1897 Sam Chatmon*
1915 Buddy Johnson*
1926 Neal Big Daddy Pattmam*
1935 Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater*
1946 Aynsley Dunbar*
1957 Johnny Hoy*
1976 Dana Fuchs*
1976 Howlin´Wolf+
1995 Luca Sestak*
Lin Dittmann*
1915 Buddy Johnson*
1926 Neal Big Daddy Pattmam*
1935 Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater*
1946 Aynsley Dunbar*
1957 Johnny Hoy*
1976 Dana Fuchs*
1976 Howlin´Wolf+
1995 Luca Sestak*
Lin Dittmann*
Happy Birthday
Aynsley Dunbar *10.01.1946
Aynsley Dunbar (* 10. Januar 1946 in Liverpool) ist ein britischer Schlagzeuger. Er spielte unter anderem bei John Mayall und Frank Zappa und in den Bands Jeff Beck Group, Jefferson Starship, Journey, UFO und The New Animals mit Eric Burdon. Er hatte Ende der 1960er Jahre auch eine eigene Band, Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation.
Aynsley Thomas Dunbar (born 10 January 1946) is an English drummer. He has worked with some of the top names in rock, including Nils Lofgren, Eric Burdon, John Mayall, Frank Zappa, Ian Hunter, Lou Reed, Jefferson Starship, Jeff Beck, David Bowie, Whitesnake, Sammy Hagar, Michael Schenker, UFO, Flo & Eddie and Journey.[1]
Career
Dunbar was born in Liverpool, England. He started his professional career in Derry Wilkie and the Pressmen in 1963. In December 1964 he joined Merseybeat group The Mojos, who were renamed Stu James & the Mojos, with original members vocalist Stu James and guitarist Nick Crouch and Bass player Lewis Collins (later an actor in the Professionals). This line-up continued till 1966. Dunbar then auditioned for The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Hendrix had difficulty deciding between Dunbar and Mitch Mitchell - the latter won Hendrix's coin flip. Dunbar then joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers replacing Hughie Flint in the summer of 1966. He stayed with Mayall until the spring of 1967 (playing on the A Hard Road album), being replaced by Mick Fleetwood.
After a short stint in The Jeff Beck Group Dunbar founded 'The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation', so named to chide Mayall who fired him. They issued four albums during their existence. Dunbar co-wrote the song "Warning" (later recorded by Black Sabbath on their first album). The Dunbar single version was recorded in 1967 for the Blue Horizon label,[2] prior to his band's first album release The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation (circa 1969[3]).
Subsequently, Dunbar founded a short-lived progressive rock band called Blue Whale, which debuted with a tour of Scandinavia in January 1970. Following the recent collapse of the original lineup of King Crimson, Dunbar unsuccessfully tried to recruit Robert Fripp as Blue Whale's guitarist. Fripp, in turn, unsuccessfully tried to recruit Dunbar as King Crimson's new drummer. Blue Whale recorded one album, which featured Paul Williams (vocals), Ivan Zagni (guitar), Roger Sutton (guitar), Tommy Eyre (from Retaliation, keys) and Peter Friedberg (bass).[4]
Dunbar was later the drummer for Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, featuring on albums such as Waka/Jawaka, and The Grand Wazoo, as well as the film 200 Motels. In 1974 he played on the soundtrack for "Dirty Duck", a Chuck Swenson adult animated movie. In the mid-1970s, Dunbar played drums for former Grin leader, Nils Lofgren, before joining Journey for their first four albums. He joined Jefferson Starship for three albums. In 1985, Dunbar joined Whitesnake, and drummed on their 1987 album, Whitesnake. He also spent some time working with Eric Burdon, Michael Schenker and The Animals.
More recently, in 2005, he drummed on Jake E. Lee's solo Retraced album.
He has been the drummer for the World Classic Rockers since 2003.
In 2008, Dunbar recorded an album of material for Direct Music with Mickey Thomas of Starship, and musicians such as Jake E. Lee, former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne. The complete recordings of Dunbar's drumming with Frank Zappa at Carnegie Hall in October 1971 were released exactly 40 years later in a four-CD set.
In 2009, the blues album "The Bluesmasters featuring Mickey Thomas" was released, featuring Dunbar on drums along with Tim Tucker on guitar and Danny Miranda on bass as well as guest stars such as Magic Slim on guitar and vocals.
Career
Dunbar was born in Liverpool, England. He started his professional career in Derry Wilkie and the Pressmen in 1963. In December 1964 he joined Merseybeat group The Mojos, who were renamed Stu James & the Mojos, with original members vocalist Stu James and guitarist Nick Crouch and Bass player Lewis Collins (later an actor in the Professionals). This line-up continued till 1966. Dunbar then auditioned for The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Hendrix had difficulty deciding between Dunbar and Mitch Mitchell - the latter won Hendrix's coin flip. Dunbar then joined John Mayall's Bluesbreakers replacing Hughie Flint in the summer of 1966. He stayed with Mayall until the spring of 1967 (playing on the A Hard Road album), being replaced by Mick Fleetwood.
After a short stint in The Jeff Beck Group Dunbar founded 'The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation', so named to chide Mayall who fired him. They issued four albums during their existence. Dunbar co-wrote the song "Warning" (later recorded by Black Sabbath on their first album). The Dunbar single version was recorded in 1967 for the Blue Horizon label,[2] prior to his band's first album release The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation (circa 1969[3]).
Subsequently, Dunbar founded a short-lived progressive rock band called Blue Whale, which debuted with a tour of Scandinavia in January 1970. Following the recent collapse of the original lineup of King Crimson, Dunbar unsuccessfully tried to recruit Robert Fripp as Blue Whale's guitarist. Fripp, in turn, unsuccessfully tried to recruit Dunbar as King Crimson's new drummer. Blue Whale recorded one album, which featured Paul Williams (vocals), Ivan Zagni (guitar), Roger Sutton (guitar), Tommy Eyre (from Retaliation, keys) and Peter Friedberg (bass).[4]
Dunbar was later the drummer for Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, featuring on albums such as Waka/Jawaka, and The Grand Wazoo, as well as the film 200 Motels. In 1974 he played on the soundtrack for "Dirty Duck", a Chuck Swenson adult animated movie. In the mid-1970s, Dunbar played drums for former Grin leader, Nils Lofgren, before joining Journey for their first four albums. He joined Jefferson Starship for three albums. In 1985, Dunbar joined Whitesnake, and drummed on their 1987 album, Whitesnake. He also spent some time working with Eric Burdon, Michael Schenker and The Animals.
More recently, in 2005, he drummed on Jake E. Lee's solo Retraced album.
He has been the drummer for the World Classic Rockers since 2003.
In 2008, Dunbar recorded an album of material for Direct Music with Mickey Thomas of Starship, and musicians such as Jake E. Lee, former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne. The complete recordings of Dunbar's drumming with Frank Zappa at Carnegie Hall in October 1971 were released exactly 40 years later in a four-CD set.
In 2009, the blues album "The Bluesmasters featuring Mickey Thomas" was released, featuring Dunbar on drums along with Tim Tucker on guitar and Danny Miranda on bass as well as guest stars such as Magic Slim on guitar and vocals.
Buddy Johnson *10.01.1915
Woodrow Wilson „Buddy“ Johnson (* 10. Januar 1915 in Darlington, South Carolina; † 9. Februar 1977 in New York City) war ein US-amerikanischer Jazz- und Rhythm and Blues-Pianist und Bandleader.
