Howlin' Wolf

Today Howlin' Wolf, were he still among us, would be celebrating his 113th birthday (h/t John Funke).  Via the pages of the March 1972 issue of Ebony magazine, here's a glimpse of his home turf club in Chicago's "West Side ghetto."  The Blue Flame Lounge (aka Duke's Show Place) even incorporated Howlin' Wolf into their incredible sign.  It's a little tough to read but right next to the wolf, it says "HOME OF THE HOWLING WOLF."  I like it.

This greasy riff

I love this greasy, grinding riff (or lick, or motif, or whatever the stratocaster-playing lawyers who run everything are calling it these days).  It has long since been run into the ground by the giant-beer-company-sponsored, neatly-trimmed-bearded legions of "blues" "musicians" all over America and the world, but these variations on it still sound pretty good to my ears and hopefully to yours:

Little Richard- Directly From My Heart
Don and Dewey- Pink Champagne
Howlin' Wolf- I Walked From Dallas
Hound Dog Taylor- Sadie

Get Down, and Do The Do

"We gonna get down. We gonna do the do. I'm going to hit these motherfuckers."

-Dock Ellis, in a clubhouse speech to his teammates before a 1974 game against the Cincinnati Reds in which he plunked the first three batters he faced (Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and Dan Driessen, for those of you keeping score at home).

Harvey Scales & the 7 Sounds - Get Down

Howlin' Wolf - Do The Do

Quotation taken from Dan Epstein's essential new baseball tome Big Hair and Plastic Grass .