Howlin' Wolf
Howlin' Wolf was born Chester Arthur Burnett on June 10, 1910, in WestPoint, Mississippi. He was nicknamed Howlin' Wolf as a child. It seemed to be a reflection of his behavior.
Wolf
was an intimidating looking man who stood over 6 feet tall, and
weighed over 300 lbs.
He got his first guitar in 1928, and began to play Folk Blues. His biggest influences were Sonny Boy Williamson, and Charlie Patton. He would spend the week helping his father on the farm, and the weekends at local juke joints and plantation picnics playing the blues.
Wolf served in the Army during WWll, and when he returned, he went back to farming and playing local blues venues. It was then that his career began to take off in Memphis, Tennessee. He performed at a local radio station, and worked with Sam Phillips at Sun Recording Studios.
In 1953, he moved to Chicago and
began to work as a Blues musician at Chess Records. It was
there that he met Muddy Waters. Almost from the time they met, there
was strong competition between the two men that
lasted through the 60's and 70's. Some Blues historians would
say that it is the reason both men rose to such great Blues heights.
In the early 60's Wolf played overseas with the American Blues Festival "package", and also played regularly in many well-known Chicago clubs. In 1965, he appeared on the show "Shindig" with the Rolling Stones. From there, he seemed to cultivate ties with the Rock community.
In 1969, he released a rock sounding album called The Howlin' Wolf Album. Shortly after that he released the London Howlin' Wolf Sessions with other artists such as Bill Wyman (bass), and Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones drummer), Ringo Starr (Beatles drummer), and other well known musicians.
In the early 70's Wolf was forced to slow down. He had suffered a heart attack, and an auto accident which had permanently damaged his kidneys to the point that he needed frequent dialysis. Through all of this, he continued to record and perform (though not so much), and released a live album in 1972 entitled Live and Cookin' at Alice's Revisited.
Howlin' Wolf's last performance was in November of 1975. He died 2 months later on January 10, 1976 of kidney failure.
Howlin' Wolf was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1980, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.