The Real Folk Blues - The Chess 75 Series
Howlin' Wolf
The Real Folk Blues is a 1965 compilation album by Chicago blues titan Howlin' Wolf, released on Chess Records and assembled by Marshall Chess as part of the label's broader Real Folk Blues series — a reaction to the surge in American interest in blues music following the British Invasion. The album draws on recordings Wolf made in Chicago between 1956 and 1965, all of which had previously appeared only as singles, making this their first appearance in long-playing album form. Notably, despite the enduring stature of the tracks collected here, none of these Wolf 45s had charted on the Billboard R&B charts upon their original release, making the album an essential act of consolidation for one of the most influential and underheard catalogs in American music. Twelve tracks spanning nearly a decade of sessions capture Wolf — born Chester Burnett — at the height of his powers, backed by some of the finest electric blues musicians in Chicago, with Willie Dixon's songwriting fingerprints evident on several of the most celebrated cuts.
The Chess 75 Series edition, released in May 2026 via Chess Records and Acoustic Sounds, is a 180-gram mono vinyl reissue mastered from the original analog tapes by Matt Lutthans at The Mastering Lab and pressed at Quality Record Pressings — the same audiophile production approach applied across the broader Chess Records 75th Anniversary Series. The album is housed in a tip-on gatefold sleeve printed on high-grade board. The music itself remains staggering in its authority: "Killing Floor" opens the record with ferocious urgency and went on to inspire countless rock musicians including Jimi Hendrix, while "Three Hundred Pounds of Joy" and "Built for Comfort" showcase Dixon's wry, heavyweight lyricism matched to Wolf's incomparable growl, and "Tail Dragger" and "Sitting on Top of the World" demonstrate the full emotional and dynamic range that made Wolf — as AllMusic has written.
The Real Folk Blues - The Chess 75 Series
Howlin' Wolf
The Real Folk Blues is a 1965 compilation album by Chicago blues titan Howlin' Wolf, released on Chess Records and assembled by Marshall Chess as part of the label's broader Real Folk Blues series — a reaction to the surge in American interest in blues music following the British Invasion. The album draws on recordings Wolf made in Chicago between 1956 and 1965, all of which had previously appeared only as singles, making this their first appearance in long-playing album form. Notably, despite the enduring stature of the tracks collected here, none of these Wolf 45s had charted on the Billboard R&B charts upon their original release, making the album an essential act of consolidation for one of the most influential and underheard catalogs in American music. Twelve tracks spanning nearly a decade of sessions capture Wolf — born Chester Burnett — at the height of his powers, backed by some of the finest electric blues musicians in Chicago, with Willie Dixon's songwriting fingerprints evident on several of the most celebrated cuts.
The Chess 75 Series edition, released in May 2026 via Chess Records and Acoustic Sounds, is a 180-gram mono vinyl reissue mastered from the original analog tapes by Matt Lutthans at The Mastering Lab and pressed at Quality Record Pressings — the same audiophile production approach applied across the broader Chess Records 75th Anniversary Series. The album is housed in a tip-on gatefold sleeve printed on high-grade board. The music itself remains staggering in its authority: "Killing Floor" opens the record with ferocious urgency and went on to inspire countless rock musicians including Jimi Hendrix, while "Three Hundred Pounds of Joy" and "Built for Comfort" showcase Dixon's wry, heavyweight lyricism matched to Wolf's incomparable growl, and "Tail Dragger" and "Sitting on Top of the World" demonstrate the full emotional and dynamic range that made Wolf — as AllMusic has written.