Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976), known as Howlin' Wolf on stage, was an American blues singer, guitarist, and harmonica player. He helped change traditional Delta blues into electric Chicago blues and recorded music across four decades, including blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and psychedelic rock. He is considered one of the most important blues musicians in history.

Burnett was born in Mississippi and became a student of Delta blues musician Charley Patton in the 1930s. He began performing alone and with other famous blues musicians in the Deep South. By the end of the 1930s, he was well-known in the Mississippi Delta. After facing legal problems, spending time in prison, and serving in the Army, he was recruited by record executive Ike Turner to work with producer Sam Phillips in Memphis. His first recording, "Moanin' at Midnight" (1951), led to a record deal with Chess Records in Chicago. Between 1951 and 1969, six of his songs reached the Billboard R&B chart. His studio albums include Howlin' Wolf a.k.a. The Rocking Chair Album (a collection of songs from 1957 to 1961), The Howlin' Wolf Album (1969), Message to the Young (1971), The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions (1971), and The Back Door Wolf (1973). His fame grew during the blues revival of the 1960s, and he performed until November 1975, when he played with fellow blues musician B.B. King. He died on January 10, 1976, after years of poor health. In 1980, he was added to the Blues Hall of Fame, and in 1991, he was added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Howlin' Wolf had a powerful voice and a strong physical presence, making him one of the most famous Chicago blues artists. AllMusic described him as a "powerful blues singer with many classic songs and a rough, unique voice that many others have copied." Several of his songs are now considered standards in blues and blues rock. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed "Little Red Rooster," "Smokestack Lightning," "Killing Floor," and "Spoonful" in its "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll." "Smokestack Lightning" was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 54 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time."

Early life

Chester Arthur Burnett was born on June 10, 1910, in White Station, near West Point, Mississippi, to Gertrude Jones and Leon "Dock" Burnett. He later said his father was of Ethiopian descent, and his mother had Choctaw ancestry on her father's side. He was named after Chester A. Arthur, the 21st President of the United States. The nickname "Howlin' Wolf" came from Burnett's maternal grandfather, John Jones. Burnett had been squeezing his grandmother's chicks too hard, and his grandfather warned him that wolves would come for him if he continued. Blues historian Paul Oliver wrote that Burnett once said his nickname was given to him by his idol, Jimmie Rodgers.

Burnett's parents separated when he was one year old. Dock, who had worked as a seasonal farm laborer in the Mississippi Delta, moved there to live permanently, while Jones and Burnett moved to Monroe County. Jones and Burnett sang together in the choir of the Life Boat Baptist Church near Gibson, Mississippi, and Burnett later said he learned his musical talent from her. Jones sent Burnett away from home during winter when he was a child, though the reason was unknown. At the height of his success, he returned to Mississippi from Chicago to visit his mother. He was deeply upset when she refused to accept money he offered, saying it came from playing "the devil's music."

Burnett moved in with his granduncle, Will Young, who had a large household and treated him poorly. While living with Young, Burnett worked most of the day and did not attend school. At age thirteen, he killed one of Young's hogs in anger after the animal ruined his dress clothes. This angered Young, who whipped Burnett while chasing him on a mule. Burnett then ran away and claimed to have walked 85 miles (137 km) barefoot to join his father, where he found a happy home with his father's family. During this time, he used the name "John D." to distance himself from his past, a name some relatives used for him for the rest of his life.

Burnett's large size earned him the nicknames "Big Foot Chester" and "Bull Cow" as a young man. He was 6 feet 3 inches (191 cm) tall and weighed 275 pounds (125 kg).

Musical career

On January 15, 1928, when he was 17 years old, Burnett saved enough money to buy his first guitar. This date was important to him, and he never forgot it until the day he died.

In 1930, Burnett met Charley Patton, a famous blues musician in the Mississippi Delta. Every night, Burnett listened to Patton play outside a nearby bar. He remembered hearing songs like "Pony Blues," "High Water Everywhere," "A Spoonful Blues," and "Banty Rooster Blues." Patton taught Burnett how to play guitar, and Burnett’s first song was "Pony Blues." He also learned performance skills from Patton, such as flipping his guitar and tossing it in the air. Burnett performed with Patton in small communities and used these tricks for the rest of his life.