Buddy Johnson besuchte 1937 Paris als Pianist der Cotton Club Revue-Tramp-Band, gründete 1939 ein eigenes Ensemble, mit dem er in Nachtclubs auftrat und das er 1944 zu einer 14-Mann-Band erweiterte; sie spielte hauptsächlich im Savoy Ballroom in Harlem und unternahm Tourneen in die Südstaaten. Zu den bekanntesten Einspielungen seines Orchesters, dessen ständige Sängerin seine Schwester Ella Johnson war, gehören die Titel „Please Mr. Johnson“ 1940, „One of them Good Ones“ 1944, „When My Man Comes Come“ (1944, sein erster Hit in den Charts), „Li’ Dog“ 1947 und „Shufflin’ and Rollin’ “ 1952. Im Jahr 1960 wirkte er an Clark Terrys Album Colour Changes auf dem Candid-Label mit.
Carlo Bohländer bezeichnet Johnson mit seinem Schlagzeuger Cliff James als einen Pionier des Rhythm and Blues, in dessen Stil er ab 1939 spielte. Buddy Johnson ist nicht zu verwechseln mit dem gleichnamigen Posaunisten der Excelsior Brass Band (ca. 1870–1927) und dem Tenorsaxophonisten Budd Johnson.
Buddy Johnson (January 10, 1915 – February 9, 1977)[1] was an American jazz and New York blues pianist and bandleader, active from the 1930s through the 1960s. His songs were often performed by his sister Ella Johnson, most notably "Since I Fell for You" which later became a jazz standard.
Life and career
Born Woodrow Wilson Johnson in Darlington, South Carolina,[1] Johnson took piano lessons as a child, and classical music remained one of his passions.[2] In 1938 he moved to New York,[3] and the following year toured Europe with the Cotton Club Revue, being expelled from Nazi Germany. Later in 1939 he first recorded for Decca Records with his band, soon afterwards being joined by his sister Ella as vocalist.
By 1941 he had assembled a nine-piece orchestra,[2] and soon began a series of R&B and pop chart hits. These included "Let's Beat Out Some Love" (#2 R&B, 1943, with Johnson on vocals), "Baby Don't You Cry" (#3 R&B, 1943, with Warren Evans on vocals), his biggest hit "When My Man Comes Home" (#1 R&B, No. 18 pop, 1944, with Ella Johnson on vocals), and "They All Say I'm The Biggest Fool" (#5 R&B, 1946, with Arthur Prysock on vocals). Ella Johnson recorded her version of "Since I Fell for You" in 1945, but it did not become a major hit until recorded by Lenny Welch in the early 1960s.
In 1946 Johnson composed a Blues Concerto, which he performed at Carnegie Hall in 1948. His orchestra remained a major touring attraction through the late 1940s and early 1950s, and continued to record in the jump blues style with some success on record on the Mercury label like "Hittin' on Me" and "I'm Just Your Fool".[2] His song Bring It Home To Me appears on the 1996 Rocket Sixty-Nine release Jump Shot!.
Johnson died, at the age of 62, from a brain tumor and sickle cell anemia, in 1977 in New York.
Life and career
Born Woodrow Wilson Johnson in Darlington, South Carolina,[1] Johnson took piano lessons as a child, and classical music remained one of his passions.[2] In 1938 he moved to New York,[3] and the following year toured Europe with the Cotton Club Revue, being expelled from Nazi Germany. Later in 1939 he first recorded for Decca Records with his band, soon afterwards being joined by his sister Ella as vocalist.
By 1941 he had assembled a nine-piece orchestra,[2] and soon began a series of R&B and pop chart hits. These included "Let's Beat Out Some Love" (#2 R&B, 1943, with Johnson on vocals), "Baby Don't You Cry" (#3 R&B, 1943, with Warren Evans on vocals), his biggest hit "When My Man Comes Home" (#1 R&B, No. 18 pop, 1944, with Ella Johnson on vocals), and "They All Say I'm The Biggest Fool" (#5 R&B, 1946, with Arthur Prysock on vocals). Ella Johnson recorded her version of "Since I Fell for You" in 1945, but it did not become a major hit until recorded by Lenny Welch in the early 1960s.
In 1946 Johnson composed a Blues Concerto, which he performed at Carnegie Hall in 1948. His orchestra remained a major touring attraction through the late 1940s and early 1950s, and continued to record in the jump blues style with some success on record on the Mercury label like "Hittin' on Me" and "I'm Just Your Fool".[2] His song Bring It Home To Me appears on the 1996 Rocket Sixty-Nine release Jump Shot!.
Johnson died, at the age of 62, from a brain tumor and sickle cell anemia, in 1977 in New York.
Dana Fuchs *10.01.1976
Dana Fuchs wuchs in einem an amerikanischer Pop- und Rockmusik stark interessiertem Elternhaus auf. Ihre älteren Geschwister spielten in lokalen Bands und sie selbst schloss sich als Teenager ebenfalls einer Rockband in ihrer Heimatstadt Wildwood (Florida) an, nachdem sie als Halbwüchsige im Gospelchor ihrer Kirchengemeinde den Spaß am Singen gefunden hatte. Im alter von 19 Jahren wechselte sie in der festen Absicht, als Bluessängerin erfolgreich zu werden, nach New York. Hier auch traf sie auf den Gitarristen Jon Diamond, der bereits mit den Sängerinnen Joan Osborne und Debbie Davies zusammen gearbeitet hatte. Mit Diamond gründete Dana Fuchs The Dana Fuchs Band, mit der die Sängerin innerhalb kurzer Zeit das Interesse des Publikums auf sich ziehen konnte. Hatte Dana Fuchs bis dahin vor allem bekannte Blues- und Bluesrock-Stücke gesungen, so begann sie nun mit Diamond eigene Songs zu verfassen. Mit dem neuen Programm trat sie bald in größeren Hallen auf, mitunter gemeinsam mit Größen wie Marianne Faithful, Etta James und der Bluesrock-Band Little Feat. Mittlerweile war ihre Reptutation so weit gewachsen, dass sie für die Titelrolle des Off-Broadway-Musicals »Live, Janis«, einem Bühnenstück über das Leben von Janis Joplin, engagiert wurde; in dieser Rolle folgte sie der Sängerin Beth Hart nach.
2003 veröffentlichte The Dana Fuchs Band ihr Debüt-Album, »Lonely for a Lifetime«. Danach dümpelt ihre Karriere ein wenig vor sich hin, bis sie 2007 in dem Film »Across the Universe« (Regie: Julie Taymor), einem Film, der eine um Bealtes-Songs herum konstruierte Liebesgeschichte erzählt, die Rolle der Sadie übernahm. In diesem Film sang sie Cover Versions von Beatles-Kompositionen wie »Why Don’t We Do it on the Road«, »Don’t Let Me down« und vor allem »Helter Skelter«. »Helter Skelter« war dann auch Bestandteil des Mitschnitts eines Konzertes, der 2008 als CD und DVD veröffentlicht wurde und die überragenden Qualitäten der Sängerin demonstrieren.
