ALBUM 31 (OUT OF 100)

It’s easy to construct myths about Chester Burnett, the gigantic man whom they called The Howlin’ Wolf; the man who in his music combined darkness and light, prehistoric rhythms and sparking electricity–the black magic of Mississippi, Africa, and the New World. He possessed a voice so large, so mighty and rich in a menacing timbre the colour of night, it was said he could suck the air out of an entire room by merely opening his mouth to sing... He was a burly, howling wolf serenading the moon, but also a caring father, family man, and passionate musician–very much a being of flesh and blood.

No one seems to know exactly when Wolf was born, but most people seem to agree on June 10th, 1910. Apart from a couple of years in the army during WWII, he spent his first 40 years on the cotton plantations of Mississippi. There he became acquainted with Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson, and Rice Miller, three of the grandest legends of the blues. Johnson was much too much of a loner for the group to last–though it lasted long enough to make a musician out of Wolf.

By the end of the ’40s, Wolf went North–not to Memphis proper but to West Memphis–over the Mississippi River into Arkansas, where he stood a much better chance of making a name for himself. Performing regularly on KWEM radio, Howlin’ Wolf quickly became popular with the black audience.

By now, Wolf was backed by one of the most lethal bands ever assembled. Willy Steel played drums, and William Johnson, who had a style so wild he was commonly known as "Destruction," manned the piano. When Wolf didn’t feel like playing harmonica he’d pass his duties to hungry punks like James Cotton or Junior Parker. On guitar, Wolf had Willie Johnson, who drew the most intensely dirty, electrifying sounds out of his instrument.

In the spring of 1951, Howlin’ Wolf stepped into Sam Phillips’ Memphis Recording Service studio for the very first time. Phillips (who eventually became most famous for releasing Elvis’ first singles)had not yet started Sun Records, so the recordings he’d make with Wolf during the next two years had to be released by someone else. Phillips had a deal with the RPM/Modern label run by the Bihari brothers in Los Angeles, whom he’d already supplied with a number of B.B. King recordings. But he’d also covertly started to work with the Chess brothers in Chicago. Both sets of siblings wanted exclusive rights to Phillips’ Wolf recordings.

The cold war over rights had reached its absolute freezing point by the time Howlin’ Wolf was ready to compile his first album; having initially got the Biharis on board, Phillips sold the contract to Chess. The Biharis promptly hired Ike Turner to initiate parallel recordings with Wolf–who couldn’t care less and pocketed the money he got from both labels, smiling all the way to the bank...

Eventually the two labels settled their differences, and Wolf ended up with Chess–who immediately demanded that he relocate to Chicago. He left Memphis in a brand new Cadillac and 3,900 dollars in his pocket. Alone. Wolf’s band mates didn’t want to leave Memphis. Consequently, Wolf’s first recording sessions in Chicago didn’t quite manage to capture the energy that permeated the Memphis sessions.

So Wolf hopped back in his Cadillac and drove back down to West Memphis to pick himself a new guitarist, Hubert Sumlin, who despite being barely in his twenties, had few equals. Most importantly, Wolf brought a little bit of Memphis with him back to Chicago.

And Sam Phillips would never find another blues artist of Wolf’s caliber again.

Complements

Muddy Waters At Newport, 1960, Chess # 1449

Howlin’ Wolf Howlin’ Wolf (aka "The Rockin’ Chair Album"), 1962, Chess # 1469

Bukka White Mississippi Blues, 1964, Takoma # B 1001

Sidebar b-style, 10 per cent shade

n In private, Wolf was a responsible family man, farmer, volunteer fire fighter, and Free Mason.

n Wolf’s greatest rival for blues supremacy was his friend Muddy Waters, who occasionally "stole" Wolf’s guitarist, Hubert Sumlin.

n Wolf was inducted into The Blues Foundation’s Hall of Fame in 1980, and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991.