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"Evil", sometimes listed as "Evil (Is Going On)", is a Chicago blues song written by Willie Dixon.[1] Howlin' Wolf recorded the song in Chicago for Chess Records in 1954.[2] It was included on the 1959 compilation album Moanin' in the Moonlight. When he re-recorded it for The Howlin' Wolf Album in 1969, "Evil" became Wolf's last charting single, reaching number 43 Billboard R&B chart.[3]
| "Evil Is Goin' On" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Howlin' Wolf | ||||
| from the album Moanin' in the Moonlight | ||||
| B-side | "Baby How Long" | |||
| Released | 1954 | |||
| Recorded | 1954 | |||
| Studio | Chess, Chicago | |||
| Genre | Chicago blues | |||
| Length | 2:55 | |||
| Label | Chess | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Willie Dixon | |||
| Producer(s) | Leonard Chess, Phil Chess, Willie Dixon | |||
| Howlin' Wolf singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Howlin' Wolf first recorded the song at Chess' studio in Chicago on May 25, 1954,[4] with sidemen Hubert Sumlin and Jody Williams on guitars, Otis Spann on piano, Willie Dixon on double-bass, and Earl Phillips on drums.[5] Wolf achieves a coarse, emotional performance with his strained singing, lapsing into falsetto.[6] The song, a twelve-bar blues, is punctuated with a syncopated backbeat, brief instrumental improvisations, upper-end piano figures, and intermittent blues harp provided by Wolf.[6] The lyrics caution about the "evil" that takes place in a man's home when he is away, concluding with "you better watch your happy home".[6]
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