A brief Howlin Wolf Bio
"Howlin’ Wolf ranks among the most electrifying
performers in blues history, as well as one of its greatest
characters. He was a ferocious, full-bodied singer whose
gruff, rasping vocals embodied the blues at its most unbridled.
A large man who stood more than six feet tall and weighed
nearly 300 pounds, Howlin’ Wolf cut an imposing figure,
which he utilized to maximum effect when performing. In
the words of blues historian Bob Santelli, “Wolf acted
out his most potent blues, becoming the living embodiment
of its most powerful forces.” Howlin’ Wolf cut
his greatest work in the Fifties for the Chicago-based
Chess Records. Many songs with which he is most
closely identified - “Spoonful,” “Back
Door Man,” “Little Red Rooster” and “I
Ain’t Superstitious” - were written for him
by bluesmen Willie Dixon, a fixture at Chess Records who
also funneled material to Wolf’s main rival, Muddy
Waters. Howlin’ Wolf himself was an estimable
songwriter, responsible for such raw classics as “Killing
Floor,” “Smokestack Lightning” and “Moanin’
at Midnight.”
In 1910, Howlin’ Wolf was born on a Mississippi plantation
in the midst of a blues tradition so vital it remains the
underpinning for much of today’s popular music. His
birth name was Chester Arthur Burnett;
“Howlin’ Wolf” was a nickname he picked
up in his youth. He was exposed to the blues from an early
age through such performers as Charley Patton and Willie
Brown, who performed at plantation picnics and juke joints.
Wolf derived his trademark howl from the “blue yodel”
of country singer Jimmie Rodgers, whom he admired. Although
he sang the blues locally, it wasn’t until he moved
to West Memphis in 1948 that he put together a full-time
band. Producer Sam Phillips recorded Howlin’
Wolf at his Memphis Recording Service (later Sun Records)
after hearing him perform on radio station KWEM.
Some of the material was leased to Chess Records, and in
the early Fifties Howlin’ Wolf signed with Chess and
moved to Chicago. He remained there until his death.
Howlin’ Wolf served to influence such blues-based
rock musicians as the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton.
In fact, he recorded a pair of albums - The London Howlin’
Wolf Sessions and London Revisited - with his British disciples
in the early Seventies. Howlin’ Wolf’s distinctive
vocal style and rough-hewn approach to the blues can also
be heard in the work of such diverse artists as Captain
Beefheart and His Magic Band and Led Zeppelin.
Slowed down for much of the Seventies due to serious internal
injuries suffered in an automobile accident, Howlin’
Wolf gave his last performance in Chicago in November 1975
with fellow blues titan
B.B. King. He died of kidney failure two months later.”
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