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Howlin' Wolf
American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player (1910–1976)
Chester Arthur Burnett, better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chicago blues, and over a four-decade career, recorded blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and psychedelic rock.
He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians ever.
blueschicago blueselectric bluesrhythm & bluesserver nameacid rock
The Static TimesExtra
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 that his father was "Ethiopian", while Jones had Choctaw ancestry on her father's side. He was named for Chester A. Arthur, the 21st President of the United States. The name "Howlin' Wolf" originated from Burnett's maternal grandfather, John Jones; Burnett had been squeezing his grandmother's chicks so hard he was likely to kill them, and his grandfather told him wolves would come and get him. The blues historian Paul Oliver wrote that Burnett once claimed to have been given his nickname by his idol Jimmie Rodgers.
On January 15, 1928, at the age of 17, Burnett gathered enough money to buy his first guitar. It was a date that Burnett reportedly never forgot until "the day he died".
Wolf is among the most influential blues musicians of the postwar years. He was at the forefront of transforming the rural acoustic blues of the South, to the electric, more urban blues of Chicago. When Wolf first formed his band in West Memphis, Arkansas, his sound was much more aggressive, with guitarist Willie Johnson's raucous, distorted guitar playing being the signature sound of his early recordings. When Wolf switched guitarists and added Hubert Sumlin to his lineup, his sound became less aggressive with Sumlin adding "angular riffing" and "wild soloing". He also adopted the backbeat that Chicago blues was mainly known for.
Born June 10, 1910 West Point, Mississippi, USA.
Died January 10, 1976 Hines, Illinois, USA.
Howlin' Wolf (aka Chester Burnett) was an American blues singer, guitarist, harmonica player. A key figure in bridging the early Delta Blues with the more modern Electric Blues. His tutelage on the Mississippi Delta included guitar and showmanship from Charley Patton and harmonica teachings from Sonny Boy Williamson (2).
By the end of the 1930s he was a fixture on the Southern Club scene. He was inducted into the U.S. Army on April 9, 1941 and discharged on November 3, 1943. He then moved near West Memphis, Arkansas. In 1948 he formed a band which included guitarists Willie Johnson (4) & Matt "Guitar" Murphy, harmonica player Little Junior Parker, and drummer Willie Steele (2). In 1951, Sam Phillips (2) recorded several songs by Howlin' Wolf at his Memphis Recording Service, and he became a local celebrity.
After Leonard Chess secured his contract, The Wolf relocated to Chicago in 1952. It was in Chicago that his legendary status was secured. Playing with prominent blues musicians such as Willie Dixon, Jimmy Rogers and his l
Also known as: "Howlin' Wolf", "Howlin' Wolf" Chester Burnett, H. Wolf, H.Wolf, HW
From Discogs (free to use). Their entry
Liner notes
Howlin' Wolf, the records, oldest first
Moanin’ in the Moonlight
1959 album
Howlin’ Wolf
1962 album
Big City Blues
1962 album
The Super Super Blues Band
1967 album
The Howlin’ Wolf Album
1969 album
Message to the Young
1971 album
The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions
1971 album
The Back Door Wolf
1973 album
London Revisited
1974 album
Change My Way
1975 album
all my blues
2002 album
The Memphis Sessions
2007 album
Moonlighting, with Howlin' Wolf
2014 album
Wang Dang Doodle
2017 album
Ain't Superstitious
2017 album
Bluebird
2017 album
Legends: Howlin' Wolf
2017 album
Second Album, aka Rockin' Chair
2017 album
Blues Is My Business (24 Success)
2018 album
Smokestack' Blues
2019 album
Two Birds
2019 album
One World
2019 album
Who's Been Talking
2019 album
Little Red Rooster
2019 album
Records from MusicBrainz; covers from the Cover Art Archive.
"Little Red Rooster" is a blues standard credited to arranger and songwriter Willie Dixon. The song was first recorded in 1961 by American blues musician Howlin' Wolf in the Chicago blues style.
His vocal and slide guitar playing are key elements of the song. It is rooted in the Delta blues tradition and the theme is derived from folklore.
Background
Willie Dixon's "The Red Rooster"/"Little Red Rooster" uses elements from several earlier blues songs. The theme reflects early twentieth century folk beliefs in the American South that a rooster contributes to peace in the barnyard. The image of the rooster appears in several blues songs from the 1920s and 1930s, with two particular songs identified as precursors. Influential Delta blues musician Charlie Patton's 1929 "Banty Rooster Blues" contains the verses "What you want with a rooster, he won't crow 'fore day" and "I know my dog anywhere I hear him bark", which are analogous to Dixon's "I have a little red rooster, too lazy to crow 'fore day" and "Oh the dogs begin to bark". Some of the lyrics to Memphis Minnie's 1936 acoustic combo...
Composition and recording
Although Wyman noted some early criticism of their rendition, Janovitz described it as "a fairly faithful version [of the original]". It is performed as a moderately slow (74 bpm) blues in the key of G. While AllMusic reviewer Matthew Greenwald describes their arrangement as having a straight I-IV-V twelve-bar blues progression, they sometimes vary the changes, but not in the same manner as Howlin' Wolf. Jagger mostly uses the lyrics from the original (omitting Cooke's extra verse), but makes one important change—instead of "I got a little red rooster", he sings "I am the little red rooster", although the later verse reverts to "If you see my little red rooster". In addition, Jagger sings the line "Look out strange cat people", or perhaps...
Charts and releases
"Little Red Rooster" was released on Friday, November 13, 1964, and reached number one on the Record Retailer chart on December 5, 1964, where it stayed for one week. It remains to this day the only time a blues song has ever topped the British pop charts. According to AllMusic writer Matthew Greenwald, "Little Red Rooster" was Brian Jones' favorite Stones single. Wyman noted that it "realized a cherished ambition [of Jones] to put blues music at the top of the charts, and meant his guilt of having 'sold out' completely to pop fame was diminished". It was the band's last cover song to be released as a single during the 1960s.
No US single release
Bill Wyman later wrote in his book Stone Alone that "on December 18, 1964, news came from America that 'Little Red Rooster' was banned from record release because of its 'sexual connotations'". This has been repeated and embellished to include that it had been banned by or from American radio stations; however, Sam Cooke's version with nearly the same lyrics had been a Top 40 crossover pop hit one year earlier. Additionally, the Rolling Stones' "Little Red Rooster" was included on Los Angeles radio station KRLA's (at the time the number-one Top 40 radio station in the second largest market in the US) playlist from December 9, 1964, to February 5, 1965. Radio personality Bob Eubanks wrote in his weekly Record Review column for January 1,...
