The life and times of Howlin' Wolf

100 years since the birth of a blues legend

Ed Mitchell, Thu 10 Jun 2010, 2:35 pm BST

Howlin' Wolf: live in Detroit in the 1960s (Image © Michael Ochs Archives/Corbis)

10 June 2010 would have been Howlin' Wolf's 100th birthday. Although he passed away in 1976, it's impossible to overstate the importance of one of the most influential figures, not only in the evolution of the blues, but in 20th Century popular music as a whole.

Come let us celebrate the anniversary of a true music legend.

1910: A legend is born

Howlin' Wolf was born on 10 June 1910 in White Station, Mississippi. He's still the town's only claim to fame…

… and you thought Howlin' Wolf was his real name. He was in fact born Chester Arthur Burnett. His parents, Leon 'Dock' Burnett and Gertrude Jones, named their boy after Chester Alan Arthur, the 21st president of the United States who had campaigned for the rights of slaves in New York City.

It was Chester's grandfather, John Jones, that kicked off the whole 'Wolf' nickname. He would tell his grandson that the big bad wolf would get him if he misbehaved. When he did cross the line his family would chase after him making howling wolf sounds. The name stuck…

His childhood hero was Jimmie Rodgers. Also known as the Singing Brakeman, the Blue Yodeler and the Father of Country Music, Rodgers sang white boy blues before they called it country.

Wolf was a big lad. At his, er, height he stood six feet threeinches tall in his stockinged feet and weighed almost 300 pounds. You would not want to spill his pint.

Wolf's mother was a real piece of work. She threw him out of the house when he was still a cub, forcing him to hike barefoot over frozen ground to his great uncle Will Young's house many miles away. Turns out it was your classic frying pan/fire scenario as Young was no picnic either... he was once described as 'the meanest man between here and hell.'

At the height of his success Wolf tried to reconcile with his mother. Offering her money, she took the cash and stamped it into the ground. She didn't want anything to do with his 'Devil music.' Lovely…

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