Howlin on the Air

Back in the days when the people who spun records were allowed to have personalities, Wolfman Jack was the king of personality radio. By the time George Lucas had written his character into 1973's "American Graffiti," the Wolfman was already a radio legend, blasting his raspy, jive-talking growl, lupine howls and classic rhythm and blues records across the border from two high-powered stations with transmitters in Mexico - XERB, XERF and XPRS. After "American Graffiti" Wolfman Jack went on to host higly rated programs in LA and NYC, hosted TV's "Midnight Special" for 8 years, and was syndicated to radio stations around the world. He figures in songs by the Grateful Dead ("Ramble On, Rose") and Todd Rundgren ("Wolfman Jack"), and two Canadian groups featured his voice on their records: The Stameder's version of Ray Charles' "Hit the Road, Jack" and The Guess Who's 1974 classic, "Clap for the Wolfman." This compact disc is compiled from actual air-checks of Wolfman's broadcasts on XERB broadcasting in the min '60s from close by Tijuana, Mixico. Believe it or not, the Wolf had toned down a bit by then - no commercials for glow-in-the-dark plastic religious figures or boxes of live baby chickens - but it's the closest thing possible to being there at one of the high points of rock'n'roll radio. And if you care to comply with Wolfman's frequent admonishment to "get yo'self nekked" as you listen, well, so much the better.