Howlin' Wolf
4,572,375 plays (417,274 listeners)
Born Chester Arthur Burnett on 10th June 1910 in White Station near West Point, Mississippi, he was nicknamed “Big Foot Chester” and “Bull Cow” in his early years, and he explained the origin of the name “Howlin’ Wolf” thus: “I got that from my grandfather. He used to tell me stories about the wolves in that part of the country.”
He survived a grim childhood and youth as a sharecropper in Mississippi. He began his career by playing and singing with the first Delta blues stars for two decades in juke joints. The How Many More Years Songfacts reports that by 1948, Howlin’ Wolf had established himself within the Memphis community as something of a local celebrity. The Chicago bluesman had a 15-minute radio show to help advertise his local appearances and he started recording in 1951, after Sun Studio founder, Sam Phillips, heard him on his radio show. The first two songs that Wolf laid down were this track, along with “Moanin’ At Midnight,” on August 15, 1951.
He was present at the birth of rock ‘n’ roll in Memphis, where Sam Phillips - who also discovered Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis - called Wolf his “greatest discovery”. Wolf helped define the sound of electric blues and vied with rival Muddy Waters as the king of Chicago blues.
Top Albums
-
Box_Disc 2 (1955 - 1962)
Howlin' Wolf
Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
-
His Best
Howlin' Wolf
Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes
- Buy Album
- Amazon $50.99
- eBay Search
-
The Chess Box, Disc 3, 1963 - 1973
Howlin' Wolf
Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
-
Smokestack Lightening
Howlin' Wolf
Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
Videos
-
Play
Don't Laugh at Me
2 shouts
-
Play
Smokestack Lightning
1 shout
-
Play
Howlin' Wolf
-
Play
Howlin Wolf I Asked For Water…
Listening Now
Top Listeners
-
anevenstrobe
Top Listener
-
fkristiansen
Top Listener
-
yesterdaystrash
Top Listener
-
kmk1503
Top Listener
More Information
- Links
- Labels
Email Newsletter
Get exclusive tour, release & promotion updates on Howlin' Wolf from Universal Music.

















