Murphy on guitars, Junior Parker on harmonica, and Destruction on piano. His first band featured Willie Steele on drums, Willie Johnson and M. He decided that it would be better to have some other musicians help take the load off of him. Sometimes you'd work all night for a fish sandwich, glad to get it, too." At first Wolf played gigs by himself, often earning only $50 working from 7:00 p.m. "Back in the country the people weren't able to pay you too much. "That's where I got my break," he recounted in the New York Times. In 1948 Wolf formed his first band in Memphis, Tennessee. "This is all part of the blues," Wolf reportedly remarked on hearing the news of his colleague's demise. Shortly thereafter Johnson was poisoned-by a jealous girlfriend or husband. And it's done me just fine." Wolf met legendary Delta blues singer Robert Johnson in Robinsonville, Mississippi, and they played together briefly. "I couldn't do no yodelin'," Barry Gifford quoted him as saying in Rolling Stone, "so I turned to howlin'. Wolf's childhood idol was singer Jimmie Rodgers, who was noted for his "blues-yodel." Wolf tried to emulate the yodel, but found that his efforts sounded more like a growl or a howl. Wolf himself was married briefly to Willie Brown's sister. Sonny Boy Williamson married Wolf's stepsister Mary in the early thirties and showed Wolf the ins and outs of the harmonica during the courtship. Throughout his young life Wolf had his pick of blues greats for mentors: Charlie Patton lived on a nearby plantation and taught Wolf much about showmanship. It wasn't until his father's death in 1949 that he devoted himself entirely to the blues. With the exception of the World War II years, during which he served in the Army-stationed in Seattle, Washington-Wolf spent most of his adult life, until the age of 38, farming in Arkansas and Mississippi. Wolf's father presented him with his first guitar when the bluesman was 18. Wolf adopted this name for himself early on, and-at 6' 3" and 300 pounds-lived up to it as an adult. Once, something frightened the young Chester and he ran howling upstairs, which prompted his family to dub him the Howlin' Wolf. When Wolf was a child his grandfather would tell him stories of wolves in Mississippi. The Delta farmlands were rife with the blues, which were part of most social gatherings. He grew up one of six children on the Young and Myers cotton plantation, where both of his parents worked. He was also notably consistent: Throughout his career he retained the style, vigor, and flavor of the Mississippi Delta blues of his early years. His influence stretched far beyond the realm of the blues British rock performers Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, and The Yardbirds merged Wolf's blues with white rock and roll in songs like "Smokestack Lightning," "Ain't Superstitious," "Back Door Man" and "Little Red Rooster." Wolf was an experimental bluesman who formulated a wide range of moods and possibilities for his songs. The raw, rasping, guttural power of Wolf's fierce voice, combined with his imposing physical presence and wild stage abandon, made him unforgettable. Howlin' Wolf, born Chester Arthur Burnett in West Point, Mississippi, was awarded an honorary doctor of arts degree from Chicago's Columbia College in June of 1972 it read: "Premiere man of American Music, you have sung and made songs of hard-time blues and mighty joys that cry to make the world fair." Howlin' Wolf-along with Muddy Waters-revolutionized urban blues in Chicago after World War II. and Europe, with Chicago as his primary venue, 1952-c. Released first album in 1951 on Chess Records toured the U.S. Worked as singer, producer, and advertising salesman at KWEM Radio in West Memphis, TN. Toured with fellow bluesmen, including Robert Johnson and Sonny Boy Williamson c. Blues singer, guitarist, and harmonica player. 1950s children: (second marriage) Barbara, Betty Jean. Born Chester Arthur Burnett, June 10, 1910, in West Point, MS died of complications from kidney disease January 10, 1976, in Chicago, IL son of Dock and Gertrude Burnett (plantation workers) married first wife c.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |