Runco's Weekly Music - Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightnin'

[MrCantescapemyself]

Προυτς...Φειβοριτ σονγκ

[TheLyingfromyou]

misfits <3. nathan's brother is in the car

[Rustylugs]

Has anyone the version where he chews out Son House for drinking too much ?

[paulmc341]

This might the best song ever sang, its so good its fierce what a voice Muddy had absolute classic no other way about it!

[blakkwholej]

@paulmc341 your typing grammar is a bit scrambled, seems like you think youre listening to muddy waters. thats not muddy, its howlin wolf, although muddy's definately on the same train with the wolf. either way they both have legendary voices.

[shazzaman1]

4 hour boner is why he howls

[djangoman2008]

Thank you for this great one - and for the great history lesson you are awesome -Dj

[Vincent12157]

I hate hearing this on a viagra commercial.

[grandmadebsworld]

this song is not fit for a viagra commercial. it's about a broken' heart. now throw in a little wang dang doodle and we're talkin !

[jakethreesixty]

His voice gives me goosebumps!

[MusicsWhore]

Love this after hearing Captain Beefheart was inspired by him I had to listen to it and it is amazing

[sinahalbert]

how incredible is this guy? =) love it

[jchopra]

I cant work out what the hell he's saying but it's just so packed full of soul, rythm and sheer musicality....

[Ahdree23]

Where da fuck da ad come from?

[TheCrazyLIF33]

weird? At 3:20  i found myself in the middle of the floor dancing? :)

[KlineDeere]

1 word Viagra

[shazzaman1]

four hour boner= howlin wolf

[badpdx]

Hubert Sumlin. Perhaps the least appreciated guitar legend of all time. 

[ThePALoLo808]

MAFIA 2

[IvanDegalo]

Amazing!!!

[FLIPSK8R31]

great...... song love howlin wolf

[lexxcoop78]

now thats some serious crying right there........the blues hate to have it but i love to hear about it tho!!!!!

[shazzaman1]

boner commershal

[Gumballmachine83]

@shazzaman1 Yeah...how 'bout it. I heard the song kick in on my TV and seen the first few secinds, I thought "OK, probably a Levi's or Cadillac Commercial"...

Nope...Erectile Dysfunction...

Safe to say Howlin' Wolf is howling straight from his grave...

[lvanhalen]

That was so intense you could really feel that damn dats the blues he was really HOWLIN.

[brandobum9]

the train i ride on....

[powermezzo]

Mmmmmmm bluuuueeeessssss :)

[ThePALoLo808]

MAFIA 2

[G00Dmuzzzik]

god the howl he lets out is haunting

[XboxGenie]

DUH BEAST

[XboxGenie]

@XboxGenie I know!

[MrDJCrazyDiamond]

i love the blues. It doesn't make you feel like any less of a man for crying.

[whitteydog]

Legend has it a dead man came out of his grave to tune his guitar....yeah, I can dig it. Probably true.

[LaPriest]

The wolf is howling in the heavens with hendrix and all the the greats

[lukatme2]

Man, that voice! Like getting punched right in the stomache!

[purps45]

Can you believe they're using this for a Viagra commercial? In 1956, music like this was not played on broadcast radio in Boston, where I lived at the time. One of the best pieces of music of all time IMHO.

[StarbuckUnited]

You keep on howlin', Wolfman :D

[blindingrunt]

KEEP HOWLING WOLFMAN ,IM LISTENING.

[cianamja]

legend

[ausdigaty]

they used this song on a viagra commercial........Made me sick to my stomach!!!!!

[lycanthrope1962]

I hear ya Darth,

this guy and Curtis Mayfield were MAJOR influences on the grandmaster Jimi Hendrix

[william52648]

To Chi-town by way of Mississippi's delta muddied waters...

[steveconn]

I JUST HEARD THIS IN A VIAGRA AD. RUINED FOR ALL TIME BY SOME PHARMACEUTICAL ASSHOLES. FUUUUUUUUUUUCCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!

[stoneage345]

@steveconn i was so upset when i heard that music bed! i asked my husband "Who do you think they got permission to use this song from and does he have an estate? Who is benefiting from this?"

[steveconn]

@stoneage345

I guess Howlin's daughters in Chicago gave them permission. Maybe they needed the money, but still...

