![]() The early 60s was a time when rising British beat groups, such as The Rolling Stones, The Animals, and The Yardbirds, were profoundly influenced by American blues musicians the likes of Howlin’ Wolf. Theirs had a similar swagger to Wolf’s version but, with its softer, more sophisticated arrangement featuring horns, a new bridge section, and key changes, it lacked the visceral intensity of the original. Though Wolf’s version of “Spoonful” didn’t chart when it was released in 1960, the Willie Dixon song became a Top 20 US R&B duet for Etta James and Harvey Fuqua, who were billed together as Etta & Harvey. “People who think ‘Spoonful’ was about heroin are mostly people with heroin ideas,” he wrote in his autobiography, I Am The Blues. Others, though, have interpreted the song as representing a desperate craving for any addictive substance, be it drugs or alcohol – especially when Wolf sings, “Men lie about that spoonful/Some cry about that spoonful/Some die about a spoonful/Everybody fight about that spoonful.” But Willie Dixon was adamant that his song wasn’t about using narcotics. ![]() In Dixon’s song, however, “Spoonful” is really a metaphor for sex, and the fact that Howlin’ Wolf purportedly simulated masturbation on stage while performing the song (and rubbed his groin area with a big wooden spoon), would seem to corroborate this. “Spoonful” wasn’t the first blues song to reference addiction, and it could be considered a later descendent of early blues maven Charley Patton’s 1929 recording “A Spoonful Blues,” which in turn was influenced by Papa Charlie Jackson’s “All I Want Is A Spoonful,” released four years earlier. His greatest songs include “Hoochie Coochie Man” ( Muddy Waters), “You Can’t Judge A Book By The Cover” ( Bo Diddley), “My Babe” (Little Walter), “The Red Rooster” (Howlin’ Wolf), “Wang Dang Doodle” (Koko Taylor), “Bring It On Home” ( Sonny Williamson II) and “I Just Want To Make Love To You” (Etta James). Though he made many records under his own name, Dixon – a Grammy-winning inductee into the Blues Hall Of Fame – is best remembered for authoring a raft of classic blues tunes that were recorded by a number of significant artists at Chess Records in the 50s and early 60s. “Spoonful”’s author was noted songwriter and producer, Mississippi-born Willie Dixon (1915-92), who was a key architect in sculpting the trajectory of post-war Chicago electric blues. Listen to the history of “Spoonful” on Spotify. The song quickly became a blues standard covered by everyone from Cream to Etta James and even Kronos Quartet. Boasting great power and intensity, it was unequivocally a record that made an indelible mark on many of its listeners, particularly for its memorable line: “One spoon of love from my 45 will save you from another man.”įor many, one spoonful wasn’t enough. Above a throbbing groove, Wolf describes desire as an incurable addiction that can drive people to murder and madness. In essence, it’s a simply constructed piece comprising a hypnotic one-chord vamp which is seasoned with Freddie Robinson’s stinging guitar lines and Otis Spann’s barrelhouse piano. Though not as famous as “Smokestack Lightnin’,” Wolf’s signature song, “Spoonful” is nevertheless a hugely significant recording whose performance captures the intimidating charisma and primal energy of its creator. Though he was baptized Chester Burnett, the singer from White Station, Mississippi, called himself Howlin’ Wolf (1910-76), and both his name and his sound were unforgettable. His voice, a booming sepulchral bellow that was akin, perhaps, to a volcanic eruption from hell, was even more remarkable. It was called “Spoonful” and was delivered by a singer who, at six feet three inches tall, and weighing 300lbs, was an imposing figure of a man. In 1960, Chicago-based Chess Records released a single that became one of the most influential and much-covered recordings in its catalogue.
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