Burnett was influenced by other blues musicians, including the Mississippi Sheiks, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Ma Rainey, Lonnie Johnson, Tampa Red, Blind Blake, and Tommy Johnson. He learned songs like Jefferson’s "Match Box Blues" and Leroy Carr’s "How Long, How Long Blues." He also admired Jimmie Rodgers, a country singer, but found it hard to copy Rodgers’s "blue yodel." Instead, Burnett developed his own style, saying, "I couldn’t do no yodelin’, so I turned to howlin’." He also learned to play the harmonica from Sonny Boy Williamson II, who taught him in Parkin, Arkansas, in 1933.

During the 1930s, Burnett performed alone and with other musicians, such as Floyd Jones, Johnny Shines, Honeyboy Edwards, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Robert Johnson, Robert Lockwood Jr., Willie Brown, Son House, and Willie Johnson. By the late 1930s, he was a regular in clubs, playing with a harmonica and an early electric guitar. In 1939, he faced legal trouble in Hughes, Arkansas, after killing a man during a fight to protect a friend. Details about what happened afterward are unclear, but he either left the area or spent time in jail.

On April 9, 1941, Burnett joined the U.S. Army and was stationed at bases across the country. He said that workers in the Delta had warned the military about him because he refused to work in the fields. He was assigned to the 9th Cavalry Regiment, known as "Buffalo Soldiers." He trained in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and later worked in a kitchen at Camp Blanding, Florida. At night, he played guitar in the assembly room. He was later sent to Fort Gordon, Georgia, where he played on the steps of the mess hall. There, a young James Brown, who earned money by shining shoes and dancing, first heard him play.

Burnett was sent to a training camp in Tacoma, Washington, where he was responsible for decoding messages. Because he could not read or write well, he was often beaten for mistakes. Soon after, he began having shaking fits, dizziness, and confusion.

Burnett participated in the Louisiana Maneuvers in 1941, where a photo of him cleaning a horse’s hoof was taken. In 1943, he was sent to an Army mental hospital and found unfit for duty. He was discharged on November 3, 1943. Later, he said, "The Army ain’t no place for a black man. Jus’ couldn’t take all that bossin’ around, I guess. The Wolf’s his own boss."

After returning to Arkansas, Burnett helped his family with farming and performed with musicians like Floyd Jones. In 1948, he formed a band with Willie Johnson, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Junior Parker, "Destruction" (a pianist), and Willie Steele. His performances were broadcast on KWEM in West Memphis, and he sometimes played with Sonny Boy Williamson II on KFFA in Helena, Arkansas.

In 1951, a 19-year-old talent scout named Ike Turner heard Burnett perform in West Memphis. Turner brought him to record songs for Sam Phillips at Memphis Recording Service (later Sun Studio) and the Bihari brothers at Modern Records. Phillips praised Burnett’s singing, saying, "His eyes would light up, you’d see the veins come out on his neck, and there was nothing on his mind but that song. He sang with his damn soul." Burnett became a local star and worked with a band that included Willie Johnson and Pat Hare. His first songs were released by Chess Records and Modern Records in 1951. In late 1952, Leonard Chess secured Burnett’s contract, and Burnett moved to Chicago.

In Chicago, Burnett formed a new band and hired Jody Williams, a guitarist from Memphis Slim’s band. He later brought Hubert Sumlin to Chicago, and Sumlin’s playing style matched Burnett’s powerful voice. Over the years, the band’s lineup changed often, but Sumlin stayed with Burnett for most of his career. Burnett paid his musicians well, including unemployment insurance and Social Security, which helped him attract top talent.

Burnett had many hits with songs written by Willie Dixon, who was hired by the Chess brothers in 1950. During this time, there was strong competition between Burnett and Muddy Waters. Dixon once said that Burnett would ask, "Hey man, you wrote that song for Muddy. How come you won’t write me one like that?" To help Burnett accept songs, Dixon used reverse psychology, telling him the songs were written for Muddy.