[steveconn]

@howlingsandy

Good info, but Smokestack Lightning always seemed to me to have more to do with the working life of a black man in 50's Chicago, working the railroad, and not about selling dick-hardening drugs to well-off white men. Oh well.

[howlingsandy]

@steveconn This song speaks to things experiences way before Chicago. About seeing the train at night & about leaving & sad partings that refer to things of his childhood and betrayal "who's been here baby, since I been gone, little bitty boy...(not his) Girl...be ON!" -- somehow sometimes misheard in really odd ways, the "girl, be on!" is not always clear but heard as "who bit your baby sister since I been gone, little bitty boy turns me on"? jeez! Now, Killing Floor was Chicago stuff +MORE

[howlingsandy]

@steveconn anyway if you ask 1000 people if they know of Wolf, so few do compared to Muddy or Bo... though Wolf was MORE popular live in Chicago, bailed "rival" Muddy out when he went broke but. sold out less got less PR subtle but so, although i UK was different... also very sad he did not get to do an acoustic album - so what is important here re the dick-hardener, is his voice be heard the real one not Eammons best effort ..coz they could'a done Muddy's "just wanna make love to you" instead

[Mirokuofnite]

Songs like this make me think about walking down the rail tracks in the south in the evening.

[ryanspeed]

I cant help but wonder...what would a great talented artist like Howlin Wolf think about black music today? Personally, I believe if he heard all the "kill nigga this" and "boody call that" he would probably hang his head in shame!

[howlingsandy]

@ryanspeed Hear Wolf's "Coon on the Moon" predicting a black president and detoxifying "coon" forever. Written by saxman/mgr Eddy Shaw w/Wolf's input (he asked me to write it but I had interruptions :( It's a moving tribute to the "official" end of Jim Crow, adds with black history, Hubert Sumlin's great work. Wolf would NOT be upset his music or image was used to sell stuff unless it furthered war or blatant economic disparity i.e.he would not want a missile named the Howlin' Wolf

[raoulduke98]

What the hell kind of person would click "dislike" for this song?

[vermont13]

@raoulduke98 in answer to your question...someone w/o sex glands, and lack of good taste....

[casper48675]

@raoulduke98 some who dont no a good song when they here it

[hanaysex]

Well it was an excellent conclusion to your paragraph, A+ with a gold star.

[NightSurgeon09]

Now this is the Blues. We miss you wolf

[MSMETALBABY]

that is raw fuckin blues right there

[bigbertram3]

The wolf was the true king

[gingerburney]

Elemental and transcendent.

[monsterangel13]

OOOOO SMOKESTACK LIGHTNIN!!!!

[barhamo]

It all goes back to this in my opinion.

[szninkiel12]

BIG GREAT MUSIC!!!!!

[mrknowitalllt1]

HOOOOOOOOT DAMN!!! THIS IS ONE OF THOSE SONGS THAT WILL TURN YOUR PISS INTO GASOLINE!!!!

[johnmartinholmes51]

@mrknowitalllt1 LOL too true knowitall - and you aint talking unleaded either! Sheer raw magic!

[mrknowitalllt1]

@johnmartinholmes51 you got that right buddy, i'm talking about rocket fuel. although this song was before my time my mother used to tell me about wolf, waters, and etta james. i really got hooked after seeing cadillac records.

[davidoffon]

A Howlin' Wolf never dies, sound reverberates through the mountains and across the sky.

[DarthMakaveliSithMC]

Incredible, every time I listen to it. Simply incredible. This should be required listening by anyone who likes blues and/or rock. I've heard some covers of this song, and I'm sorry, even though I'm largely open-minded when it comes to music, but none -- and I mean none -- of the covers come close to this track here.

[RuncosWeeklyMusic]

@DarthMakaveliSithMC yea this really is a phenomenal song... I love your enthusiasm haha

[DarthMakaveliSithMC]

@RuncosWeeklyMusic Thanks! I just howled after reading your response. Well, didn't howl anywhere near as well as The Wolf can, but I howled as if it were a full moon out! :)

[AstierBasilio]

@DarthMakaveliSithMC

I completely agree with you.

[Salguine]

@DarthMakaveliSithMC 'Cause every time he hits that first note, it makes your f**king hair stand on end.

[DarthMakaveliSithMC]

@Salguine Indeed! :) And there simply is no match, in any of the covers of this song, for his vocal performance here. I still shake my head hearing people trying to argue that covers of this song by later rock bands and such are better than Howling Wolf's. It drives me nuts when people shortchange the blues legends, the originators of rock and roll for imitators. Yes, there are many good imitators, but none better than the originators.

