Howlin' Wolf

Bio:
Chester Arthur Burnett was born June 10, 1910 in West Point, Mississippi. He died January 10, 1976 in Hines, Illinois. He would beat on pans with a stick and imitate the whistle on trains as a young boy.  He would grow to a fearsome 6'3", weigh 275 lbs, and wear size 16 shoes.

His parents separated while he was young and he was left by his mother to his great uncle Will who treated him poorly. He ran away at 13 to rejoin his father who bought him his first guitar in January 1928.  He received guitar lessons from Charlie Patton, and harmonica lessons from Sonny Boy Williamson II. He would use a rack-mounted harp to play both instruments simultaneously.  He taught himself to sing by listening to records. His mother, who was a street singer, disowned Arthur after he started playing "the devil's music" and wouldn't take any financial help from him. When he wasn't working on his father's farm he traveled around the Delta with musicians such as Sunny Boy, Robert Johnson, Patton, and Son House. 

The name Howlin' Wolf stemmed from a story that his great grandfather told him. If he misbehaved the howling wolves would get him.

He recorded songs that became blues standards such as Smokestack Lightning and Killing Floor. 

After moving to Chicago, Muddy Waters became his musical rival.

Into the later parts of his life Wolf continued to perform his manic sets in small clubs that had been abandoned by other well-known bluesmen.  Of this he said "I sing for the people."

In the late 1960's and early 1970's Wolf suffered several heart attacks and his kidneys were damaged in a car accident. He would continue to perform till the end. His final performance was in November 1975 at the Chicago Amphitheater.  He used his usual antics from his early years that included crawling across the stage during the song "Crawling King Snake."  After a five minute standing ovation he left the stage and paramedics were called in to revive him.

Discography:

• 1959: Moanin' in the Moonlight
• 1962: Howlin' Wolf Sings the Blues
• 1962: Howlin' Wolf
• 1964: 'Rockin' The Blues - Live In Germany
• 1966: The Real Folk Blues
• 1966: Live In Cambridge
• 1966: The Super Super Blues Band
• 1967: More Real Folk Blues
• 1969: The Howlin' Wolf Album
• 1971: Message to the Young
• 1971: Going Back Home
• 1971: The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions
• 1972: Live and Cookin' (At Alice's Revisited)
• 1973: Evil - Live at Joe's Place
• 1973: The Back Door Wolf
• 1974: London Revisited
• 1975: Change My Way
• 1997: His Best

Quotes:

"I don't play anything but the blues, but now I could never make no money on nothin' but the blues. That's why I wasn't interested in nothin' else."

"I was just a country boy, glad to get some sounds on wax."

"And that was in '48 when I first started out really to makin' records. But I been playing for 35 years. I was playing long, way before I cut, started to cuttin' records, through-and-out the South.”

"Now listen peoples, everybody say they don’t like the blues. But you wrong. See, the blues come from way back. And I’m gonna tell you somethin’ again. The thing that’s going on today is not the blues, it’s just a good beat that people just carry. But now when you come down to the blues, I’m gonna show you how to play the blues. Now you just sit here and watch me.”


“A lot of people is wonderin’, what is the blues? Well, I’m going to tell you what the blues is. When you aint got no money, you got the blues. When you aint got no money to pay your house rent, you still got the blues. A lot of people holler about ‘I don’t like no blues,’ but when you aint got no money and can’t pay your house rent and can’t buy you no food, you damn sure got the blues.”

http://www.howlinwolf.com/

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