With his larger-than-life persona, roaring vocals, and the raw, skittering guitar lines of Hubert Sumlin behind him, Howlin' Wolf turned out dozens of stellar Chicago blues singles for RPM and Chess Records between 1951 and 1962, including "Smokestack Lightnin'," "Spoonful," "Red Rooster," and the magnificent "Killing Floor," among many others. All of these, along with his other classic and essential singles (both A- and B-sides) from the first decade of his career, are collected here in this expansive, three-disc, 80-track set, which also includes several sides recorded at sessions during this period but never released. ~ Steve Leggett