Howlin Wolf

HOWLIN' WOLF (CHESTER ARTHUR BURNETT) d1976. American blues-singer, guitarist and harmonica player better known as "Howlin Wolf". With his booming voice and looming physical presence, he is commonly ranked amongst the leading performers ever in electric blues. Musician and critic Cub Coda declared ; "no one could match Howlin' Wolf for his singular ability to rock the house down to the foundation while simultaneously scaring its patrons out of its wits....". A number of songs written by him have become blues standards including classics ; "Smokestack Lightnin" / "Back Door Man" / "Killing Floor" and "Spoonful".  At 6.5 feet (198 cm) and close to 300 pounds (136 kg), he was an imposing presence with one of the loudest and most memorable voices of all the "classic" 1950s Chicago blues singers. This rough-edged, slightly fearsome musical style is often contrasted with the less crude, but still powerful presentation of his contemporary and professional rival Muddy Walters. Howlin' Wolf / Sonny Boy Williamson / Little Walter and Muddy Waters are usually regarded in retrospect as the greatest blues artists who recorded for Chess in Chicago. Sam Phillips once remarked ; "When I heard Howlin' Wolf, I said, 'This is for me. This is where the soul of man never dies". Howlin Wolf suffered with poor health in the 1970s, suffering several heart attacks and kidney problems, following a car accident in 1970. He died in Illinois of kidney disease aged 65 on January 10th 1976. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him No51 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time"