Dana Fuchs gehört zu einer jüngeren Generation amerikanischer Sängerinnen, die auf die Musik ihres Landes starken Bezug nehmen und Vorbilder in den Größen des Rock und des Soul der 1960er-Jahre suchen und finden. Zwar drängt sich angesichts ihrer veröffentlichten Songs der Vergleich ihres Gesangsstils mit dem von Janis Joplin einerseits und schwarzer Sängerinnen wie Etta James andererseits auf, doch stehen im Hintergrund auch Sänger wie Robert Plant und vielleicht sogar Joe Cocker. Jedenfalls erinnert ihre Version von »Helter Skelter« beinahe eben so sehr an Led Zeppelin wie an die Beatles.
Dana Fuchs (born January 10, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and voice over talent most famous for her performance in the 2007 film Across the Universe, in which she played the role of Sadie.
Early life
Fuchs was born in New Jersey and raised in Wildwood, Florida, a small rural town, daughter of Sandy and Don Fuchs. At the age of twelve, she joined the First Baptist Gospel Choir and began singing in public. At sixteen, she fronted a popular local band at a roadside Holiday Inn.
Career
Her band sold out shows at the Mercury Lounge, the Stephen Talkhouse and BB King’s, sharing the bill with national acts, including Little Feat, Marianne Faithfull and Etta James.
The Dana Fuchs Band put out a CD, Lonely For a Lifetime, in 2003. Fuchs has claimed that she "wanted to capture a soulful and rocking vibe…but with an earthiness to it.” Her second album, Live in NYC, was issued on April 1, 2008, by Antler King Records. On April 13, 2011, the DFB released their second studio album, Love to Beg.[citation needed]
Fuchs played Sadie in the Julie Taymor film Across the Universe, performing covers of several Beatles songs. She also played the singing Janis Joplin in the Eric Nederlander production of Randall Myler's off-Broadway musical Love, Janis. With Jack Livesy, Fuchs wrote and performed songs on the soundtrack for the Big Beach production of Laurie Collyer's independent film Sherrybaby including the opening and closing title songs. She also worked for MTV during the 1990s and 2000s as the voice of many of its on-air promos, mostly for 10 Spot shows.
Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater *10.01.1935
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Eine der letzten alten Blueslegenden, Eddy Clearwater, kommt nur für einige Konzerte nach Europa. Das wahrscheinlich einzige Konzert in Deutschland spielt der 79-jährige Gitarrist aus Chicago im Muddy’s Club mit der niederländischen Band „The Jule Joints“. Ein Termin, den sich Bluesfans auf keinen Fall entgehen lassen sollten. W.C.Handy Blues Award Winner, Grammy nominated ...
Irgendwo zwischen Otis Rush, Magic Sam und Chuck Berry hat Clearwater seinen eigenen Stil etabliert. Einzigartig ist Clearwater bei seinen Outfits, die immer farbenprächtig sind, besonders wenn Eddy im indianischen Häuptlingsoutfit auftritt. Das hat ihm den Spitznamen „The Chief“ eingebracht. Neben Buddy Guy ist Clearwater einer der letzten großen, alten des Chicago Blues.
Einer, der nur selten in Europa zu erleben ist und wer weiß, wie oft Clearwater es noch einmal nach Übersee schafft? Schon deshalb sollte man sich den einzigen Deutschland-Gig nicht entgehen lassen.
Mit bürgerlichem Namen Edward Harrington nannte er sich zunächst 'Guitar Eddy' und später, in Abgrenzung zu Muddy Waters 'Clear Waters', woraus schlussendlich Clearwater wurde. Seine letzte CD "West Side Strut" war so etwas wie ein Familientreffen im Chicagoer Rax Trax-Studio, denn Clearwaters Neffe Ronnie Baker Brooks und dessen Vater Lonnie Brooks sind mit von der Partie. Clearwater, der Cherokee-Blut in den Adlern hat zeigt sich auf seinem Alligator-Debüt fit wie ein Turnschuh.
Im Chicago der 50er Jahre spielten zahlreiche Blueslegenden auf: Magic Sam, Otis Rush, Freddie King und andere. Der inzwischen über 75-jährige Blues-Sänger und Gitarrist Eddy „The Chief“ Clearwater ist einer der letzten aus dieser Generation, der noch die Bühnen erobert. Mit leidenschaftlichem Gitarrenspiel, soulig-emotionalem Gesang und einer mitreißenden Bühnenshow begeistert er das Publikum. Eddy Clearwater ist zwar Linkshänder, spielt aber, wie auch Jimi Hendrix, auf umgekehrt montierten Rechtshändergitarren. Sein aktuelles Album West Side Strut zählt laut den Kritikern zu seinen besten. „...one of the most famous bluesmen of all times.“ (Presse)
Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater is the stage name of Edward Harrington (born January 10, 1935),[1] an American Chicago blues musician. Blues Revue said Eddy plays “joyous rave-ups…he testifies with stunning soul fervor and powerful guitar. One of the blues’ finest songwriters.” [2]
Early life
He was born in Macon, Mississippi,[1] on January 10, 1935. His family moved to Birmingham, Alabama in 1948. He taught himself to play guitar at an early age (left-handed and upside down) and began performing with various gospel groups, including the Five Blind Boys Of Alabama.
Career
Clearwater is best known for being part of the Chicago blues scene since the 1950s. He performs both within the U.S. (especially around the Chicago, Illinois area, where he resides) and internationally, such as at blues festivals in France, Germany, Denmark, Poland and the Netherlands. His sound has been described as “hard-driving Windy City blues, soul-tinged balladry, acoustic country blues and gospel uplift….good natured fretboard fireworks.” [3]
When he left the South for Chicago in 1950, he worked as a dishwasher while living with an uncle. Through his uncle he met many of Chicago’s blues masters, including fellow left-handed guitarist Otis Rush and Magic Sam. Once he heard the music of Chuck Berry, he began performing some of Berry’s material as well as writing in a Berry-influenced style. He still regularly performs songs by Rush, Magic Sam and Berry as well as his own original material.[4] In 1953, now known as Guitar Eddy, he began working regularly in Chicago’s south and west side bars. His first single, the Chuck Berry-styled “Hill Billy Blues”, was recorded in 1958 for his uncle’s Atomic H label, under the moniker Clear Waters, a name given to him by his manager, drummer Jump Jackson, as wordplay on the more famous Muddy Waters.
He recorded a few more singles and began receiving local radio airplay. Eventually the name Clear Waters morphed into Eddy Clearwater.[5] He worked steadily throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and he was among the first blues musicians to find success with Chicago’s north side college crowd. He was a regular Saturday act on the Kingston Mine's north stage while bluesman Linsey Alexander played on the south stage.[6] He toured Europe twice during the 1970s and appeared on BBC Television. Clearwater has been nicknamed The Chief and sometimes wears Native American headdress.[4]
The release of his 1980 album The Chief under the Rooster Blues label made him known on the Chicago blues scene. Two encores for Rooster Blues, Help Yourself (1992) and Mean Case of the Blues (1996), cemented Clearwater's reputation.Cool Blues Walk followed in 1998, followed by Chicago Daily Blues the next year, with Reservation Blues released in mid 2000. [7] In 2004, he was nominated for a Grammy Award with Los Straitjackets for their collaboration, Rock 'N' Roll City.
Vintage Guitar described his 2008 Alligator Records album, West Side Strut as “great blues. Eddy’s fat, voluptuous tone shows a masterful command of the guitar. It’s hard to believe he can reach such heights in a recording studio. One listen and you’ll wonder why Clearwater’s name isn’t respectfully spoken in the same breath as Freddie King and Otis Rush.”
