35 Facts About Howlin' Wolf

Chester Arthur Burnett, better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player.

Howlin' Wolf 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.

Howlin' Wolf is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time.

Howlin' Wolf died on January 10,1976, after years of deteriorating health.

In 1980, Howlin' Wolf was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, and in 1991, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Howlin' Wolf later said that his father was "Ethiopian", while Jones had Choctaw ancestry on her father's side.

Howlin' Wolf 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.

Howlin' Wolf moved in with his granduncle Will Young, who had a large household and treated him badly.

Howlin' Wolf then ran away and claimed to have walked 85 miles barefoot to join his father, where he finally found a happy home with his father's large family.

Howlin' Wolf would listen to Patton play nightly from outside a nearby juke joint.

Howlin' Wolf 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".

Howlin' Wolf played with Patton often in small Delta communities and would perform the guitar tricks he learned from him for the rest of his life.

Howlin' Wolf's harmonica playing was modeled after that of Sonny Boy Williamson II, who taught him how to play when Burnett moved to Parkin, Arkansas, in 1933.

Howlin' Wolf was assigned to the 9th Cavalry Regiment, which was famous for being one of the units dubbed "Buffalo Soldiers".

Howlin' Wolf returned to his family, which had recently moved near West Memphis, Arkansas, and helped with the farming while performing, as he had done in the 1930s, with Floyd Jones and others.

In Chicago, Howlin' Wolf assembled a new band and recruited the Chicagoan Jody Williams from Memphis Slim's band as his first guitarist.

Howlin' Wolf was able to attract some of the best musicians available because of his policy, unusual among bandleaders, of paying his musicians well and on time, even including their unemployment insurance and Social Security contributions.

Howlin' Wolf had a series of hits with songs written by Willie Dixon, who had been hired by the Chess brothers in 1950 as a songwriter.

Howlin' Wolf toured Europe in 1964 as part of the American Folk Blues Festival, produced by the German promoters Horst Lippmann and Fritz Rau.

The Howlin' Wolf Album had psychedelic rock and free-jazz musicians like Gene Barge, Pete Cosey, Roland Faulkner, Morris Jennings, Louis Satterfield, Charles Stepney and Phil Upchurch.

Howlin' Wolf reportedly gave an "unforgettable" performance, even crawling across the stage during the song, "Crawling King Snake".

Howlin' Wolf is among the most influential blues musicians of the postwar years.

Howlin' Wolf was at the forefront of transforming the rural acoustic blues of the South, to the electric, more urban blues of Chicago.

When Howlin' 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 Howlin' Wolf switched guitarists and added Hubert Sumlin to his lineup, his sound became less aggressive with Sumlin adding "angular riffing" and "wild soloing".

Howlin' Wolf adopted the backbeat that Chicago blues was mainly known for.

Howlin' Wolf played a 1965 Epiphone Casino on his musical tour in Europe, a Fender Coronado, a Gibson Firebird V in the "Down in the Bottom" video recorded in 1966, a white Fender Stratocaster, a Teisco Tre-100, and he played a Kay K-161 ThinTwin in his earlier years.

Howlin' Wolf suffered his first heart attack in 1969 as he and Hubert Sumlin were traveling to a show at University of Chicago.

Howlin' Wolf fell against the dashboard of the car he was riding in, and Sumlin, who was driving, pulled over and grabbed a two-by-four piece of wood that was lying in the road.

Howlin' Wolf died from a combination of the tumor, heart failure, and kidney disease on January 10,1976, at the age of 65.

Howlin' Wolf was buried in Oakridge Cemetery, outside Chicago, in a plot in Section 18, on the east side of the road.

Howlin' Wolf's gravestone has an image of a guitar and harmonica etched into it.

In 1972, Howlin' Wolf was awarded an honorary doctor of arts degree from Columbia College in Chicago.

In 1999, Howlin' Wolf's recording of "Smokestack Lightning" was selected for a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, an award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old and have "qualitative or historical significance".