Chester Arthur Burnett, better known by his stage name Howlin’ Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade career, he recorded in genres such as blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and psychedelic rock.
Howlin’ Wolf was born on June 10, 1910, in White Station, Mississippi, to Gertrude Jones and Leon “Dock” Burnett. He would later say that his father was “Ethiopian”, while Jones had Choctaw ancestry on her father’s side. He was named for Chester A. Arthur, the 21st President of the United States. His physique garnered him the nicknames “Big Foot Chester” and “Bull Cow” as a young man: he was 6 feet 3 inches 191 cm tall and often weighed close to 300 pounds 136 kg.
The name “Howlin’ Wolf” originated from Burnett’s maternal grandfather, John Jones, who would admonish him for killing his grandmother’s chicks from reckless squeezing by warning him that wolves in the area would come and get him; the family would continue this by calling Burnett “the Wolf”. The blues historian Paul Oliver wrote that Burnett once claimed to have been given his nickname by his idol Jimmie Rodgers.
Where did Howlin’ Wolf go to college and high school?
Howlin’ Wolf moved in with his great-uncle Will Young, who had a large household and treated him badly. While in the Young household, he worked almost all day and did not receive an education at the schoolhouse. When he was thirteen, he killed one of Young’s hogs in a rage after the hog had caused him to ruin his dress clothes; this enraged Young who then whipped him while chasing him on a mule. He then ran away and claimed to have walked 85 miles 137 km barefoot to join his father, where he finally found a happy home with his father’s large family.
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