Smokestack Lightnin'

"Smokestack Lightnin'" is Howlin' Wolf's one of the most important recordings of atmospheric dread. Recorded in January 1956, the song is built on a cyclical, mesmerizing one-chord guitar riff played by Hubert Sumlin, drawing from older Delta motifs and Wolf's long performance history. But it's Wolf's overpowering vocal that dominates the room. He unleashes a terrifying, wordless falsetto howl that mimics a lonely nighttime train whistle, while blowing fierce, rhythmic bursts on his harmonica. The incredibly hypnotic track hit the Billboard R&B No. 11 on the R&B chart and became an absolute obsession for the 1960s British blues movement, heavily covered by the Yardbirds.