[hanaysex]

@DarthMakaveliSithMC Lol, did you get that out of a book?

[DarthMakaveliSithMC]

@hanaysex Nah, didn't get it from some book. :) I've seen comments from people here on youtube trying to saying that the covers of Smokestack Lightning are better than Wolf's. One person in particular was trying to say how the Yardbirds' cover of it was more dynamic, I think that was the word he used. I had to respectfully disagree. They can't touch Howling Wolf's version here, and they definitely can't come anywhere close to touching his "howl."

[nicodagger]

@DarthMakaveliSithMC Amen my friend. Nobody can begin to approach the mastery of Howlin' Wolf, ESPECIALLY with this song!!!

[brobbus0]

@DarthMakaveliSithMC Damn right. Every cover of this song I've heard completely pales in comparison. Honestly, I couldn't even listen to some of them all the way through because the were so much inferior, so I just came back to this one. It's just perfect.

[BushiBato]

@DarthMakaveliSithMC I believe it should be required listening for anyone.Like when these youngsters with no clue about what music is buys an Ipod,this song should play before they can program it.So much good stuff is lost nowadays :( Kinda gives me the blues lol.

[DarthMakaveliSithMC]

@BushiBato I totally "hear" you on that. :) I sound like an old guy, but these darn whipper-snappers (heh heh) today with their auto-tune, it's really disappointing. Sure, I know every decade had its fair share of bad music and junk that became popular, but it really seems there's no balance anymore. I think this musical rut we're in really got picked up speed in the mid-90s, when "boy bands" started popping up everywhere. People don't seem to listen to albums anymore, youths just steal singles.

[jchopra]

@DarthMakaveliSithMC

Well said my brother.....

[themostrandomchick24]

@DarthMakaveliSithMC -Fuck yeah! This song is so funky. I can't believe I spent 24 1/2 years of my life without hearing this song! 0_o

[WarGoatForestWolf666]

people forget that their rock wouldn't exist if not for the BLUES

[madhataz]

a real man an a real muso

[memphisiw70]

scares the hell out of me.........And thats before he starts howlin....definitely a missed legend.

[iwantwatermellon]

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE Pink Floyd. Especially the early Pink Floyd.

But seriously...they totally ripped "Candy and a Current Bun" off this song. But I love both so...cool :)

[BeauJames59]

This tune takes me RIGHT back into the feelings and memories of a relationship that started on a beautiful high note, and ended ugly.......

[rtfuhj]

true blues r.i.p.!!!

[Guidush]

big Howlin'wolf

hands up

[trayman303]

man...i love it

[magnum9987]

The blues is the only music their is

[DavidTaylorRocks]

the groupies - primitive used this same sound, check it out

[magnum9987]

The Wolf sends chills down my spine everytime I hear it. Its better than sex

[mhassell79]

yeah but you cant say its better than sex. now listening to this while having sex does send chills down your spine. lol

[RareMusicDirect]

a w e s o m e

krh68

[01twincam]

Gives me chills everytime I hear it. Prooves that one chord is all you need to be the baddest of the bad.

[priapus56]

@01twincam ..er.. voice...small point but quite important really..hum?

[angrysamoan666]

One chord

And sometimes not even one just the root note

CCR got it with their 'Suzie Q'

Most white musicains need the cute extras

[mbegalla]

Plain and simple the Blues at its BEST...but there nothing plain about the Wolf and Smoke stack Lightning!

[brotherbuttcrack]

holy shit. this is like every CCR song

[filthyphillyboy]

Yeah! "Run Through the Jungle" & 'Green River", & "Suzy Q" , especially. Might as well imitate the best, though. Dale Hawkins wrote "Suzy Q", but you can hear "Smokestack Lighting" in it.

Yep, you got it.

[mykalroze]

No, every CCR song is like this.

[brotherbuttcrack]

obviously

[kingrayben800]

ccr came after him so every ccr song is like this

[brotherbuttcrack]

When I say "like" i mean it in like valley girl language. Of course CCR came after Wolf. I didn't say "this SOUNDS like every CCR song. filthyphillyboy got it.

[Kroimpa]

Everyone who wants to know more about him should check out "The Howlin Wolf Story".

Its a docu about his life, u can find it on isohunt.

