Wolf Records began its mission in 1974 when 20 Austrian blues fans founded the Vienna Blues Fan Club and began bringing blues artists to tour their country. In 1982 four members transformed the club, renamed for Howlin’ Wolf, into Wolf Records with two purposes: to re-release the original country blues recordings of the 1920s and ’30s and to emphasize the blues styles of Chicago. It was the release of Magic Slim’s 1987 W.C. Handy Award winner that cemented Wolf’s place as a recording company of note. Since then, the label has released 57 recordings in its Chicago Blues Session series, including artists like Magic Slim, Willie Kent, Vance Kelly, Eddie Shaw, Carey Bell, Little Mack Simmons, John Primer, Eddie Taylor Sr., Eddie Taylor Jr., L.V. Banks, Vaan Shaw, Alabama Jr. Pettis, Johnny B. Moore, and many more. Wolf’s artists continue to play major festivals, such as the Chicago Blues Festival, and to tour, while its releases and artists continue to be nominated for Blues Music Awards along with an array of other notable honors as it continues to showcase country and Chicago blues.
