Biography reveals Howlin' Wolf's blues story
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There's a picture in "Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf" that captures the famous bluesman onstage in Seattle. It's taken at Sicks' Stadium in 1975; Wolf's show was one of the last concerts at the Rainier Valley landmark. The bluesman was seriously ill by then, and not in his prime, but the striking photo of Wolf, his huge finger pointing in the air, illustrates the power that this extraordinary singer had to tell a story with his music — he could do more with one gesture than many singers do with a song.
The Sicks' Stadium photo also captures the theme of this book by James Segrest and Seattle writer Mark Hoffman: the oversized life of this underappreciated blues giant. Everything about Wolf was just a little greater than other blues artists: his fingers; his deep voice; his huge physical presence (complete with size-17 feet); his catalog of classic songs like "Moanin' at Midnight" and "Smokestack Lightning"; and, sadly, the tragic arc of his life, which truly reads like the blues incarnate.
Segrest and Hoffman have surely written what will be the definitive story of Wolf's life. Based on more than 250 interviews and 10 years of research, the authors have detailed every nuance of Wolf's life and career, and touch on virtually every musician who ever shared a stage with Chester Burnett, better known as Howlin' Wolf. The level of their research, which tells the complete story of Wolf's childhood, displays the kind of scholarship usually reserved for academics.
Wolf's life closely parallels that of Muddy Waters, himself recently the subject of an excellent biography by Robert Gordon. And though both performers grew up in crushing poverty, Wolf's history is harder to read, mainly because he suffered more abuse and he had fewer moments of elation where he rose above his circumstance. While fame saved Waters, success didn't cure the physical and emotional problems that were Wolf's bane in life. In one heartbreaking passage, the authors detail how as a teen Wolf was "underfed by his caretaker, [and] he would walk train tracks to scavenge scraps of food thrown out by railroad workers." Given this horrific life — which included neglect, violence, failed marriages, lost children — it comes as no surprise that Wolf was able to sing the blues with an extraordinary authenticity.
There is some reprieve when Wolf leaves the Delta ("Every day seems like murder here," Wolf said) and heads first to Memphis, where he encounters Sam Phillips, and later to Chicago, where he finds fame and a record deal with Chess Records. Segrest and Hoffman are most successful when they are explaining the genesis of Wolf's unique musical style. "The repressed rage, fear, and sadness in his Delta-drenched voice infused his music with astonishing power," they write in one of many beautiful passages.
"Moanin' At Midnight" is not without problems, though. The extensive research at times gets in the way of the story, with so many different observers commenting on Wolf that casual readers could get lost. The first eight pages of the book have 43 footnotes — impressive scholarship but a narrative distraction. Using such extensive source material helps paint a full picture of Wolf's life, but the writers might have done better to tell more of the story in their own words.
Still this book is essential for any fan of the Wolf, a man that even Muddy Waters was called to celebrate. "Some singers, they [are] cool," Muddy said. "They sing the words but it don't mean nothin'. They too nice to sweat! But Howlin' Wolf now, he works. He's a big man, and he's a real blues singer."
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