In the 1950s, Burnett had five songs on the Billboard national R&B chart: "Moanin’ at Midnight," "How Many More Years," "Who Will Be Next," "Smokestack Lightning," and others.

Artistry and legacy

Howlin' Wolf was one of the most important blues musicians after World War II. He helped change the sound of blues music from the quiet, rural style of the South to the louder, more energetic style of Chicago. When he started his band in West Memphis, Arkansas, his music was very strong and loud, with guitarist Willie Johnson playing a guitar that made loud, rough sounds. Later, when Wolf changed guitarists and added Hubert Sumlin to his group, his music became less intense. Sumlin played guitar in a unique way, with fast and wild solos. Wolf also began using a strong rhythm pattern called a backbeat, which became a key part of Chicago blues.

Cub Koda, a musician and critic, said, "No one could match Howlin' Wolf for the ability to make a whole room shake and scare people at the same time." Sam Phillips, a music producer, said, "When I heard Howlin' Wolf, I knew this was special. This is where the soul of man never dies."

Although Hubert Sumlin was the main guitarist in Wolf's band, Wolf played many guitars himself over the years. He used a 1965 Epiphone Casino during a European tour, a Fender Coronado, a Gibson Firebird V for a 1966 music video, a white Fender Stratocaster, a Teisco Tre-100, and a Kay K-161 ThinTwin in his early years. The Kay K-161 ThinTwin is now in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.

In 1980, Wolf was posthumously added to the Blues Foundation's Blues Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as an early influence. In 1995, a Hall of Fame in his hometown of West Point, Mississippi, honored him.

On September 17, 1994, the U.S. Postal Service released a 29-cent stamp featuring Howlin' Wolf.

On September 1, 2005, the Howlin' Wolf Blues Museum opened in West Point, Mississippi. It holds an annual festival.

The Howlin' Wolf Foundation, a nonprofit group, was created by Bettye Kelly to keep Wolf's legacy alive. Its goals include protecting blues music, offering scholarships for music programs, and supporting blues musicians and events.

The experimental rock band Swans has a song called "Just A Little Boy (for Chester Burnett)" on their 2014 album To Be Kind. The song uses blues influences, and the lead singer, Michael Gira, sings in a style similar to Wolf's.

In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Howlin' Wolf at number 59 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Personal life

Burnett was known for carefully managing his personal money. After becoming successful in Memphis, he said he was "the onliest one to drive himself up from the Delta" to Chicago. He made the trip in his own car on the Blues Highway with $4,000 in his pocket, which was unusual for a Black blues musician at that time. Although he could not read or write well until his 40s, Burnett returned to school to earn a General Educational Development (GED) diploma and later took classes in accounting and business to help manage his career.

Burnett met his future wife, Lillie Handley (1925–2001), when she attended one of his performances at a Chicago club. She and her family lived in an urban area and were educated, and they were not involved in the world of blues musicians, which was often seen as not respected. Despite this, Burnett was drawn to her when he saw her in the audience. He quickly asked her to marry him, and she agreed. People who knew them said the couple remained deeply in love until his death. Together, they raised two daughters, Betty and Barbara, who were Lillie’s daughters from a previous relationship. West Coast rapper Skeme is Burnett’s great nephew, born 14 years after his death.

After marrying Lillie, who managed his professional finances, Burnett became very financially successful. He paid his band members not only a fair salary but also benefits like health insurance. This allowed him to choose the best musicians available and keep his band among the top in the industry. His stepdaughters said he was never wasteful with money (for example, he drove a Pontiac station wagon instead of a more expensive car).

Burnett’s health began to worsen in the late 1960s. He had his first heart attack in 1969 while traveling with Hubert Sumlin to a show at the University of Chicago. He fell against the car’s dashboard, and Sumlin, who was driving, used a piece of wood from the road to hit Burnett’s back, which helped restart his heart. Three weeks later, while in Toronto for a performance, Burnett faced more heart and kidney problems but refused surgery, telling his wife, “he needed to keep working.”