Sam Chatmon *10.01.1897
Sam Chatmon (* 10. Januar 1897 in Bolton, Mississippi; † 2. Februar 1983 in Hollandale, Mississippi) war ein US-amerikanischer Blues-Musiker.
Sam Chatmon stammte aus der musikalischen Chatmon-Familie und begann – wie auch seine Brüder Bo und Lonnie – bereits als Kind, Musik zu machen. Neben Auftritten mit der Familie und seinen Brüdern spielte er bei den Mississippi Sheiks. Ab Mitte der 1930er trat er auch solo auf. Mit verschiedenen Minstrel- und Medizin-Shows reiste er durch die Lande. In den 1940ern ließ er sich als Farmer in Hollandale nieder.
Mit dem Blues-Revival Ende der 1950er wurde auch Sam Chatmon wiederentdeckt. Er trat bei etlichen Festivals auf, erlangte eine beträchtliche Popularität und veröffentlichte bis zu seinem Tod 1983 eine ganze Reihe von Aufnahmen.
Sam Chatmon (January 10, 1897 – February 2, 1983) was a Delta blues guitarist and singer. He was a member of the Mississippi Sheiks and may have been Charlie Patton's half brother.
Life and career
Chatmon was born in Bolton, Mississippi. Chatmon's family was well known in Mississippi for their musical talents; Chatmon was a member of the family's string band when he was young. He performed on a regular basis for white audiences in the 1900s.
The Chatmon band played rags, ballads, and popular dance tunes. Two of Sam's brothers, fiddler Lonnie Chatmon and guitarist Bo Carter, performed with guitarist Walter Vinson as the Mississippi Sheiks.
Chatmon played the banjo, mandolin, and harmonica in addition to the guitar. He performed at parties and on street corners throughout Mississippi for small pay and tips. In the 1930s he recorded both with the Sheiks, as well as with sibling Lonnie as the Chatman Brothers.
Chatmon moved to Hollandale, Mississippi in the early 1940s and worked on plantations in Hollandale. He was re-discovered in 1960 and started a new chapter of his career as folk-blues artist. In the same year Chatmon recorded for the Arhoolie record label. He toured extensively during the 1960s and 1970s. While in California in 1970 he got together and made several recodrings with Sue Draheim, Kenny Hall, Ed Littlefield, Lou Curtiss, Kathy Hall, Will Scarlett and others at Sweet's Mill Music Camp, forming a group he called "The California Sheiks".[1] He played many of the largest and best-known folk festivals, including the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. in 1972, the Mariposa Folk Festival in Toronto in 1974, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 1976.
During an interview Chatmon explained that he started playing the guitar with 3 years of age, by laying it flat on the floor and crawling under it.[2]
A headstone memorial to Chatmon with the inscription "Sitting on top of the World" was paid for by Bonnie Raitt through the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund and placed in Sanders Memorial Cemetery, Hollandale, Mississippi on March 14, 1998 at a large ceremomy held at the Hollandale Municipal Building, celebrated by the Mayor and members of the City Council of Hollandale as well as over 100 attendees.
Life and career
Chatmon was born in Bolton, Mississippi. Chatmon's family was well known in Mississippi for their musical talents; Chatmon was a member of the family's string band when he was young. He performed on a regular basis for white audiences in the 1900s.
The Chatmon band played rags, ballads, and popular dance tunes. Two of Sam's brothers, fiddler Lonnie Chatmon and guitarist Bo Carter, performed with guitarist Walter Vinson as the Mississippi Sheiks.
Chatmon played the banjo, mandolin, and harmonica in addition to the guitar. He performed at parties and on street corners throughout Mississippi for small pay and tips. In the 1930s he recorded both with the Sheiks, as well as with sibling Lonnie as the Chatman Brothers.
Chatmon moved to Hollandale, Mississippi in the early 1940s and worked on plantations in Hollandale. He was re-discovered in 1960 and started a new chapter of his career as folk-blues artist. In the same year Chatmon recorded for the Arhoolie record label. He toured extensively during the 1960s and 1970s. While in California in 1970 he got together and made several recodrings with Sue Draheim, Kenny Hall, Ed Littlefield, Lou Curtiss, Kathy Hall, Will Scarlett and others at Sweet's Mill Music Camp, forming a group he called "The California Sheiks".[1] He played many of the largest and best-known folk festivals, including the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. in 1972, the Mariposa Folk Festival in Toronto in 1974, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 1976.
During an interview Chatmon explained that he started playing the guitar with 3 years of age, by laying it flat on the floor and crawling under it.[2]
A headstone memorial to Chatmon with the inscription "Sitting on top of the World" was paid for by Bonnie Raitt through the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund and placed in Sanders Memorial Cemetery, Hollandale, Mississippi on March 14, 1998 at a large ceremomy held at the Hollandale Municipal Building, celebrated by the Mayor and members of the City Council of Hollandale as well as over 100 attendees.
Timeline
1897 – Born in Bolton, Mississippi
1930 – Recorded with the Mississippi Sheiks, Lonnie and the Chatman Brothers
1940 – Moved to Hollandale, Mississippi to work on plantations
1960 – Rediscovered as a folk-blues artist, he also recorded for the Arhoolie label
1970 – Performed with Fingers Taylor on The Blues Caravan
1972 – Played the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife in Washington, D.C.
1974 – Played the Mariposa Folk Festival in Toronto
1976 – Played the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
1983 – Died
1897 – Born in Bolton, Mississippi
1930 – Recorded with the Mississippi Sheiks, Lonnie and the Chatman Brothers
1940 – Moved to Hollandale, Mississippi to work on plantations
1960 – Rediscovered as a folk-blues artist, he also recorded for the Arhoolie label
1970 – Performed with Fingers Taylor on The Blues Caravan
1972 – Played the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife in Washington, D.C.
1974 – Played the Mariposa Folk Festival in Toronto
1976 – Played the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
1983 – Died
Neal Big Daddy Pattmam *10.01.1926
Biography
Pattman was born in Madison County, Georgia, United States, one of fourteen children.[1][2] He learned harmonica playing from his father, after an accident involving a wagon wheel at the age of nine left him with only his left arm.[4] Inspired by Sonny Terry's playing and distinctive whoops and hollers, Pattman played on the street corners of nearby Athens, Georgia. He found regular employment in the University of Georgia's kitchens, and gained further experience and local adoration for his regular live performances at various clubs and festivals.[5] However, his more general renown was minimal until 1989, when he performed at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York.[1][3]
A meeting in 1991 with Tim Duffy, of the Music Maker Relief Foundation, led to Pattman playing with Cootie Stark, supporting Taj Mahal, on a nationwide Blues Revival Tour.[1] Playing with the British blues guitarist, Dave Peabody,[3] led to Pattman releasing three albums between 1995 and 2001. He also contributed to Kenny Wayne Shepherd's album and DVD, 10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads (2007).[1]
However, Pattman had already died of bone cancer in May 2005, in Athens, Georgia, aged 79.
