6/27/2023 0 Comments Howling wolf![]() Wolf: "The first piece I ever played in my life was a tune about hook up my pony and saddle up my black mare." He learns his first song, Charley Patton's Pony Blues. Not only did Patton teach Wolf guitar he taught him about showmanship: "When he played his guitar, he would turn it over backwards and forwards, and throw it around over his shoulders, between his legs, throw it up in the sky," said Wolf of his tutor years later. Howlin' Wolf was mentored by Delta bluesman Charley Patton. It's a date that Wolf never forgot til the day he died. Thanks to a great crop the year before Wolf has the money to buy his first guitar. According to Ted Gioia's excellent book Delta Blues, in the '20s, Wolf was also known as John D, Foots, Bigfoot, Buford, Bullcow or John D. ![]() Howlin' Wolf was not Chester's only nom de plume. He settles down to a life of hard graft in the fields. She didn't want anything to do with his 'Devil music.' Lovely… Next: Time to buy a guitar… 1920s: First guitar bought…Īt the age of 13 Wolf runs away from his uncle Will Young's place and eventually finds his father. Offering her money, she took the cash and stamped it into the ground. he was once described as 'the meanest man between here and hell.'Īt the height of his success Wolf tried to reconcile with his mother. Turns out it was your classic frying pan/fire scenario as Young was no picnic either. She threw him out of the house when he was still a cub, forcing him to hike barefoot over frozen ground to his great uncle Will Young's house many miles away. At his, er, height he stood six feet threeinches tall in his stockinged feet and weighed almost 300 pounds. Also known as the Singing Brakeman, the Blue Yodeler and the Father of Country Music, Rodgers sang white boy blues before they called it country. When he did cross the line his family would chase after him making howling wolf sounds. He would tell his grandson that the big bad wolf would get him if he misbehaved. It was Chester's grandfather, John Jones, that kicked off the whole 'Wolf' nickname.
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