He got this name because he howled like a wild wolf: Who is Howlin' Wolf?

The artist, whose real name was Chester Arthur Burnett, was born into poverty on June 10, 1910, in White Station, a small railroad station between Aberdeen and West Point in the mountainous region of Mississippi, miles from the Delta.

Born as one of six children of his father Leon "Dock" Burnett and his mother Gertrude Jones, Chester took his name from Chester A Arthur, the 21st President of the United States. The nickname "Howling Wolf" was given to him by Burnett's maternal grandfather, John Jones. While Burnett was petting his grandmother's chicks, he squeezed them so hard he almost killed them, and his grandfather told him that if he kept up that way, the wolves would come and get him.

Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He 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. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time.

Burnett's parents separated when Chester was one year old. His father, Dock, who worked as a daily seasonal farm worker in the Mississippi Delta, settled in the Delta permanently when he separated from his wife. Chester, who stayed in White Station with his mother, Gertrude, began singing in the choir at the White Station Baptist church, where his extremely harsh great-uncle Will Young preached, at his mother's urging. After a while, his mother left Chester with his uncle Will, who constantly treated him badly. A childhood friend said Will Young was "the meanest man between here and hell." Chester moved in with his uncle Will Young, who had a big house, but he never loved his uncle and spent the most troubled times of his life with him. While he was with his uncle, he could not go to school because he worked all day. When he was thirteen, he killed one of his uncle's pigs in anger because the pig had caused his clothes to be ruined. This made his uncle very angry and he punished him with a whip.

Chester, who was constantly subjected to violence by his uncle, often looked with envy at the steam trains near the stations he visited and the people getting on the train with suitcases in their hands and dreamed of one day escaping from these places with these trains and going to big cities. Just like the railway, steam trains and stations, which became symbols of escape for the blues, were ingrained in his mind even at that age, as a child. Chester was greatly influenced by the songs he heard around him as a child. While playing on the street and walking around, he would often hit the canisters with a stick and imitate the whistles of the trains as if accompanying the songs of the railway workers working nearby.

As Chester grew older, his relationships with both his uncle and his mother began to become problematic. He didn't have a regular job, he was constantly listening to new music here and there, and in fact, he not only listened to it but also imitated it and sang it. His voice was impressive and loud, but what he said could not be understood very well, and he was making aggressive movements while saying it. His mother was a devout Catholic who tried to make a living by selling handwritten Bible songs to passers-by on the streets. In an argument where the tension between the two became very high, he disowned his son, Chester, accusing him of listening to 'The Devil's Music'. This event was a turning point for Chester. After his mother's behavior, he had no reason to stay here anymore. This incident, which he experienced in his childhood and caused deep wounds in his soul, would cause Wolf to be cautious throughout his life.

At the age of 13, Chester made a self-made decision that day and ran away from his uncle to return to his father and half-siblings who lived on the Young and Morrow farm near Ruleville. He walked 137 km barefoot to go to his father. Finally, he was with his father in Delta. Chester was greatly influenced by local blues musicians, especially the Delta's first great blues star, Charley Patton, who lived on the nearby Dockery Plantation.

When his father bought him his first guitar in January 1928, he convinced Patton to give him guitar lessons. He later took improvised harmonica lessons from Sonnyboy Williamson II, who was with his half-sister Mary. He learned to sing by listening to the music of his idols Blind Lemon Jefferson, Tommy Johnson, Mississippi Sheiks, Jimmie "the Singing Brakeman" Rodgers, Lonnie Johnson, and Blind Blake. He was even impressed by the clothes and appearance of some of them. For a while, he tried to emulate them by wearing small wire-rimmed glasses and a dark suit that resembled the only known photograph of Blind Lemon Jefferson. When not working on his father's farm, Sonnyboy toured the Delta with musicians such as Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, and Willie Brown, and eventually began his solo career in the Deep South. He played with other important blues musicians of the period and after a while, he made a name for himself in Delta.

Chester's voice has always been incredibly deep and impressive ever since he started singing in his uncle's church. He had a voice that was huge and natural, like Charlie Patton's, but even stronger. He learned to play the guitar and the blues harp simultaneously, using a harp mounted on a platform. His stage presence was harsh and aggressive. Standing 1.90 cm tall, with big feet, and weighing 125 kg, he looked scary. In fact, John Shines, who traveled with Robert Johnson, said of Wolf, "I was afraid. He spoke as if he were a wild animal."

Chester Burnett was drafted into the U.S. Army on April 9, 1941, after plantation workers in the Delta alerted military authorities because he refused to work in the fields, and was assigned to various bases across the country. He was assigned to the 9th Cavalry Regiment, which became famous for being one of the units nicknamed "Buffalo Troopers". Burnett was then sent to Fort Gordon in Georgia. Young James Brown, who came to Fort almost every day, shined shoes during the day and earned money by singing in clubs and performing different shows at night. It was here that Burnett saw it for the first time and was amazed. Burnett was then sent to a training camp in Tacoma, Washington. Here he was responsible for deciphering communications codes, but since Burnett had no formal training, he was repeatedly subjected to violence by the drill instructor for his lack of reading and writing. After what he experienced with his uncle, being subjected to violence was no longer an acceptable situation for him. He soon began having uncontrollable bouts of shaking, dizziness, and fainting spells, as well as mental confusion. Wolf suffered a severe nervous breakdown in 1943 and was soon discharged from the army. He moved to a house in Tennessee with his girlfriend. In 1945, he had a violent argument with his girlfriend, and this time, his girlfriend had a nervous breakdown as a result of the argument and was hospitalized. After this incident, Wolf could not stay in Tennessee any longer, and in the spring he returned to his farm to help his father in his work, to the Delta, where he once again felt like he belonged. Always busy with his guitar, Wolf began touring the South towards the end of the year. He started playing in local venues with Delta Blues musicians such as Willie Brown and Son House, whom he met there.