Neal Pattman - Whoopin' the Blues
b. John Cravin Hoy, 10 January 1957, Middletown, Connecticut, USA. Hoy became a musician more by default than plan. He experienced a nomadic childhood with his parents’ divorcing when he was 10. He ricocheted from coast to coast visiting his mother and father, hitchhiking and stowing-away on freight trains. Never graduating high-school, Hoy did a round of various labouring jobs, even passing a brief stint with a circus. Wherever he travelled, he always had a harmonica in his pocket, which he described as ‘just a kind of companion’. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his rootless, lonely existence drew him towards the blues, finding rhythm in the pace of his footsteps. He jammed with other musicians when he met them but never formed long-term partnerships. The decision to play professionally was cemented by the birth of his daughter and a new-found sense of commitment. Playing his harmonica in an ad hoc band at a friend’s wedding gave Hoy the impetus to organize a full-time line-up for his new band, Johnny Hoy And The Bluefish. The band saw over 30 personnel changes over the years, with Hoy, always shifting direction with whatever current members’ inclinations and influences led them. A couple of long-standing fellow musicians are Jeremy Berlin (keyboards) and Paul Size (guitar). So far Hoy and the Bluefish have encompassed styles such as blues (Trolling The Hootchy, You Gonna Lose Your Head) and zydeco, rockabilly, pop (Walk The Plank), all released on Tone-Cool Records. Hoy’s lyrics often display a wild, unpretentious sense of humour; on ‘Love Dog’, he sings ‘I wanna be your mutt. Pat my butt. I wanna love you like my dog loves me’. Finding common ground with a broad range of different American lifestyles and music styles, black soul or white trash, Hoy’s output refuses to be limited to a strict genre category.
johnny hoy & the bluefish - lovers blues
Lin Dittmann *10.01.
Schlagzeuger u.a. bei Kerth
Jürgen Kerth - Blues von zwei falschen Freunden - Heiligen Mühle - Erfurt 2014
Die Besetzung:
Jürgen Kerth (Gesang, Gitarre)
Stefan Kerth (Bassgitarre, Gesang)
Lin Dittmann (Schlagzeug)
Jürgen Kerth (Gesang, Gitarre)
Stefan Kerth (Bassgitarre, Gesang)
Lin Dittmann (Schlagzeug)
R.I.P.
Howlin´Wolf +10.01.1976
Howlin’ Wolf (* 10. Juni 1910 in White Station in der Nähe von West Point, Mississippi als Chester Arthur Burnett; † 10. Januar 1976 in Chicago, Illinois) war ein US-amerikanischer Blues-Musiker.
Howlin' Wolf war für seinen markanten Gesangsstil und seine "reibeisende" Stimme bekannt. Er wirkt durch sie, aber auch starkes Mundharmonikaspiel auf seinen Aufnahmen nahezu omnipräsent. Er beeinflusste viele Sänger wie etwa John Fogerty, Tom Waits oder Mick Jagger[1]. Das Rolling Stone listete ihn auf Rang 31 der 100 größten Sänger aller Zeiten[2] und auf den 51. Platz der größten Musikkünstler aller Zeiten[3]. Der legendäre Plattenproduzent Sam Phillips von Sun Records (wo Wolf in den frühen 1950er-Jahren Aufnahmen machte) sagte über Howlin' Wolf: Als ich Howlin' Wolf hörte sagte ich mir, "Das ist für mich. Das ist der Ort, an dem die Seele des Menschen niemals stirbt."[4]
Howlin' Wolf war ferner neben Sonny Boy Williamson II., Little Walter und eben auch Muddy Waters einer der erfolgreichsten Musiker-Sänger des Chicago Blues, insbesondere für das Label Chess Records. Viele seiner Songs waren viel gespielte Hit-Singles (sehr oft komponiert von Willie Dixon, wie etwa Spoonful oder Evil). Viele Künstler und Bands haben - auch außerhalb des Blues - Songs von Howlin' Wolf gecovert, darunter The Rolling Stones oder Cream.
Wolf wurde 1980 in die Blues Hall of Fame aufgenommen.
Leben und Werk
Geboren wurde Chester Arthur Burnett in White Station, seine Vornamen erhielt er nach einem amerikanischen Präsidenten des 19. Jahrhunderts.[5] Nachdem sich seine Eltern getrennt hatten, übergab ihn seine Mutter an seinen Onkel Will, über den ein Jugendfreund sagte, er sei der gemeinste Mensch zwischen hier und der Hölle gewesen.[6] Im Alter von dreizehn Jahren verließ er seinen Heimatort und ging zu seinem Vater in das Delta, der auf der Young and Morrow Plantage in der Nähe von Ruleville lebte. Bereits als Kind erhielt er den Spitznamen „Howlin’ Wolf“. Sein Vorbild war Charley Patton, von dem er ersten Gitarrenunterricht erhielt, da Patton auf der nahen Dockerey Plantage arbeitete. Den ersten Mundharmonikaunterricht erhielt er von Sonny Boy Williamson II., der seiner Stiefschwester den Hof machte.[6] Nachdem er aus der Armee entlassen wurde, ging er nach West Memphis, Arkansas. 1951 nahm er für Sam Phillips seine erste Platte auf, die sofort ein Hit wurde. Sie erreichte Platz 10 der Billboard Rhythm & Blues-Charts. Nachdem sein Plattenvertrag 1953 an Chess Records überging, zog er nach Chicago, wo er sein restliches Leben verbrachte. Er spielte unter anderem mit Willie Johnson, Hubert Sumlin und Willie Dixon.
Letztgenannter schrieb einen beträchtlichen Teil der größten Hits Howlin’ Wolfs, darunter Evil, Spoonful, I Ain’t Superstitious und Back Door Man. Einen Achtungserfolg erzielte Burnett mit seiner Komposition Smokestack Lightnin’. Bekannte Bands wie die Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Cream und die Doors hatten Erfolge mit Stücken von Howlin’ Wolf. Eines der herausragendsten Merkmale der Musik Howlin’ Wolfs war seine kraftvolle, oft derb wirkende Reibeisenstimme, die vielen weißen Rocksängern wie Jim Morrison, dem frühen Rod Stewart und später auch Tom Waits als Vorbild diente.
Die Blueskarriere des Howlin’ Wolf begann im Alter von 18 Jahren, als er 1928 von seinem Vater eine Gitarre geschenkt bekam und, inspiriert von Charley Patton, begann Blues zu spielen. 1935 zog er mit seinem Schwager Sonny Boy Williamson II. und Robert Lockwood Jr. durch die Südstaaten und trat in Jukebox-Kneipen auf. 1948 gründete er seine erste Bluesband gemeinsam mit Little Junior Parker, James Cotton, Matt Murphy, Pat Hare und Willie Johnson.
Die ersten Aufnahmen von Howlin’ Wolf stammen aus dem Jahr 1951. Im Sun Records Studio wurden mit dem 41-Jährigen die Titel How Many More Years und Moanin’ at Midnight aufgenommen, mit Ike Turner am Klavier und Willie Johnson an der Gitarre.[7]
Nachdem der Sänger nach Chicago gegangen war, wurde er einer der populärsten Künstler auf dem Label Chess Records. Bei Chess Records war Muddy Waters ebenfalls unter Vertrag und es entstand eine Rivalität, wer der bessere Bluesmusiker sei. Nach Aussagen von Musikern, die für beide gespielt hatten, war Howlin Wolf der bessere Bandleader, da er pünktlich zahlte und für sie eine Arbeitslosenversicherung und Sozialversicherung zahlte.[8] Ab 1956 nahm er regelmäßig Stücke auf. Zwei seiner größten Hits, Wang Dang Doodle und Back Door Man entstanden 1960. 1961 folgten Little Red Rooster und I Ain’t Superstitious. 1964 reiste Howlin’ Wolf erstmals nach Europa zum American Folk and Blues Festival.
