Howlin' wolf famous songs
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Howlin’ Wolf
Howlin’ Wolf cut one of the most awe-inspiring figures in blues history on several levels — in his fearsome physical presence, his roaring howl, his onstage persona and offstage legend, and of course in the lasting legacy of his powerful songs and style. Though often characterized as rough and raw, Wolf had loving and vulnerable sides to his life and his music, some of that attributable to a harsh upbringing and rejection by his mother, who disapproved of his singing “the devil’s music” until her dying day.
Wolf was born Chester Arthur Burnett, possibly on June 10, 1910 (some documents place his birth a year earlier or later). His birthplace was probably somewhere between Aberdeen, Mississippi, the town he always claimed, and West Point, where a statue of Wolf has been placed claiming him as a native son of nearby White Station. Wolf left home for the Delta at 13 and found an inspiring role model in the rough-voiced, hard-living champion of the Delta blues, Charley Patton. After taking lessons from Patton at Will Dockery’s plantation, W
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Howlin’ Wolf - West Point
One of the giants of post-World War II Chicago blues, Chester Arthur Burnett, aka “Howlin’ Wolf,” was born in White Station, just north of West Point, on June 10, 1910. In his early teens Burnett began performing in the Delta and was later a pioneer in electrifying the Delta blues. After moving north, Burnett nonetheless remained a strong presence on the Mississippi blues scene by returning home often for visits and performances.
An imposing figure both physically and artistically, Chester Arthur Burnett was named after U.S. President Chester Arthur. Burnett’s grandfather gave him the nickname “Wolf.” He learned to play a one-string “diddley bow” and harmonica as a child, but his early life was difficult. Cast out by his mother, Burnett lived in White Station with his great uncle until he ran away from home at 13 and hitched a train to the Delta.
On the Young and Morrow plantation near Ruleville he had a warm reunion with his father, who bought him his first guitar in 1928. Burnett soon fell under the wing of blues pioneer Charley Patton, who tau
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THE UNOFFICIAL HOWLIN' WOLF WEB SITE
Howlin' Wolf biography
from: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN CULTURE AND HISTORY - VOLUME 3
New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan, 1996, pp. 1321-1322
Howlin' Wolf was born Chester Arthur Burnett on June 10, 1910 in West Point, Mississippi. After moving to the Mississippi Delta, he began playing guitar as a teenager under his tutor Charley Patton, who lived on a nearby plantation. Burnett began performing in the late 1920s. He traveled to various plantations throughout the South. In the 1930s, Burnette met Sonny Boy Williamson (Alex Miller), who taught him to play the harmonica. Burnett changed his name soon after learning to play the harmonica and developing his gutteral 'howlin' style under the tutelage of country blues man Charley Patton.
After serving in the Army during World War II, Howlin' Wolf relocated to West Memphis, Arkansas where he worked as a disc jockey for WKEM radio and formed his first band, which began recording in 1951. Following the success of 'Moanin' At Midnight' (Chess 1479), Wolf was signed to an exclusive c
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