In 1948 Wolf moved to West Memphis, Arkansas. There he formed a band with harmonica players James Cotton and Junior Parker and guitarists Pat Hare, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, and Willie Johnson. While he was making music with his band in small clubs, he also found a job in a program playing blues at the KWEM radio station.

In 1951, Ike Turner, a talent scout, heard Howlin' Wolf in West Memphis. Turner introduced him to Sam Phillips at Memphis Recording Service, which later became Sun Records, and the Bihari brothers at Modern Records. Wolf recorded several songs here. Phillips described his singing with the following words: "God, what would it be worth to see the enthusiasm on that man's face when he sang? His eyes sparkled, veins appeared and he had nothing but that song on his mind. He literally sang with his soul."

Howlin' Wolf quickly became a well-known local artist.

Phillips, who absolutely appreciated his musical talent and later discovered legendary artists such as Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Charlie Rich, said that Wolf was actually his greatest discovery and that losing Wolf to Chiess was the biggest disappointment of his career. said that.

Howlin' Wolf recorded a series of songs written by Willie Dixon, who was hired as a songwriter by the Chess brothers in 1950. These records quickly became hits. Wolf, whose songs were popular, and Muddy Waters, who was very famous at that time, suddenly became two rival artists of the same record label. Over time, the rivalry between Wolf and Waters became more intense, but they both really needed each other and knew it.

In the 1950s, Howlin' Wolf had five songs on the Billboard national RB charts: "Moanin' At Midnight," "How Many More Years," "Who Will Be Next," "Smokestack Lightning" and "I Asked for Water." His first LP, "Moanin' in the Moonlight", was released in 1959. This album was a collection of previously released singles, which was standard practice at the time.

During the 1960s, Wolf recorded several songs that became his best-known works, although they received no radio airplay: "Wang Dang Doodle", "Back Door Man", "Spoonful", "The Red Rooster" (later renamed "Little Red Rooster" changed). So much so that many of the songs became a standard part of the repertoires of British and American rock bands, making them more popular. Howlin' Wolf's second compilation album, "Howlin' Wolf", was released in 1962. It was known for years as "The Rockin' Chair Album" because of its cover art.

During the blues revival of the 1960s, black blues musicians found a new audience among white youth, and Howlin' Wolf was among the first to benefit. Wolf went on tour to Europe for the first time in 1964, as part of the American Folk Blues Festival produced by German organizers Horst Lippmann and Fritz Rau. In 1965 he appeared on the popular television show Shindig. Howlin' Wolf, whose recording of "Little Red Rooster" reached number one in the UK in 1964, recorded albums with many artists in the late 1960s and early 1970s, at the insistence of the Rolling Stones.

Burnett's health began to fail in the late 1960s. He had his first heart attack in 1969 while traveling with Hubert Sumlin to a performance at the University of Chicago. He fell on the dashboard of the car he was riding in. Hubert Sumlin was driving and he immediately pulled over. He brought Burnett back to life by hitting Burnett's back with a piece of wood he found on the road. Three weeks later, while again in Toronto for a concert, Burnett experienced heart and kidney problems, but refused the surgery recommended by doctors and told his family he "had to keep working."

In 1970, Burnett was in a serious car accident that caused him to fly through the windshield, causing extensive body damage. He received dialysis treatments administered by his wife, Lillie, every three days for the rest of his life. In May of the same year, while he was in the United Kingdom to record “The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions,” health problems arose again. A year later, Burnett had another heart attack and his kidneys failed.

Despite his failing health, Howlin' Wolf stoically continued to record and perform.

The artist, who complained about constantly high blood pressure, did not care much and went on stage again in May 1973. The band's leader, Eddie Shaw, was so concerned about Burnett's health that he limited him to six songs per gig. Wolf's last public performance took place with fitting grandeur at the International Theater in Chicago in November 1975. Wolf shared the stage with blues legends such as BB King, Albert King, Luther Allison, and OV Wright. Wolf gave a great performance, even crawling off the stage during the song "Crawling King Snake", which ended with the audience giving him a standing ovation for several minutes. However, when he came off the stage after the concert ended, paramedics had to resuscitate him.

In January 1976, Burnett returned to Edward Hines Jr. in Illinois for kidney surgery. He applied to the hospital. Three days before his death, a tumor was detected in his brain. He died on January 10, 1976, at the age of 65, from a combination of tumor, heart failure, and kidney disease. He was buried in a small ceremony at Oakridge Cemetery outside Chicago, with a picture of a guitar and harmonica engraved on his tombstone.

Wolf was among the most influential blues musicians of the postwar years. He was one of the artists who paved the way for transforming the rural acoustic blues sound of the South into the electric, sharp, and more urban blues sounds of Chicago.