HOWLIN' WOLF - SMOKE STACK LIGHTNING

SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING

HOWLIN' WOLF

SONGWRITER: CHESTER BURNETT

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: SMOKESTACK LIGHTNING

LABEL: CHESS

GENRE: BLUES

YEAR: 1956

"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.

Wolf had performed "Smokestack Lightning" in one form or another at least by the early 1930s, when he was performing with Charley Patton in small Delta communities. The song, called "a hypnotic one-chord drone piece", draws on earlier blues, such as Tommy Johnson's "Big Road Blues" (1928, Victor 21279), the Mississippi Sheiks' "Stop and Listen Blues" (1930, OKeh 8807), and Charley Patton's "Moon Going Down" (1930, Paramount 13014). Wolf said the song was inspired by watching trains in the night: "We used to sit out in the country and see the trains go by, watch the sparks come out of the smokestack. That was smokestack lightning." In 1951, he recorded the song as "Crying at Daybreak". It contains the line "O-oh smokestack lightnin', shinin', just like gold, oh don't you hear me cryin'", similar to the Mississippi Sheiks' lyric "A-ah, smokestack lightnin', that bell shine just like gold, now don't you hear me talkin'".

Chester Arthur Burnett(June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976), known as Howlin' Wolf, was a Chicago blues singer, guitarist, and harmonica player. Originally from Mississippi, he moved to Chicago in adulthood and became successful, forming a rivalry with fellow bluesman Muddy Waters. With a booming voice and imposing physical presence, he is one of the best-known Chicago blues artists.

The musician and critic Cub Koda noted, "no one could match Howlin' Wolf for the singular ability to rock the house down to the foundation while simultaneously scaring its patrons out of its wits." Producer Sam Phillips recalled, "When I heard Howlin' Wolf, I said, 'This is for me. This is where the soul of man never dies.'" Several of his songs, including "Smokestack Lightnin'", "Killing Floor" and "Spoonful", have become blues and blues rock standards. In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 54 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".

Whoa, smokestack lightning

Shinin', just like gold

Ah, don't ya hear me cryin'?

A-whoo-hoo, ooh

Whooo...

Whoa-oh, tell me, baby

What's the, matter here?

Ah, don't ya hear me cryin'?

Whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo

Whooo...

Whoa-oh, tell me, baby

Where did ya, stay last night?

Ah, don't ya hear me cryin'?

Whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo

Whooo...

Whoa-oh, stop your train

Let a, poor boy ride

Why don't ya hear me cryin'?

Whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo

Whooo....

Whoa-oh, fare ya well

Never see, a you no more

Ah, don't ya hear me cryin'?

Ooh, whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo

Whooo...

Whoa-oh, who been here baby since

I-I been gone, a little, bitty boy?

Girl, be on

A-whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo

Whooo...