Eines der bekanntesten Alben entstand 1967 gemeinsam mit den Blues-Musikern Muddy Waters und Bo Diddley: The Super Super Blues Band. Drei Jahre später, 1970 entstanden die London Sessions gemeinsam mit Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Bill Wyman und Charlie Watts. Das letzte Album The Back Door Wolf entstand 1973.
Letzter Auftritt und Tod
Seinen letzten Auftritt hatte er im November 1975 im Chicago Amphitheater, zusammen mit B.B. King, Albert King, O. V. Wright und Luther Allison. Auf dem sehr intensivem Konzert kroch er während des Stückes "Crawling King Snake" über die Bühne, am Ende erhielt er über 5 Minuten stehende Ovationen. Hinter der Bühne wartete ein mehrköpfiges Ärzteteam, um ihn nach dem Auftritt zu versorgen. Zwei Monate später starb er bei einer Herzoperation am 10. Januar 1976 in Chicago. Howlin' Wolf liegt neben seiner Frau Lillie auf dem Oak Ridge Cemetery, Hillside, Cook County, Illinois begraben. Jedes Jahr findet zur Erinnerung an ihn in West Point, Mississippi jährlich das The Howlin' Wolf Memorial Blues Festival statt.
In dem Film Cadillac Records wurde Howlin’ Wolf von dem britischen Schauspieler Eamonn Walker dargestellt.
Auszeichnungen
1980 wurde Howlin’ Wolf in die Blues Hall of Fame und 1991 in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame aufgenommen. 2004 setzte ihn das Rolling Stone Magazin auf #51 der Hundert wichtigsten Künstler aller Zeiten.[9] 2010 wurde Wolfs Song "Spoonful" in die Blues Hall of Fame der Blues Foundation aufgenommen. „This is Howlin' Wolfs New Album And He Doesn't Like It“ wurde in die Wireliste The Wire's "100 Records That Set The World On Fire (While No One Was Listening)" aufgenommen.
Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976), known as Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. With a booming voice and looming physical presence, he is one of the best-known Chicago blues artists. Musician and critic Cub Koda noted, "no one could match Howlin' Wolf for the singular ability to rock the house down to the foundation while simultaneously scaring its patrons out of its wits";[1] producer Sam Phillips added "When I heard Howlin' Wolf, I said, 'This is for me. This is where the soul of man never dies'".[2] Several of his songs, such as "Smokestack Lightnin'", "Back Door Man", "Killing Floor" and "Spoonful" have become blues and blues rock standards. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 51 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".[3]
Early life
Howlin' Wolf was born on June 10, 1910 in White Station, Mississippi, near West Point. He was named Chester Arthur Burnett, after Chester A. Arthur, the 21st President of the United States. His physique garnered him the nicknames of Big Foot Chester and Bull Cow as a young man: he was 6 feet 3 inches (191 cm) tall and often weighed close to 275 pounds (125 kg). He explained the origin of the name Howlin' Wolf: "I got that from my grandfather", who would often tell him stories about the wolves in that part of the country and warn him that if he misbehaved then the "howling wolves would get him". Paul Oliver wrote that Burnett once claimed to have been given his nickname by his idol Jimmie Rodgers.[4]
According to the documentary film The Howlin' Wolf Story, Burnett's parents broke up when he was young. His very religious mother, Gertrude, threw him out of the house while he was a child for refusing to work around the farm; he then moved in with his uncle, Will Young, who treated him badly. When he was 13, he ran away and claimed to have walked 85 miles (137 km) barefoot to join his father, where he finally found a happy home within his father's large family. During the peak of his success, he returned from Chicago to see his mother in his home town and was driven to tears when she rebuffed him: she refused to take money offered by him, saying it was from his playing of the "Devil's music".
Musical career
1930s and 1940s
In 1930, Burnett met Charlie Patton, the most popular bluesman in the Mississippi Delta at the time. He would listen to Patton play nightly from outside a nearby juke joint. There he remembered Patton playing "Pony Blues", "High Water Everywhere", "A Spoonful Blues", and "Banty Rooster Blues". The two became acquainted and soon Patton was teaching him guitar. Burnett recalled that: "The first piece I ever played in my life was ... a tune about hook up my pony and saddle up my black mare" (Patton's "Pony Blues").[5] He also learned about showmanship from Patton: "When he played his guitar, he would turn it over backwards and forwards, and throw it around over his shoulders, between his legs, throw it up in the sky".[5] Burnett could perform the guitar tricks he learned from Patton for the rest of his life. He played with Patton often in small Delta communities.[6]
Burnett was influenced by other popular blues performers of the time including the Mississippi Sheiks, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Ma Rainey, Lonnie Johnson, Tampa Red, Blind Blake, and Tommy Johnson. Two of the earliest songs he mastered were Jefferson's "Match Box Blues" and Leroy Carr's "How Long, How Long Blues". Country singer Jimmie Rodgers was also an influence. He tried to emulate Rodgers' "blue yodel", but found that his efforts sounded more like a growl or a howl: "I couldn't do no yodelin', so I turned to howlin'. And it's done me just fine".[this quote needs a citation] His harmonica playing was modeled after that of Sonny Boy Williamson II, who had taught him how to play when Burnett moved to Parkin, Arkansas, in 1933.
During the 1930s, Burnett performed in the South as a solo performer and with a number of blues musicians, including Floyd Jones, Johnny Shines, Honeyboy Edwards, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Robert Johnson, Robert Jr. Lockwood, Willie Brown, Son House and Willie Johnson. On April 9, 1941, he was inducted into the U.S. Army and was stationed at several army bases around the country. Finding it difficult to adjust to military life, Burnett was discharged on November 3, 1943. He returned to his family, who had recently moved near to West Memphis, Arkansas, and helped with the farming while also performing as he had done in the 1930s with Floyd Jones and others. In 1948 he formed a band which included guitarists Willie Johnson and Matt "Guitar" Murphy, harmonica player Junior Parker, a pianist remembered only as "Destruction" and drummer Willie Steele. Radio station KWEM in West Memphis began broadcasting his live performances and he occasionally sat in with Williamson on KFFA in Helena.
1950s
In 1951, Sam Phillips recorded several songs by Howlin' Wolf at his Memphis Recording Service.[7] He quickly became a local celebrity and began working with a band that included guitarists Willie Johnson and Pat Hare. His first record singles were issued by two different record companies in 1951: "How Many More Years" with "Moaning at Midnight" by Chess Records and "Riding in the Moonlight" backed with "Moaning at Midnight" by RPM Records. Later, Leonard Chess was able to secure his contract and Howlin' Wolf relocated to Chicago in 1952.[7] There he assembled a new band and recruited Chicagoan Jody Williams from Memphis Slim's band as his first guitarist. Within a year he enticed guitarist Hubert Sumlin to leave Memphis and join him in Chicago; Sumlin's understated solos perfectly complemented Burnett's huge voice and surprisingly subtle phrasing. The line-up of the Howlin' Wolf band changed regularly over the years, employing many different guitarists both on recordings and in live performance including Willie Johnson, Jody Williams, Lee Cooper, L.D. McGhee, Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers, his brother Little Smokey Smothers, Jimmy Rogers, Freddie Robinson, and Buddy Guy among others. Burnett was able to attract some of the best musicians available due to his policy, somewhat unique among bandleaders, of paying his musicians well and on time, withholding unemployment insurance and even Social Security contributions.[8] With the exception of a couple of brief absences in the late 1950s, Sumlin remained a member of the band for the rest of Howlin' Wolf's career, and is the guitarist most often associated with the Chicago Howlin' Wolf sound.
