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Smokestack Lightning
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Smokestack Lightning is a song by Howlin' Wolf.
It has been covered numerous time by various artists including The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Animals, The Grateful Dead, The Electric Prunes, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Soundgarden and George Thorogood. Creedence Clearwater Revival's Susie Q uses the riff from this song.
Because the original lyrics did not feature much of a rhyme scheme and included a howl by the Wolf, it was often reworked. The Yardbirds first covered it on their debut, Five Live Yardbirds with slightly rewritten lyrics, not including the howl. On The Yardbirds' BBC Sessions, the lyrics were rewritten completely.
In 1998, Hubert Sumlin released the album I Know You which featured a song called "Smokestack". It features the same riff as "Smokestack Lightning", but features entirely different lyrics. The lyrics on "Smokestack" were done in the style of John Lee Hooker, which is more of a spoken word than singing with a rhyme scheme.