Customer Reviews

The Howlin' Wolf Story

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Chester Burnett aka Howlin" Wolf was one of the giants of Blues (Literally!). His music set the standard for the whole Blues genre and led the way vis-a-vis the British Invasion for the 1960s Blues Revival that led to Hendrix, Heavy Metal, Jazz-Fusion, Funk, Rap and so on. Wolf's music was interesting and more varied than any other Bluesman at the time (witness "Evil", "Spoonful", "Back Doot Man" and "Little Red Rooster", all are different, unlike most of Muddy's tunes (except ones like "Walking In The Park"). The Wolf was an innovator and a good writer too. Willie Dixon actually wrote tunes for Wolf like he would have written for himself! Interesting!

I had the pleasure of seeing Wolf live in New York in 1967 at the famous Cafe au Go Go's Blues Bag. I will never forget it. The band started playing "Smokestack Lightning" and Wolf came out with the spotlight BEHIND him looking like a mountain! He was the standard for all blues singers-rock not gospel like B.B. or soul, like Albert King. He was a great entertainer too.
When the Wolf tribute band (Hubert Sumlin and Mojo Buford) came to Australia in 1991 I saw them. I got to meet Hubert, told him about my seeing Wolf in 1967 and he hugged me!! What a thrill!

Well this DVD is fabulous and historical. It has a lot of extras and a good lenght (90 min). I give it fourstars because as a 40 year Blues fan I would have expected more film clips of his performances and if you couldn't find anymore this DVD should have included bits from his American Folk Blues appearances. In Scorsese's "Blues"(Road To Memphis) he has a curious version of Wolf doing "Evil" which is not in this DVD!

The reason why I gave this fours stars is that there is not any new or complete concert footage or new tunes. The tunes shown in Black and White have all been released on the Vestapol DVD: "Devil Got My Woman" along with rare footage of the great Skip James (get this is it actually better than his DVD!)

I was expecting some newly released footage of Wolf in color from some of his many appearances in the late 1960s and early seventies. Let's face it, like with the great Albert King-footage of these great Blues Innovators needs to be released in concert format- Like Albert's Ann Arbor Blues Festival set and Wolf's many Blues festival appearances like the Chicago Blues Festivals of the late 1960s.

If you are a Howlin' Wolf fan or a Blues fan or a documentary film fan, this DVD gets 5 stars on all 3 levels. It is just beautifully done and I don't think I could find one negative thing to write about it. Too bad it is not easily available for all to see it. The closest music documentary I have seen in quality is Buena Vista Social Club.

i just got this dvd what a treat! it blew me away it is way better than i expected by far, i hope there is more footage out there of the wolf. this is a must have for any true lover of good old american roots music, you wont be sorry!living in utah the (closed society )i may be the only one here who knows who he is.what a shame!

What can a poor boy add to all those ravishing reviews? Nothing, just that i got my copy yesterday, and found that, contrary to what the product details say, the disc is not region-protected. So if you had cold feet because you might have to watch it in the computer or simply you could not watch it at all, forget it! Your dvd player will receive it with open arms (i take for granted your player understands NTSC). so you have no excuses now, go and spend whatever currency you have in your wallet, it's as good as the other guys say! Oh, and the same applies to 'The American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1966', all regions, baby!

Sam Phillips once said of Howlin' Wolf...."This is it, this is where the soul of man never dies" If that statement is true, then this DVD is where the soul of man lives. The Shindig performance alone is worth the price of admission, but there are many other filmed highlights and insights into this great artist. Highly recommended

This is a concise, affectionate and well-researched documentary on one of the true giants of the blues. It includes contemporary interviews with Wolf's family and friends and bandmates (including the great Hubert Sumlin) and rare footage of Wolf in his element (including some great full color shots of south side Chicago night clubs, as well as the famous Shindig show, introduced by the Rolling Stones.) It's too bad Wolf didn't live long enough to reap the rewards his rival Muddy Waters did. Still this film goes a long ways to putting Wolf's career in perpective, i.e., among the greats.

In a time when we are bombarded with rapid-fire cutting and frustratingly brief snippets of footage it is refreshing to see a documentary that allows us to spend some time with it's subject matter-- in this case Chester Burnett AKA Howlin'Wolf. I have never seen this much footage on this legendary performer in any one place. If you're a fan of Wolf or the blues, I cannot recommend this film more highly. This DVD is like a Howlin' Wolf performance- you get your money's worth!

I saw a festival screening of this AMAZING Blues documentary....why it wasn't included in the lame MARTIN SCORCESE'S
PRESENTS : THE BLUES series I do not know (perhaps cause most of the series WAS so lame!)....maybe because the filmmakers are REAL blues scholars and serious documentarians of American Music ..unlike the dilitants and celebrities who were choosen to directed most of the Scorcese films.(Clint Eastwoood, please, give me a break...not much relevance to blues in his flabby 90 minutes!)

HOWLIN WOLF is nodoubt one of the most awe-inspiring performers and he is shown in some really amazing and rare clips throughout his career...plus,( Where did director Don McGlynn and Producer Joe Lauro FIND this amazing footage??).. they some how are able to also expose the sensitive HUMAN side of this blues god!....a REAL indept look at one of the true all time legends of the Blues.

THIS DVD IS ABOUT AS GOOD AS IT GETS. THE STORY OF WOLFS LIFE IS TRULY INSPIRING. A TRUE AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY. HIS MUSIC WILL LIVE ON FOREVER. IF YOU LOVE EARLY BLUES HISTORY IN AMERICA, BUY THIS DVD.