Music: Smokestack Lightning - Howlin’ Wolf
The mesmerizing Howlin' Wolf goin' to work on Smokestack Lightning circa 1964. The song, written by Wolf, is based on one riff and no chord changes. It has been called "a distillation of the essence of the blues". "Smokestack Lightning" was based on "Crying at Daybreak", another earlier recorded song by Wolf which was based on "Moon Going Down" by Charley Patton. Wolf said the song was inspired by watching trains in the night: "We used to sit out in the country and see the trains go by, watch the sparks come out of the smokestack." Continue Reading...
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Music: Evil - Howlin’ Wolf
The Wolf. Possessed. EVIL, I tell ya. Check out the middle, when he drops it on ya about why people do evil.
Check this out:
The Howlin' Wolf Story - The Secret History of Rock & Roll - DVD
Howlin' Wolf: His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection) - CD (Amazon.com)
Howlin' Wolf: His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection) - CD (itunes)
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Music/Film: Dust My Broom - Howlin’ Wolf
Howlin' Wolf doin' Dust My Broom. That's Hubert Sumlin there in the background playin' guitar. Here's a little background on The Howlin' Wolf in case you don't know.
Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976), better known as Howlin' Wolf or sometimes, The Howlin' Wolf, was an influential blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. Born in White Station near West Point, Mississippi, he was named after Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States, and was nicknamed Big Foot and Bull Cow in his early years because of his massive size. He explained the origin of the name Howlin' Wolf thus: "I got that from my grandfather [John Jones]. He used to tell him stories about the wolves in that part of the country" and warn him that if he misbehaved, they would "get him"
According to the documentary film The Howlin' Wolf Story, Howlin' Wolf's parents broke up when he was young. His very religious mother Gertrude threw him out of the house for refusing to work around the farm while still a child; he then moved in with his uncle, Will Young, who treated him badly. When he was 13, he ran away and walked 85 miles 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 his home town to see his mother again, but was driven to tears when she rebuffed him and refused to take any money he offered her, saying it was from his playing the "Devil's music".
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Music/Travelin': The Howlin’ Wolf Story - By Ron Brown
Nice little piece on Howlin' Wolf and Richard Ramsey's Howlin' Wolf Blues Society of West Point, Mississippi. Help keep the American Delta history alive for future generations.
Here's the contact info. And if ya can, make a donation:
The Howlin' Wolf Blues Society of West Point, MS. Inc.
P.O. Box 1334
West Point, MS. 39773
Fax: (662) 495-2007
tel: (662) 494-2921
email: rramsey@wpms.net
Also check out the city of West Point, Mississippi's website for more info: http://www.wpnet.org/About_HWblues.htm
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