Howling Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976), better known as Howlin' Wolf or sometimes, The Howlin' Wolf, was an influential blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and harmonica player.
Early life
Born in White Station near West Point, Mississippi, Burnett was nicknamed Big Foot and Bull Cow in his early years because of his massive size. Akthough Howlin' Wolf also raltes to his gruff singing style, he explained the name as coming from his grandfather. As a youth Burnett listened to Charley Patton, one of the earliest Mississippi bluesmen to record, who taught him the rudiments of guitar. He was aslo influenced by the Mississippi Sheiks, Tommy Johnson and country singer, Jimmie Rodgers, whose famous "blue yodel" Burnett inspired Wolf's own occasional use of falsetto in his singing style. Burnett's harmonica playing was modelled after that of Rice Miller, (also known as Sonny Boy Williamson II) who had lived with his sister for a time and taught him how to play. Burnett also played with Delta blues legends Robert Johnson and Willie Brown in his youth.
Howlin' Wolf's parents broke up when he was young. His very religious mother Gertrude threw him out of the house for refusing to work around the farm while still a child; he then moved in with his uncle, Will Young, who treated him badly. When he was 13, he ran away and walked 75 miles barefoot to join his father, where he finally found a happy home within his father's large family. During the peak of his success, he returned from Chicago to his home town to see his mother again, but was driven to tears when she rebuffed him and refused to take any money he offered her, saying it was from his playing the "Devil's music". Wolf's feelings toward his mother would be poignantly expressed in his song, Going Down Slow," in which he implores:
- Please write my mother, tell her the shape I'm in.
- Tell her to pray me for me, forgive me for my sin.
Working as a farmer during the 1930s, Burnett served in the United States Army as a radioman in Seattle during World War II. By 1948 he had formed a band that included guitarists Willie Johnson and M. T. Murphy, harmonica-player Junior Parker, a pianist who went by the name Destruction, and drummer Willie Steele. He sang on radio broadcasts on KWEM in West Memphis, Arkansas, alternating between performing at local dances and juke joints and operating farm equipment. In 1951 he auditioned for Sam Phillips' Memphis Recording Service.
Career
Already a local celebrity, his first recordings came in 1951, when he was signed both to Modern Records and to Chess Records. How Many More Years in August 1951. Wolf also recorded sides for Modern, with Ike Turner, in late 1951 and early 1952. Turner would later claim to be the one who "discoverd" Wolf, but Chess eventually won the war over the singer. Wolf settled in Chicago, Illinois and began playing with guitarist Hubert Sumlin, whose thin tone and intense solos perfectly complemented Burnett's huge voice and surprisingly subtle phrasing. In the mid-'50s Wolf released "Evil" and "Smokestack Lightnin'", both major R&B hits. Like many Chicago bluesmen, he took a back seat to more commerically successful R & B acts in the late 50s, but was one of the first to benefit from the blues rivival of the 60s.
Wolf's 1962 album Howlin' Wolf is one of the most famous and influential blues records, known for its cover illustration of an acoustic guitar leaning against a rocking chair. This album contained "Wang Dang Doodle", "Goin' Down Slow", "Spoonful" and Little Red Rooster, songs which found their way into the repertoires of British and American bands infatuated with Chicago blues. In 1965 he appeared on the television show Shindig along with the Rolling Stones, who had covered "Little Red Rooster" on an early album. He was often backed by bassist and songwriter Willie Dixon who authored such Howlin' Wolf standards as "Spoonful", "I Ain't Superstitious", "Little Red Rooster", "Back Door Man", "Evil", "Wang Dang Doodle" (primarily known as a Koko Taylor hit), and others. By the late 60s, Wolf was appealing the white audiences in folk clubs across the nation and cutting age rock venues as well as traditional R&B haunts.
In 1971, Wolf and his long-time guitarist Sumlin travelled to London to record the Howlin' Wolf London Sessions LP. British blues/rock musicians Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ian Stewart, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts played alongside Wolf on this album. He recorded his last album for Chess, The Back Door Wolf, in 1973.
Unlike many other blues musicians, after he left his impoverished childhood to begin a musical career, Howlin' Wolf was always at least monderately financially successful. He described himself as "the onliest one to drive himself up from the Delta" to Chicago, which he did, in his own car and with four thousand dollars in his pocket—a rare distinction for a bluesman of the time. His success was partly due to his enormous charisma and joyful, crowd-pleasing stage presence. However, it was also due to his ability to avoid the pitfalls of alcohol, gambling, and the various dangers inherent in what are vaguely described as "loose women", to which so many of his peers fell prey.
Wolf met his future wife, Lily, while playing in a Chicago club one night when she just happened to attend. She and her family were urban and educated, and not involved to what was generally seen as the unsavory world of blues musicians. Nonetheless, immediately attracted when he saw her in the audience as Wolf says he was, he pursued her and won her over. According to those who knew them, the couple remained deeply in love until his death. They had two daughters, Billye and Barbara.
