by Steven Gomez

Created on: January 02, 2011   Last Updated: January 04, 2011

Chester "Howlin' Wolf" Burnett, one of the great pioneers of American blues, came from a humble farm life in the Deep South and built an incredible blues music career from scratch outside of the growing U.S. record industry, to the point where his talent did more for the record labels than the labels did for his fame.  By the time Howlin' Wolf signed with a record label he was already famous throughout the South and had top players in the blues scene coming to him, rather than the other way around.  The Howlin' Wolf's innovative vocals, guitar and harmonica play helped shaped the blues sound that music lovers around the world have long since grown to love, and though the Howlin' Wolf himself may not necessarily be remembered, his legacy lives on forever in the sound of blues music everywhere.

Chester Burnett was born in White Station, MS on June 10, 1910.  His parents split up while he was young and his mother soon booted him from the house for laziness around the farm, never have a relationship with her son again.  Chester boarded with but ran away from his ill-behaved uncle and eventually joined his father, with whom he grew up.

As a young adult Chester got to know blues musician Charley Patton, who taught him the guitar and the stage skills of a blues musician.  Soon Chester was cutting his teeth playing shows with Patton and developed the persona that produced his most famous nickname, Howlin' Wolf.  The Howlin' Wolf grew his fame playing blues shows throughout the Deep South before World War II called him into the Army in 1941.

Fortunately for the Wolf's music career, the military and Chester Burnett never meshed.  Burnett was discharged in 1943 without ever having left the United States.  Chester returned home and performed once again while helping out on his father's farm, eventually forming a band and performing regularly on the radio station KWEM in West Memphis, AR.

Chester's radio and continuing live performance work eventually caught the eye of Sam Phillips at Memphis Recording Service, who signed Howlin' Wolf on in 1951 and soon had labels competing for his musical services.  Chess Records soon won Burnett's contract signature and the performer migrated to the label's home base in Chicago, where he formed a new improved band whose lineup fluctuated as time went on.  Howlin' Wolf soon had singles on the Billboard R&B charts like "How Many More Years" and "Moanin' at Midnight" that soon compiled a

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