In 1970, Burnett was in a serious car accident that caused him to be thrown through the windshield, leading to severe kidney damage. For the rest of his life, he received dialysis every three days, which his wife Lillie administered. In May 1970, while in the United Kingdom to record The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions, his health worsened. A year later, he had another heart attack, and his kidneys failed. He also began suffering from high blood pressure. By May 1973, Burnett was performing again. His band leader, Eddie Shaw, worried about his health and limited him to singing only six songs per concert.

Death

In January 1976, Burnett was admitted to the Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Administration Hospital in Hines, Illinois, for kidney surgery. Three days before his death, doctors discovered a cancerous tumor in his brain. He passed away on January 10, 1976, at the age of 65, due to the brain tumor, heart failure, and kidney disease. He was buried in Oakridge Cemetery, located outside Chicago, in Section 18 on the east side of the road. His gravestone features a carved image of a guitar and harmonica.

Awards and nominations

In 1972, Howlin' Wolf received an honorary doctorate in arts from Columbia College in Chicago.

In 1999, his recording of "Smokestack Lightning" was chosen for the Grammy Hall of Fame Award. This award, created in 1973, honors recordings that are at least 25 years old and have important musical or historical value.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included three songs by Howlin' Wolf in its list of "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll."

Discography

• 1959: Moanin' in the Moonlight (Chess) – recordings from 1951 to 1958
• 1962: Howlin' Wolf (Chess) – recordings from 1957 to 1962
• 1962: Howling Wolf Sings the Blues (Crown) – recordings from 1951 to 1952
• 1965: The Real Folk Blues (Chess) – recordings from 1956 to 1965
• 1967: More Real Folk Blues (Chess) – recordings from 1953 to 1956
• 1968: The Super Super Blues Band (Chess) – with Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley
• 1969: The Howlin' Wolf Album (Cadet Concept)
• 1971: Message to the Young (Chess)
• 1971: The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions (Chess)
• 1972: Chester Burnett A.K.A. Howlin' Wolf (Chess) – recordings from 1951 to 1965
• 1972: Live and Cookin' (Chess)
• 1973: The Back Door Wolf (Chess)
• 1974: London Revisited (Chess) – split album with Muddy Waters
• 1975: Change My Way (Chess) – recordings from 1958 to 1966
• 1977: The Legendary Sun Performers: Howlin' Wolf (Charly)
• 1979: Heart Like Railroad Steel (Memphis & Chicago Blues 1951–57) (Blues Ball)
• 1979: Can't Put Me Out (Chicago 1956–72, Volume II) (Blues Ball)
• 1984: Muddy & the Wolf (Chess) – split album with Muddy Waters
• 1984: His Greatest Sides, Volume One (Chess)
• 1991: The Chess Box—Howlin' Wolf (Chess/MCA)
• 1991: Howlin' Wolf Rides Again (Flair/Virgin)
• 1994: Ain't Gonna Be Your Dog (Chess Collectibles, Vol. 2) (Chess/MCA)
• 1997: His Best (Chess/MCA); reissued as The Definitive Collection (Geffen, 2007)
• 1999: His Best, Vol. 2 (Chess/MCA)
• 2011: Smokestack Lightning (The Complete Chess Masters 1951–1960) (Hip-O Select/Geffen)

General references

• Collis, John (1998). The Story of Chess Records. Published by Bloomsbury USA. ISBN 978-1-58234-005-0.
• Humphrey, Mark (2007). The Definitive Collection (liner notes). Howlin' Wolf. Published by Geffen Records / Chess Records. Catalog number: B0008784-02/CHD-9375 BK02.
• McGlynn, Don (2003). The Howlin' Wolf Story – The Secret History of Rock & Roll (DVD). Published by Bluebird/Arista. Catalog number: 82876-56631-9.
• Oliver, Paul (1969). The Story of the Blues. Published by Barrie & Jenkins. ISBN 3-85445-092-3.
• Sawyers, June Skinner (2012). Chicago Portraits: New Edition. Published by Northwestern University Press. ISBN 978-0-8101-2649-7.
• Segrest, James; Hoffman, Mark (2004). Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf. Published by Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-375-42246-3.
• Whitburn, Joel (1988). Top R&B Singles 1942–1988. Published by Record Research. ISBN 0-89820-068-7.