience, hence the album title. Quite a few changes were needed to make this an album with contemporary cuts. The first two songs on the first side are changed, and three more are changed on the second side. I can't believe Chess and Chuck didn't include "Big Ben" on this album originally as it connects at least a bit to the theme of the album's title. The cover is the same as the original, but I changed the song titles to reflect the track list changes.

SIDE A
1. Nadine
2. Crazy Arms
3. No Particular Place to Go
4. You Two
5. Promised Land
6. You Never Can Tell

SIDE B
1. Big Ben
2. The Things I Used to Do
3. Liverpool Drive
4. Fraulein
5. O Rangutang
6. Brenda Lee


CHUCK BERRY IN LONDON
In another attempt to jump on the British Invasion bandwagon, Chuck invaded Britain and recorded eight of the tracks in London. The other six tracks originally on this album were recorded in Chicago, so the album title is a little misleading. Originally, this album had 14 tracks, but that's a stretch with some songs included that weren't from this period. Since most of Chuck's albums have 12 tracks, I kept this one with that number as well. I removed the track "Night Beat," which was recorded in 1957, and I've no idea why it was decided to include it here. Other tracks removed include "His Daughter Caroline," "Butterscotch" and "The Song of My Love."

The single version of "Chuck's Beat" has been added. The full-length version is on the album Two Great Guitars, a jam album Chuck recorded with Bo Diddley.

SIDE A
1. My Little Love-Light
2. She Once Was Mine
3. After It's Over
4. I Got a Booking
5. Little Girl from Central
6. You Came a Long Way from St. Louis

SIDE B
1. St. Louis Blues
2. Jamaica Farewell
3. Dear Dad
4. Chuck's Beat
5. Why Should We End This Way
6. I Want to be Your Driver


FRESH BERRYS
Fresh Berrys was released in November 1965, and it was indeed fresh. All the songs had been recorded over two days, Sept. 1 and 2. This, in my opinion, is the only Chuck Berry album Chess Records got right during the period 1955-1965. As such, I didn't change anything.

SIDE A
1. It Wasn't Me
2. Run Joe
3. Every Day We Rock and Roll
4. One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)
5. Welcome Back, Pretty Baby
6. It's My Own Business

SIDE B
1. Right Off Rampart Street
2. Vaya Con Dios
3. Merrily We Rock and Roll
4. My Mustang Ford
5. Ain't That Just Like a Woman
6. Wee Hour Blues


VIVA ROCK AND ROLL
In April 1966, Chuck recorded his last songs for Chess Records before switching to Mercury Records. Chuck would return to Chess two years later. During his absence, Chess released one compilation album, but there were enough songs to issue one more studio LP. However, to do so we have to include both his most recent tracks as well as a few leftovers from 1965. I created this "all-new" album, and I really like the cover. Found this picture on the web and knew right away this was the cover.

SIDE A

1. Ramona Say Yes
2. I'm in the Danger Zone
3. Sad Day, Long Night
4. Go Bobby Soxer
5. Butterscotch
6. Shake, Rattle and Roll

SIDE B

1. Viva Rock and Roll
2. Lonely School Days
3. His Daughter Caroline
4. The Song of My Love
5. Honey Hush
6. Little Marie
Bonus: Spending Christmas

NOTE:
 Information about Chuck Berry's recording sessions was provided by
    The Chuck Berry Database at http://www.crlf.de/ChuckBerry/cbdb
    © 2018 by Dietmar Rudolph, Fred Rothwell, Morten Reff

Chuck Berry - Discography, 1956-59

Because singles were king in the 1950s, not much consideration was made when assembling albums of rock 'n' roll and pop acts. At the time, albums were usually just another way to make some cash on mostly already-released songs. Chuck Berry's LP discography was no different, and it's quite frankly a mess.

Chuck signed with Chess Records in 1955, and he recorded his first single, "Maybellene" b/w "Wee Wee Hours" that year. Chuck's first album was After School Session, the title of which is kind of ironic because not all the songs were recorded during the same session, or even the same year. In fact, After School Session was released in May 1957, and by that time Chuck had recorded some 22 songs. And he would go into the studio that month and record five more.

All the Chuck Berry albums released in the 1950s are a mix of various sessions, and some songs that were recorded during this time sat in the vault for decades before being released. So what I've done here is take all the songs Chuck recorded in the 1950s, and reorganize them with albums that could have been released and would have better reflected the recording sessions and the times.


