"When I heard Howlin' Wolf, I said, This is for me. This is where the soul of man never dies."-- Sam Phillips (Sun Records)
Born on a farm in Delta, Mississippi, Chester started playing guitar early, learning from local bluesman Charley Patton. In the '30s and '40s, he toured with Robert Johnson and Sonny Boy Williamson. Williamson was married to Wolf's step-sister and rumor has it that Wolf bugged him until he taught the young man how to play harmonica. After being stationed in Seattle during the Second World War, Wolf briefly returned to farming before continuing his musical career.
In 1945 Wolf moved to West Memphis and gained a reputation as a unique performer. Wolf was a big man (over six feet and more than 300 lbs) and was sometimes called "Bull Cow" or "Cow Foot" but it was his distinctive vocal style that eventually gave him his name. His loud moaning and howling over the music became his trademark style. His stage performance was unique in that he often acted out the songs he was singing.
He started his recording career at the Sun studio in Memphis in 1951 at the age of 40. His first record was "Moanin' At Midnight" backed with "How Many More Years." The record would eventually sell 60,000 copies. It was a huge hit by the standards of the time. By 1953, Wolf had moved to Chicago to work almost exclusively for Chess Records until his death in 1976. During his long career, Wolf played with many blues greats. Perhaps the one who had the most influence on his style was Willie Dixon. Dixon played bass and provided songs like "Little Red Rooster" and "Back Door Man." This resulted in a change in style from Wolf's Memphis days. The Mississippi style Honky Tonk blues was replaced by a harder "Chicago" sound. The change first became evident on Wolf's "No Place To Go" (1954). Although his music had many little changes as the years went by, the voice was always
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