Lilly, also helped manage his professional finances, and he was so financially successful that he was able to offer band members not only a decent salary, but benefits such as health insurance. This in turn enabled him to hire his pick of the available musicians, and keep his band one of the best around. According to his daughters, he was never financially extravagant, for instance driving a Pontiac station wagon rather than a more expensive and flashy car.
At 6 foot, 6 inches and close to 300 pounds, he was an imposing presence with one of the loudest and most memorable voices of all the "classic" 1950s blues singers. Howlin' Wolf's voice has been compared to "the sound of heavy machinery operating on a gravel road". At the same time, Wolf's external gruffness belied a contrasting gentle, unpretentious, and joyful character that eschewed the tough, sometimes evil, persona often adopted by other bluesmen.
Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller), Little Walter Jacobs and Muddy Waters are usually regarded as the greatest blues artists who recorded for Chess in Chicago. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #51 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[1]
Chester Burnett "Howlin Wolf" is buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Hillside, Cook County, Illinois, USA Plot: Section 18, right by the road. His gravestone has an image of a guitar and harmonica etched into it.
Covers
Numerous artists have recorded cover versions of Howlin' Wolf songs:
- "Little Red Rooster" was covered by Sam Cooke in 1963 and by The Rolling Stones in 1964.
- Both The Yardbirds and The Animals covered "Smokestack Lightning" in 1964 and 1966 respectively.
- Led Zeppelin covered "How Many More Years" (they changed the name of the song to "How Many More Times") on their eponymous debut. They also covered "Killing Floor" in an altered version dubbed "The Lemon Song" on their second album, Led Zeppelin II. They were later sued by Chess Records for plagiarism.
- The Doors covered "Back Door Man" for their first, self titled album, The Doors
- The Electric Prunes regularly covered "Smokestack Lightnin'" in their live shows, a recording of which can be found on their Stockholm '67 LP.
- The Jimi Hendrix Experience covered "Killing Floor" at a BBC Saturday Club radio session in 1967, a recording of which is available on their 1998 BBC Sessions compilation, and opened with it at the Monterey Pop Festival (also in 1967).
- Cream also covered one of his songs on their double-album Wheels of Fire. On the first (studio) disc, they covered "Sitting on Top of the World". This song has also been covered by Bob Dylan in the 1992 album Good as I been to you. There is also a cover by Jimi Hendrix. Howlin' Wolf's own version was a cover of the 1930 classic original by the Mississippi Sheiks.
- Soundgarden covered "Smokestack Lightning" on their first album Ultramega OK.
- Clutch covers "Who's Been Talking" on their 2005 release Robot Hive/Exodus.
- Stevie Ray Vaughan covered three Howlin' Wolf songs on his studio albums: "Tell Me" appears on Texas Flood; "You'll be mine" (written by Willie Dixon) on Soul to Soul and "Love Me Darlin'" on In Step. Vaughan also played "Shake for me" (written by W.Dixon) on the live album In the Beginning, even copying the original guitar solo, played by Hubert Sumlin and "I'm Leaving You (Commit a Crime)" can be found from Live-Alive album.
- George Thorogood covered "Highway 49" and "Smokestack Lightning" on Born to be Bad in 1988. He also covered "Howlin' for My Baby" in 1993 on Haircut.
- On The Crossroads Guitar Festival DVD, "Killing Floor" was performed by Hubert Sumlin, Eric Clapton, Robert Cray and Jimmie Vaughan. It is quite possible that the guitar riff from the song was written by Sumlin.
- Little Red Rooster was covered by British alternative band Jesus and Mary Chain on their Sound of Speed album
- PJ Harvey covered "Wang Dang Doodle" in her early years and was released on a 2002 b-sides & rarities album
- Steven Seagal also covered the song " Little Red Rooster" with his band.
- Tom Waits has covered "Who's Been Talking?" several times during live performances.
- Iron and Wine released a live cover of "Smokestack Lightning" on a compilation CD entitled Hope Isn't a Word that came with issue 15 of the magazine Comes With a Smile.
Music samples
|
|
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Segrest, James and Mark Hoffman. Moanin' at Midnight. New York: Random House, Inc. 2004 - ISBN 0-375-42246-3
- The Howlin' Wolf Story - The Secret History of Rock & Roll, ASIN: B0000DJZ81 (2003)
External links
- HowlinWolf.com fan site
- Bio @ HowlinWolf.com
- [1] iconic and rare portraits of Howlin' Wolf, from 1968 and 1969
- Howlin' Wolf Gravesite
- 1980 Blues Foundation Hall of Fame induction
Template:Blues
- ↑ The Immortals: The First Fifty. Rolling Stone Issue 946. Rolling Stone.