HERE IS CHUCK BERRY
His three recording sessions in 1955 produced 11 songs, enough for an album on its own that could have been released in early 1956. Since this would have been a debut album, I chose to call it Here is Chuck Berry. I found an existing cover for a Berry compilation album and redid it a bit in Photoshop.

SIDE A
1. Maybellene
2. Thirty Days
3. I've Changed
4. Wee Wee Hours
5. Roly Poly

SIDE B
1. No Money Down
2. You Can't Catch Me
3. Berry Pickin'
4. Together We Will Always Be
5. Down Bound Train


AFTER SCHOOL SESSION
Chuck also recorded 11 songs in 1956 over the course of three recording sessions. Among the tunes recorded was "School Days," which gives us a good enough reason to use the After School Session title and original artwork. The original album's first three tracks remain the same here, but then it changes quite a bit. In all, the original and this remake share six of the 11 songs. I wish there was a better title for "Untitled Instrumental," but it appears it was never properly named.

SIDE A
1. School Days
2. Deep Feeling
3. Too Much Monkey Business
4. La Juanda (Espanola)
5. Blue Feeling

SIDE B
1. Roll Over Beethoven
2. Brown-Eyed Handsome Man
3. Untitled Instrumental
4. Havana Moon
5. Low Feeling
6. Drifting Heart


ONE DOZEN BERRYS
Chuck recorded a dozen songs during two recording sessions in 1957, providing us with another full album. Below is a reorganized One Dozen Berrys (using existing cover) that could have been issued in early 1958. Like the previous entry, the original One Dozen Berrys and this re-imagined album share six songs.

SIDE A
1. Sweet Little Sixteen
2. Thirteen Question Method
3. How High the Moon
4. Rockin' the Philharmonic
5. Oh, Baby Doll
6. Guitar Boogie

SIDE B
1. Reelin' n Rockin'
2. Night Beat
3. Rock and Roll Music
4. How You've Changed
5. Time Was
6. Chuckwalk


CHUCK BERRY IS ON TOP
Chuck's first recording session of 1958 included his trademark hit, "Johnny B. Goode." In three sessions in January, February and June, 11 songs were recorded. Again, below is an existing album that has been reorganized track-wise to better reflect what Chuck was recording at the time. I use the existing cover (boy, they really loved the pun on his name). The original album and this new version share nine of the 11 songs.

SIDE A
1. Oh Yeah
2. Carol
3. Beautiful Delilah
4. House of Blue Lights
5. Vacation Time
6. Johnny B. Goode

SIDE B
1. It Don't Take But a Few Minutes
2. In-Go
3. Around and Around
4. Hey Pedro
5. Blues for Hawaiians


BACK IN THE U.S.A.
1958 was a prolific recording year for Chuck. There are enough tracks to create an all-new album when added to newer 1959 recordings to close out the decade. I created a simple cover with a nice portrait I found on the web and added the name, title and Chess logo.

SIDE A
1. Back in the U.S.A.
2. Do You Love Me
3. Little Queenie
4. That's My Desire
5. Anthony Boy
6. Memphis, Tennessee

SIDE B
1. Almost Grown
2. Blue on Blue
3. Jo Jo Gunne
4. Fast B 6
5. Sweet Little Rock and Roller


LET IT ROCK
Chuck's final recording session of the '50s was in July 1959. Only eight songs were recorded, enough for a very short album—more like an EP. But if you consider this to be an end-of-year release (just in time for holiday shopping), you could include the two Christmas songs Chuck recorded for a single the previous year. I found this cover for a compilation album and modified it.

SIDE A
1. Let It Rock
2. County Line
3. I Just Want to Make Love to You
4. One O'Clock Jump
5. Too Pooped to Pop

SIDE B
1. Betty Jean
2. Childhood Sweetheart
3. Broken Arrow
4. Merry Christmas Baby
5. Run Rudolph Run

So, the final count for Chuck's 1950s discography is three reorganized albums and three new ones. I will tackle Chuck's 1960-66 Chess discography in a future blog entry. Stay tuned.

NOTE:
 Information about Chuck Berry's recording sessions was provided by
    The Chuck Berry Database at http://www.crlf.de/ChuckBerry/cbdb
    © 2018 by Dietmar Rudolph, Fred Rothwell, Morten Reff