Howlin Wolf

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Abner, Aug 14, 2017.

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  1. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member

  2. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Wolf (Chester Arthur Burnett) was amazing! I started listening to him in 1959, the year he made this record. I was 16 then and he made a big impression on me. I read that on his first visit to a recording studio, he was earning his living as a farmer; he was 38 years old at the time. He certainly made up for lost time!

    People who saw him perform back then said he could be terrifying, when he chose to. He'd be on his back at times, legs kicking, uttering supernatural growls. Wolf was "heavy metal" fifteen years before the white kids started!

    Another artist really worthy of note was Howlin' Wolf's legendary guitarist, Hubert Sumlin; he played in Wolf's band from 1954 until Wolf's death in 1976. Wonderful and widely-regarded player, performing until days before his death at 80, in 2011. Hubert was so revered that none other than Mick Jagger and Keith Richards paid his funeral expenses.

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 14, 2017
  3. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Wolf was also related to another famous performer; he was brother-in-law to the well-known blues harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson II, real name Willie "Rice" Miller, or Aleck Ford, some say, or ...? Sonny Boy married Wolf's sister. At one point, Sonny Boy recorded a song, "Like Wolf" in which he parodied Wolf by singing and playing exactly as his brother-in-law did. Wolf got wind of it and Im told he was not at all pleased, and that he went chasing after Sonny Boy. Oh well... at least nobody got killed.

    J.
     

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