C major · Camelot 8B · 105 BPM
Evil
by Howlin' Wolf
- 105
- BPM
- C major
- Key
- 8B
- Camelot
- 57
- Danceability
- 53
- Acousticness
Howlin' Wolf recorded "Evil" at Chess Records' studio in Chicago on May 25, 1954, with a backing group that included Hubert Sumlin and Jody Williams on guitars, Otis Spann on piano, Willie Dixon on double-bass, and Earl Phillips on drums. The song, written by Dixon, was a twelve-bar blues punctuated by a syncopated backbeat, brief instrumental improvisations, and upper-end piano figures. Wolf added intermittent blues harp to the arrangement.
Wolf gave a coarse, emotional vocal performance, straining his voice and lapsing into falsetto at points. The lyrics warn about the "evil" that takes place in a man's home while he is away. The track was sometimes listed under the alternative title "Evil (Is Going On)".
Although cut in 1954, the song did not appear on an album until it was included on the 1959 compilation Moanin' in the Moonlight. Wolf re-recorded it fifteen years later for The Howlin' Wolf Album in 1969, and that version became his last charting single, reaching number 43 on the Billboard R&B chart. Of his six songs to reach that chart between 1951 and 1969, this was the final one. Wolf, born Chester Arthur Burnett, had come to Chess after his 1951 record "Moanin' at Midnight" led to a deal with the label.
Evil runs at 105 BPM, the tempo of mid-tempo pop, dancehall and indie. In classical terms it sits in andante territory. A bar of 4/4 lasts 2.29 seconds, and a quarter-note delay is 571 ms. It is in C major, Camelot 8B, which shares its notes with A minor and mixes cleanly with F major and G major.
We use multiple sources as part of our online research for the song story including Wikipedia.