It also explains what this song is about.

[Pedronicus1]

This track just rocks my soul on so many levels.

[cw1310]

I love the he says, 'who bit your baby little sister'.

[stangcrazy306]

Pure greatness walked among us in this man, true to what he was, first and foremost a bluesman, Mr. Wolf will live on forever!!!

[WoollyMonkey]

Everything is so incredibly right about this song -

everything is perfect. I could never get sick of this song. Howlin' Wolf was amazing :)

[ashort36]

Wow! What a talented musician!! Brotha can sing his ass off with much emotion and attitude. He sound like he know what he's talking about!

[cw1310]

@pdenys Just wondering, and not judging. Why are telling some one to shut up?

[pdenys]

cause i got to stop leaving my youtube signed in and people going and posting stuff like that. i certaintly don't remember that.

[29ungido]

Ronco thank you for all the info you provided honestly i didnt know anything about this eople and how influential they were until i watched the movie, but is really incredible and i i like the howling wwolf a lot well the way they personalized him uin tye movie

[rmbnxs]

Good God this just kicks all kinds of ass. Stops me every time.

[ModestGangster]

R.I.P Howlin Wolf

You were a living legend and you will be missed.

[PeaceAndJustice357]

That brotha at 1:02-1:09 was feeling what ever he was playing i know that for sure!!!

[ToastmachineIdiot]

Blues to me is one of the greatest things that ever happened to music.

Most modern stuff today lacks the soul that legends like The Wolf have in their music.

[catabolismo]

why can we not share howling wolf blues with the people. he would have liked that his music helps everybody that feel blues.

[555zed]

has anyone heard "cause of it all".....

[Zaporiah]

I love this song !!!! Even though im 13. Either way I love it !!!!

[Max3851]

blues blues blues well aint that beautifull

[MadcapMan]

Music like this is timeless!

[phoneke]

Now, as a man in my 30s, originally from the rual south,its just something about Howlin Wolf's voice that resonates deep in my bones. I guess its all those memories of a simpler time from childhood . All of the old black people that embodied a much older time and older way are now gone out of my life. I'm just glad I crossed paths with people like that.

[caudillo1]

The master will never die. Immortal.

[cdf19699]

this is my favorite song by the WOLF.

[unclecarljones]

Does that sum up the Blues (not to mention the human condition) OR WHAT ???

"all i know is that it shine like Gold! :D "

That has got to say it all!!!

[xdevasmicota]

My most favorite blues song on Earth.

Thank you, Creator for giving us Howlin' Wolf.

Anyone know what exactly is "Smokestack Lightnin'?"

all i know is that it shine like Gold! :D

[andyjd90000]

smokestack means a train. As in a choo-choo train. I think maybe the lightning is the sparks of the wheels. God, i love this song too, deep in my soul. im not the biggest HW fan, but he put out some real shit. A bold and unsafe artist.

[Tramm1180]

I agree 110% Just doesn't get much better than this Long live Howling Wolf

[arthurie1]

smokestack lightnin' is the smoke that came out of the stem engines that drove trains at the turn of the century when HW was born in Mississippi. Everyone on the plantation could see the smoke which looked lke lightning and went down to see who was coming in and leaving out. I think HW, (real name Chester Arthur after the president then was born around 1910 in "sippi Delta. Arthurie

[davenotsocool]

The relentless riff,growling vocals, equal pure blues. Thank you Runco.

[jonnytonna]

this is probably the best chicago blues track ever

[flosspoint]

This is absolutely my favorite Howlin' Wolf track of all time. The man's style was awesome! No one can take that from away from him.

[3811iberis]

This is my favorite song by this legendary blues icon, this is just genuine blues to the core, phenominal!!

[Trumpetmaster5504]

Don't you think it sounds like John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom" at the start?

[snakeskin2u2]

Like many Wolf tracks - but unlike many blues records - this one conjures. The magic of Wolf and Sumlin as one in repetition is unequalled.

Many thanks for posting.

[bluesatsunset]

One of the all time great Blues records. Thanks RWM, Thanks Howlin` & thank the lord for Hubert Sumlin.

[DoctorNumber46]

Hubert Sumlin is a genius! He's up there with Robert Lockwood Junior, and BB King in terms of blues prowess.

[Paulsworks]

YES HE IS...AND Hubert's a nice guy too!!!! Probably more influencial than most people know. He changed my life.