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Howlin' Wolf
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===Album releases and European tours, 1960s and 1970s=== In the early 1960s, Howlin' Wolf recorded several songs that became his most famous, despite receiving no radio play: "[[Wang Dang Doodle]]", "Back Door Man", "Spoonful", "[[Little Red Rooster|The Red Rooster]]", "[[I Ain't Superstitious]]", "[[Goin' Down Slow]]", and "[[Killing Floor (Howlin' Wolf song)|Killing Floor]]", many of which were written by [[Willie Dixon]]. Several became part of the repertoires of British and American rock groups, who further popularized them. Howlin' Wolf's second compilation album, ''[[Howlin' Wolf (album)|Howlin' Wolf]]''—often called "the rocking chair album" from its cover illustration—was released in 1962.<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Jim Campilongo |date=2022-07-22 |title=Why Howlin' Wolf's Landmark 'Rockin' Chair Album' Remains One of the Greatest Blues Records of All Time |url=https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/why-howlin-wolfs-landmark-rockin-chair-album-remains-one-of-the-greatest-blues-records-of-all-time |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=Guitar Player |language=en}}</ref> During the [[American folk music revival|blues revival]] in the 1950s and 1960s, black blues musicians found a new audience among white youths, and Howlin' Wolf was among the first to capitalize on it. He toured Europe in 1964 as part of the [[American Folk Blues Festival]], produced by the German promoters [[Horst Lippmann]] and Fritz Rau.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Romano |first=Will |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mUn5sz5RWRwC&dq=American+Folk+Blues+Festival+howlin+wolf+1964&pg=PA74 |title=Incurable Blues: The Troubles & Triumph of Blues Legend Hubert Sumlin |date=2005 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=978-0-87930-833-9 |pages=74–75 |language=en}}</ref> Also, in that year, the [[The Rolling Stones|Rolling Stones]] recording of "Little Red Rooster" reached number one in the UK. In 1965, at the height of the British Invasion, the Stones came to America for an appearance on ABC-TV's rock music show, ''[[Shindig!]]'' They insisted, as part of their appearing on the program, that Howlin' Wolf would be their special guest. With the Stones sitting at his feet, Wolf performed an empassioned version of "How Many More Years" with a few million people watching his network TV debut.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Howlin' Wolf on Shindig! |url=https://digital.nepr.net/music/2016/06/10/howlin-wolf-on-shindig/ |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=New England Public Radio}}</ref> In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Howlin' Wolf recorded albums with other established musicians starting with ''[[The Super Super Blues Band]]'' (1968), which featured [[Bo Diddley]] and Muddy Waters. ''[[The Howlin' Wolf Album]]'' (1969) had psychedelic rock and free-jazz musicians like Gene Barge, [[Pete Cosey]], Roland Faulkner, [[Morris Jennings]], [[Louis Satterfield]], [[Charles Stepney]] and [[Phil Upchurch]].''The Howlin' Wolf Album'', like rival bluesman Muddy Waters's album ''[[Electric Mud]]'', was designed to appeal to the hippie audience.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Manrique |first=Diego A. |date=2022-11-14 |title=Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters: Sitting on top of the world |url=https://english.elpais.com/culture/2022-11-14/howlin-wolf-and-muddy-waters-sitting-on-top-of-the-world.html |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=EL PAÍS English |language=en-us}}</ref> The album had an attention-getting cover: large black letters on a white background proclaiming "This is Howlin' Wolf's new album. He doesn't like it. He didn't like his electric guitar at first either." The album cover may have contributed to its poor sales. Chess co-founder [[Leonard Chess]] admitted that the cover was a bad idea, saying, "I guess negativity isn't a good way to sell records. Who wants to hear that a musician doesn't like his own music?" British rock musicians [[Eric Clapton]], [[Steve Winwood]], [[Ian Stewart (musician)|Ian Stewart]], [[Bill Wyman]], and [[Charlie Watts]] backed him for [[The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions]], which proved more successful with British audiences than American.<ref name=":2" /> His last album''[[The Back Door Wolf]]'' (1973) was entirely composed of new material. It was recorded with musicians who regularly backed him on stage, including Hubert Sumlin, [[Detroit Junior]], [[Andrew "Blueblood" McMahon]], Chico Chism, Lafayette "Shorty" Gilbert and the bandleader, [[Eddie Shaw]]. The album is shorter than any other he recorded, a little more than 35 minutes, because of his declining health. Wolf's last public performance was in November 1975 at the [[International Amphitheatre]] in Chicago. He shared the bill with [[B.B. King]], [[Albert King]], [[Luther Allison]], and [[O. V. Wright]]. Wolf reportedly gave an "unforgettable" performance, even crawling across the stage during the song, "Crawling King Snake". The crowd gave him a five-minute standing ovation. When he got off the stage after the concert was over, a team of paramedics had to revive him.<ref name="Howlin' The Blues">{{cite web |first1=Don |last1=Draper|title=Howlin' Wolf – Howlin' the Blues, The Story of a Blues Giant |url=https://www.donstunes.com/howlin-wolf/ |website=Don's Tunes |date=June 10, 2018 |access-date=September 7, 2022}}</ref><ref name="10 Things You Didn't Know About Howlin' Wolf"/>
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