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Roots Of Heavy Metal
When you talk about the anger and ferocity of Rock,you begin (and some say end) with the raw-throated Chester Burnett the huliking guitarist and bandleader more popularly (and fittingly) known as the Howlin' Wolf. The Wofl was born on a Mississippi plantation where he learned how to play guitar from Chalie Patton, an exemplary Delta Blues musician (see R & R Hist. 1). He then attempted to fit a brand of country yodeling to his haunting one-chord modal riffs. But his harsh, raspy voice never mastered the yodel technique and the blues singer earned a series of nichnames for his distintive style, which included "Bull Crow," "Foot" and "The Wolf." "I just stuck to Wofl. I could do no yodelin' so I turned to Howlin',"remembered Brunett. He then perfected his raspy blues over the next two decades, travelling across the Delta and playing with legendary blues artists of the area such as Robert Johnson and Rice Miller (also known as Sonny Boy William II). In 1948 Wolf plugged his Delta blues into electric amplifier and four years later joined the exodus to Chicago where he met up with Muddy Waters and joined Chess Records, the premiere blues label of the time.
A rivalry began to develop between Waters and Wolf, who quickly established himself among the Chicago R & B crowd. Songwriter Willie Dixon would write songs specifically each man, but matters rarely turned out to be so simple. "When I first started giving them songs," remembers Dixon, "nobody ever wanted the song you gave them. So i found out i had to use a little psychology on 'em. Since Wolf and Muddy both seemed to think that i was giving them the wrong songs, all I'd have to do is go to Wolf and say, 'Hey, man, now here's a song i made for Muddy. "Then dixon imitates Wolf's fierce manner: "Oh, man, how come you give Muddy the best songs?' And Muddy would say the same thing about Wolf!"
The Wolf scored a series of hits with Dixon's songs and traditional blues standards that would influence the course of rock & roll. His calling card, 'Moanin' At Midnight', and 'Killing Ground' were later recorded by Jimi Hendrix, 'How Many More Years' became Led Zepplin's 'How Many More Times', 'I Ain't Superstitious' was covered by Jeff Beck, 'Smokestack Lightinin' by the Yardbirds and 'Little Red Roster' by the Roling Stones and the doors. (You might want to check out a recent HMV release in which Howlin' Wolf is joined by Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts, entitled- London Sessions.)
The wolf, his music bristling with pounding rhythms and burning, fuzz-inflected guitar parts, never achieved the same degree of success as artists he has influenced such as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and robbie Robertson. Mikal Gilmore of Rolling Stone magazine explains why : "Listen of Wolf undulate 'Evil', or catch a video of one of his old performances where he's rolling around on the floor, bellowing out his rage and pain and you'll understand that in the end, Howling' Wolf was just too damn scary for mass affection."
So here's to the original metal maniac may his howl continue to ring through the night.
