Moanin’ in the Moonlight

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2026: #8 An album by an artist featured on the cover of Mojo (34th Album)

Howlin Wolf is, pardon my words, one scary-looking motherfucker. He radiates the devilish aura you would see in movies: 6ft3, 300 pounds, either in a suit or in a ragged shirt, much different from the shine of Muddy Waters.

And while his nickname originally came because of him chasing his grandma's chickens like a wolf, I think it's much more fitting that his style of raw singing and playing demeanor contributed to it. Much like a wolf, he's howling around this record and snarling with his hoarse, worn-down voice.

The atmosphere of Moanin' in the Moonlight is a ramshackle bar, or more appropriately, a juke joint. Lo-fi and stripped down. Ike Turner even turns up on piano on "How Many More Years," of all people, and when the tempo jumps on "All Night Boogie," the guitars go at a raw, faster tempo that would be a basis for rock n' roll and modern shredding. But underneath all of it is broken-down love, or a desperate howl into the night. This is Wolf at his most unvarnished, and the blues-in-transition at its roughest. Definitely worth checking out.