Smokestack Lightning
"Smoke Stack Lightning" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Howlin' Wolf | ||||
B-side | "You Can't Be Beat" | |||
Released | March 1956 | |||
Recorded | January 1956 | |||
Studio | Chess, Chicago | |||
Genre | Blues | |||
Length | 2:32 | |||
Label | Chess | |||
Songwriter(s) | Chester Burnett a.k.a. Howlin' Wolf | |||
Producer(s) | Leonard Chess, Phil Chess, Willie Dixon | |||
Howlin' Wolf singles chronology | ||||
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"Smokestack Lightning" (also "Smoke Stack Lightning" or "Smokestack Lightnin'") is a blues song recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1956. It became one of his most popular and influential songs. It is based on earlier blues songs, and numerous artists later interpreted it.
Background
Wolf had performed "Smokestack Lightning" in one form or another at least by the early 1930s,
Original song
At Chess' studio in Chicago in January 1956, Howlin' Wolf recorded "Smokestack Lightning".[1] The song takes the form of "a propulsive, one-chord vamp, nominally in E major but with the flatted blue notes that make it sound like E minor", and lyrically it is "a pastiche of ancient blues lines and train references, timeless and evocative".[1] Longtime Wolf guitarist Hubert Sumlin is credited with the distinctive guitar line.[8] Howlin' Wolf sang and played harmonica, backed by pianist Hosea Lee Kennard, guitarists Willie Johnson[9] and Hubert Sumlin, bassist Willie Dixon, and drummer Earl Phillips.[8]
In 1956, "Smokestack Lightning" reached number 11 on the Billboard R&B chart.[10] As the UK experienced an R&B boom in the early 1960s, British R&B groups regularly covered "Smokestack Lightning" in their live acts.[11] Due to the song's renewed popularity, Pye International Records issued it in the UK on a moderately successful EP in late 1963 and then on a single the following year,[11] where it peaked at number 42 in the singles chart.[12] It was later included on the albums Moanin' in the Moonlight and The Howlin' Wolf Album.
Recognition
In a song review for
Janovitz also identifies "Smokestack Lightning" as a blues standard "open to varied interpretation, covered by artists ranging from
References
- ^ a b c d
Segrest, James; Hoffman, Mark (2004). Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf. New York City: ISBN 0-375-42246-3.
- ^
ISBN 0-14006-223-8.
- ^ 1928, Victor No. 21279
- ^ 1930, OKeh 8807
- ^ 1930, Paramount 13014
- ^
ISBN 978-0-306-80300-0.
- ^ a b Rolling Stone (December 9, 2004). "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. No. 963. Retrieved September 3, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Janovitz, Bill. "Howlin' Wolf: 'Smokestack Lightning' – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved March 20, 2011.
- ^ Willie Johnson or Pat Hare played on the earlier "Crying at Daybreak".
- ISBN 1-55728-252-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8264-1498-4.
- ^ "Howlin' Wolf – Singles". Official Charts. Retrieved September 3, 2013.
- ^
"Grammy Hall of Fame Awards – Past Recipients". Grammy.org. 1999. Retrieved March 20, 2011.
- ^ "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 1995. Archived from the original on 2007-05-02. Retrieved March 20, 2011.
- ^ Blues Foundation (November 10, 2016). "1985 Hall of Fame Inductees: Smoke Stack Lightning (Smokestack Lightnin') – Howlin' Wolf (Chess, 1956)". The Blues Foundation. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ^ "Complete National Recording Registry Listing". U.S. Library of Congress. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
- ^
ISBN 978-0-7679-2536-5.
- ^ a b
OCLC 781357622. R2 79825.