Manage this artist

Little Howlin' Wolf

After some gnarly vinyl manufacturing delays, very excited to release Little Howlin' Wolf's The Guardian. This 1982 LP brought together a slew of Wolf's self-released 45 singles to create a sorta jigsaw puzzle of style and influence that spans Chicago's fabled Maxwell Street scene to much deeper, outside movements stepped in free association and ethnic traditions. Unlike the scrabbled, overload of Cool Truth (1985 - FV83), The Guardian presents Wolf's most accessible and deeply emotional songs, yet still orbits a universe known only by the likes of Captain Beefheart or Albert Ayler.

This reissue features replicated LP jackets, with Wolf’s original transcendent liner notes, and labels bearing his Solidarity Solidarnosc Records name; never before seen photos; essay by ethnomusicologist/ Canary Records head Ian Nagoski; and download coupon. 

Now with both of Wolf's early 80s album back in print, listeners can finally get a full send of his "fractured, contemporary urban folk music," according to Pop Matters. "Borrowing from a host of stylistic traditions, Pobiega creates an unsettling amalgamation, an aural melting pop of sorts, that distills the disparate genres to their basest elements to create something distinctly American."

“I’m the only one who plays on the streets all year round. I don’t do it for money. Most people ignore me but some people come by and toss a $5 bill and say, they’ve been listening for years and that I should keep it up.

"I’ve lived an impoverished life. I’m just playing for people to listen. I must have composed 4,000 songs.

"I am a Polish gypsy, a member of the on-going wolf tribe. I can play music from the Stone Age. I maintain music of the twilight.” -- Little Howlin' Wolf, 1980.

Little Howlin' Wolf is back in the Midwest for a spell. He joined up with Tyler Damon in Bloomington for a duo set at The Bishop... And yes, we will be reissuing the Wolf's two LPs -- Cool Truth and The Guardian -- in 2014.