In the 1950s, five of Howlin' Wolf's songs appeared in the Billboard national R&B charts: "Moanin' at Midnight", "How Many More Years", "Who Will Be Next", "Smokestack Lightning", and "I Asked For Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)".[9] In 1959, his first album, Moanin' in the Moonlight, a compilation of previously released singles, was released.
1960s and 1970s
In the early 1960s, Howlin' Wolf recorded several songs that became his most famous, although they never appeared in the record charts. These include "Wang Dang Doodle", "Back Door Man", "Spoonful", "The Red Rooster" (later known as "Little Red Rooster"), "I Ain't Superstitious", "Goin' Down Slow", and "Killing Floor". Many of these songs were written by bassist and Chess arranger Willie Dixon; later, several found their way into the repertoires of British and American rock groups, who further popularized them. In 1962, his second compilation album, titled Howlin' Wolf (often called "The Rocking Chair album"), was released.
Howlin' Wolf toured Europe in 1964 as part of the American Folk Blues Festival tour produced by German promoters Horst Lippmann and Fritz Rau. In 1965, he appeared on the popular music variety television program Shindig! at the insistence of the Rolling Stones, whose recording of "Little Red Rooster" reached number one in the UK in 1964. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Howlin' Wolf recorded albums with others, including The Super Super Blues Band with Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters, The Howlin' Wolf Album with session musicians, and The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions, accompanied by British rock musicians Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ian Stewart, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts and others. His last album for Chess was The Back Door Wolf, in 1973.
Personal life
Unlike many other blues musicians who had left an impoverished childhood to begin a musical career, Chester Burnett was always financially successful. Having already achieved a measure of success in Memphis, he described himself as "the onliest one to drive himself up from the Delta" to Chicago, which he did, in his own car on the Blues Highway and with 4,000 dollars in his pocket, a rare distinction for a black blues man of the time. In his early career, this was the result of his musical popularity and his ability to avoid the pitfalls of alcohol, gambling and the various dangers inherent in what are vaguely described as "loose women," to which so many of his peers succumbed. Though functionally illiterate into his 40s, Burnett eventually returned to school, first to earn a General Educational Development (GED) diploma, and later to study accounting and other business courses aimed to help his business career.
Burnett met his future wife, Lillie, when she attended one of his performances in a Chicago club. She and her family were urban and educated, and not involved in what was generally seen as the unsavory world of blues musicians. Nonetheless, immediately attracted when he saw her in the audience as Burnett says he was, he pursued her and won her over. According to those who knew them, the couple remained deeply in love until his death. Together they raised Bettye and Barbara, Lillie's two daughters from an earlier relationship.
After he married Lillie, who was able to manage his professional finances, Burnett was so financially successful that he was able to offer band members not only a decent salary, but benefits such as health insurance; this in turn enabled him to hire his pick of the available musicians, and keep his band one of the best around. According to his daughters, he was never financially extravagant, for instance driving a Pontiac station wagon rather than a more expensive and flashy car.
Burnett's health declined in the late 1960s through 1970s. He suffered several heart attacks and in 1970 his kidneys were severely damaged in an automobile accident. He died at Hines VA Hospital in Hines, Illinois on January 10, 1976 from complications of kidney disease and was buried in Oakridge Cemetery, outside of Chicago, in a plot in Section 18, on the east side of the road. His gravestone has an image of a guitar and harmonica etched into it.[10]
Selective awards and recognitions
Grammy Hall of Fame
A recording of Howlin' Wolf was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance".
The Blues Foundation Awards
Howlin' Wolf: Blues Music Awards[13]
Year Category Title Result
2004 Historical Blues Album of the Year The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions Nominated
1995 Reissue Album of the Year Ain't Gonna Be Your Dog Nominated
1992 Vintage or Reissue Blues Album—US or Foreign The Chess Box—Howlin' Wolf Winner
1990 Vintage/Reissue (Foreign) Memphis Days Nominated
1989 Vintage/Reissue Album (US) Cadillac Daddy Nominated
1988 Vintage/Reissue Album (Foreign) Killing Floor: Masterworks Vol. 5 Winner
1987 Vintage/Reissue Album (US) Moanin' in the Moonlight Winner
1981 Vintage or Reissue Album (Foreign) More Real Folk Blues Nominated#
Early life
Howlin' Wolf was born on June 10, 1910 in White Station, Mississippi, near West Point. He was named Chester Arthur Burnett, after Chester A. Arthur, the 21st President of the United States. His physique garnered him the nicknames of Big Foot Chester and Bull Cow as a young man: he was 6 feet 3 inches (191 cm) tall and often weighed close to 275 pounds (125 kg). He explained the origin of the name Howlin' Wolf: "I got that from my grandfather", who would often tell him stories about the wolves in that part of the country and warn him that if he misbehaved then the "howling wolves would get him". Paul Oliver wrote that Burnett once claimed to have been given his nickname by his idol Jimmie Rodgers.[4]
According to the documentary film The Howlin' Wolf Story, Burnett's parents broke up when he was young. His very religious mother, Gertrude, threw him out of the house while he was a child for refusing to work around the farm; he then moved in with his uncle, Will Young, who treated him badly. When he was 13, he ran away and claimed to have walked 85 miles (137 km) barefoot to join his father, where he finally found a happy home within his father's large family. During the peak of his success, he returned from Chicago to see his mother in his home town and was driven to tears when she rebuffed him: she refused to take money offered by him, saying it was from his playing of the "Devil's music".
Musical career
1930s and 1940s
In 1930, Burnett met Charlie Patton, the most popular bluesman in the Mississippi Delta at the time. He would listen to Patton play nightly from outside a nearby juke joint. There he remembered Patton playing "Pony Blues", "High Water Everywhere", "A Spoonful Blues", and "Banty Rooster Blues". The two became acquainted and soon Patton was teaching him guitar. Burnett recalled that: "The first piece I ever played in my life was ... a tune about hook up my pony and saddle up my black mare" (Patton's "Pony Blues").[5] He also learned about showmanship from Patton: "When he played his guitar, he would turn it over backwards and forwards, and throw it around over his shoulders, between his legs, throw it up in the sky".[5] Burnett could perform the guitar tricks he learned from Patton for the rest of his life. He played with Patton often in small Delta communities.[6]
Burnett was influenced by other popular blues performers of the time including the Mississippi Sheiks, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Ma Rainey, Lonnie Johnson, Tampa Red, Blind Blake, and Tommy Johnson. Two of the earliest songs he mastered were Jefferson's "Match Box Blues" and Leroy Carr's "How Long, How Long Blues". Country singer Jimmie Rodgers was also an influence. He tried to emulate Rodgers' "blue yodel", but found that his efforts sounded more like a growl or a howl: "I couldn't do no yodelin', so I turned to howlin'. And it's done me just fine".[this quote needs a citation] His harmonica playing was modeled after that of Sonny Boy Williamson II, who had taught him how to play when Burnett moved to Parkin, Arkansas, in 1933.
