Sometimes the blues seems so overfamiliar and commonplace and 'classic' that it's difficult to listen to it or appreciate it properly, and listening to a cd compilation it can all get a bit samey. But when you happen up on a track- on a tv programme say, or a clip of Muddy Waters or Howlin' Wolf- it can blow you away, and you can see why this raw, primal, rural and urban black American music was the real starting point of pretty much everything we listen to. You can begin to understand what those stiff white kids in early 60s London were so awestruck by. I chanced up on this song, Spoonful by Howlin' Wolf (Chester Burnett), on a Chess compilation this morning when I uncovered a box of cds that came free with magazines. It's very basic but what a performance-Howlin' Wolf's voice, two guitars (one of them squeeling and peeling), simple rhythm- totally captivating.
Howlin' Wolf - Spoonful.mp3