During the 1930s, Burnett performed in the South as a solo performer and with a number of blues musicians, including Floyd Jones, Johnny Shines, Honeyboy Edwards, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Robert Johnson, Robert Jr. Lockwood, Willie Brown, Son House and Willie Johnson. On April 9, 1941, he was inducted into the U.S. Army and was stationed at several army bases around the country. Finding it difficult to adjust to military life, Burnett was discharged on November 3, 1943. He returned to his family, who had recently moved near to West Memphis, Arkansas, and helped with the farming while also performing as he had done in the 1930s with Floyd Jones and others. In 1948 he formed a band which included guitarists Willie Johnson and Matt "Guitar" Murphy, harmonica player Junior Parker, a pianist remembered only as "Destruction" and drummer Willie Steele. Radio station KWEM in West Memphis began broadcasting his live performances and he occasionally sat in with Williamson on KFFA in Helena.
1950s
In 1951, Sam Phillips recorded several songs by Howlin' Wolf at his Memphis Recording Service.[7] He quickly became a local celebrity and began working with a band that included guitarists Willie Johnson and Pat Hare. His first record singles were issued by two different record companies in 1951: "How Many More Years" with "Moaning at Midnight" by Chess Records and "Riding in the Moonlight" backed with "Moaning at Midnight" by RPM Records. Later, Leonard Chess was able to secure his contract and Howlin' Wolf relocated to Chicago in 1952.[7] There he assembled a new band and recruited Chicagoan Jody Williams from Memphis Slim's band as his first guitarist. Within a year he enticed guitarist Hubert Sumlin to leave Memphis and join him in Chicago; Sumlin's understated solos perfectly complemented Burnett's huge voice and surprisingly subtle phrasing. The line-up of the Howlin' Wolf band changed regularly over the years, employing many different guitarists both on recordings and in live performance including Willie Johnson, Jody Williams, Lee Cooper, L.D. McGhee, Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers, his brother Little Smokey Smothers, Jimmy Rogers, Freddie Robinson, and Buddy Guy among others. Burnett was able to attract some of the best musicians available due to his policy, somewhat unique among bandleaders, of paying his musicians well and on time, withholding unemployment insurance and even Social Security contributions.[8] With the exception of a couple of brief absences in the late 1950s, Sumlin remained a member of the band for the rest of Howlin' Wolf's career, and is the guitarist most often associated with the Chicago Howlin' Wolf sound.
In the 1950s, five of Howlin' Wolf's songs appeared in the Billboard national R&B charts: "Moanin' at Midnight", "How Many More Years", "Who Will Be Next", "Smokestack Lightning", and "I Asked For Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)".[9] In 1959, his first album, Moanin' in the Moonlight, a compilation of previously released singles, was released.
1960s and 1970s
In the early 1960s, Howlin' Wolf recorded several songs that became his most famous, although they never appeared in the record charts. These include "Wang Dang Doodle", "Back Door Man", "Spoonful", "The Red Rooster" (later known as "Little Red Rooster"), "I Ain't Superstitious", "Goin' Down Slow", and "Killing Floor". Many of these songs were written by bassist and Chess arranger Willie Dixon; later, several found their way into the repertoires of British and American rock groups, who further popularized them. In 1962, his second compilation album, titled Howlin' Wolf (often called "The Rocking Chair album"), was released.
Howlin' Wolf toured Europe in 1964 as part of the American Folk Blues Festival tour produced by German promoters Horst Lippmann and Fritz Rau. In 1965, he appeared on the popular music variety television program Shindig! at the insistence of the Rolling Stones, whose recording of "Little Red Rooster" reached number one in the UK in 1964. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Howlin' Wolf recorded albums with others, including The Super Super Blues Band with Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters, The Howlin' Wolf Album with session musicians, and The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions, accompanied by British rock musicians Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Ian Stewart, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts and others. His last album for Chess was The Back Door Wolf, in 1973.
Personal life
Unlike many other blues musicians who had left an impoverished childhood to begin a musical career, Chester Burnett was always financially successful. Having already achieved a measure of success in Memphis, he described himself as "the onliest one to drive himself up from the Delta" to Chicago, which he did, in his own car on the Blues Highway and with 4,000 dollars in his pocket, a rare distinction for a black blues man of the time. In his early career, this was the result of his musical popularity and his ability to avoid the pitfalls of alcohol, gambling and the various dangers inherent in what are vaguely described as "loose women," to which so many of his peers succumbed. Though functionally illiterate into his 40s, Burnett eventually returned to school, first to earn a General Educational Development (GED) diploma, and later to study accounting and other business courses aimed to help his business career.
Burnett met his future wife, Lillie, when she attended one of his performances in a Chicago club. She and her family were urban and educated, and not involved in what was generally seen as the unsavory world of blues musicians. Nonetheless, immediately attracted when he saw her in the audience as Burnett says he was, he pursued her and won her over. According to those who knew them, the couple remained deeply in love until his death. Together they raised Bettye and Barbara, Lillie's two daughters from an earlier relationship.
After he married Lillie, who was able to manage his professional finances, Burnett was so financially successful that he was able to offer band members not only a decent salary, but benefits such as health insurance; this in turn enabled him to hire his pick of the available musicians, and keep his band one of the best around. According to his daughters, he was never financially extravagant, for instance driving a Pontiac station wagon rather than a more expensive and flashy car.
Burnett's health declined in the late 1960s through 1970s. He suffered several heart attacks and in 1970 his kidneys were severely damaged in an automobile accident. He died at Hines VA Hospital in Hines, Illinois on January 10, 1976 from complications of kidney disease and was buried in Oakridge Cemetery, outside of Chicago, in a plot in Section 18, on the east side of the road. His gravestone has an image of a guitar and harmonica etched into it.[10]
Selective awards and recognitions
Grammy Hall of Fame
A recording of Howlin' Wolf was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance".
The Blues Foundation Awards
Howlin' Wolf: Blues Music Awards[13]
Year Category Title Result
2004 Historical Blues Album of the Year The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions Nominated
1995 Reissue Album of the Year Ain't Gonna Be Your Dog Nominated
1992 Vintage or Reissue Blues Album—US or Foreign The Chess Box—Howlin' Wolf Winner
1990 Vintage/Reissue (Foreign) Memphis Days Nominated
1989 Vintage/Reissue Album (US) Cadillac Daddy Nominated
1988 Vintage/Reissue Album (Foreign) Killing Floor: Masterworks Vol. 5 Winner
1987 Vintage/Reissue Album (US) Moanin' in the Moonlight Winner
1981 Vintage or Reissue Album (Foreign) More Real Folk Blues Nominated#
Howlin Wolf Smokestack Lightning - Live (1964)
HOWLIN WOLF - ALL NIGHT BOOGIE (FULL ALBUM)
HOWLIN WOLF - ALL NIGHT BOOGIE (FULL ALBUM)
TRACK LISTING
SIDE A
00:00 Cause Of It All
02:45 The Killing Floor
06:20 Little Red Rooster
11:58 Built For Comfort
14:22 Commit A Crime
SIDE B
18:30 Do The Do
21:58 Highway 49
25:00 Worried About You
27:58 Poor Boy
32:10 Wang Dang Doodle
TRACK LISTING
SIDE A
00:00 Cause Of It All
02:45 The Killing Floor
06:20 Little Red Rooster
11:58 Built For Comfort
14:22 Commit A Crime
SIDE B
18:30 Do The Do
21:58 Highway 49
25:00 Worried About You
27:58 Poor Boy
32:10 Wang Dang Doodle
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