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Hubert Sumlin
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rwalker
Dec 5, 2011, 1:21:36 AM12/5/11
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Well, with all the talk about who is the greatest guitarist, here is
some relevant news (reposted from alt.obituaries):
Bluesman Hubert Sumlin, guitarist for Howlin' Wolf, dies at 80
Photo:
http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/252/95695.gif
FROM: The Chicago Sun-Times ~
By Dave Hoekstra, Staff Reporter
Hubert Sumlin put the bite behind Howlin' Wolf.
And he then influenced a new pack of electric blues and rock
guitarists.
Mr. Sumlin died Sunday in a hospital in Wayne, N.J., reportedly of
heart
failure. He had turned 80 on Nov. 16. Mr. Sumlin was best known as
lead
guitarist for Howlin' Wolf (Chester Burnett) from 1953 until Wolf's
death in
1976.
This was no small feat. The combustible guitar parts in Wolf's
big-voiced
tracks - "Smokestack Lightning," "Spoonful," "Ain't Superstitious" -
set
Wolf on fire at Sun Records in Memphis and later at Chess Records in
Chicago.
The 1953 summit of Mr. Sumlin and Wolf was to blues what the meeting
of
Scotty Moore and Elvis Presley was to rock just a year later.
In the current issue of Rolling Stone, Mr. Sumlin is ranked 43rd on
the
magazine's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. Led
Zeppelin's
Jimmy Page told the magazine, "I love Hubert Sumlin. He always played
the
right thing at the right time."
Mr. Sumlin's menacing lead on Wolf's "Killing Floor" inspired Jimi
Hendrix
to sit in with Eric Clapton during a 1967 London gig. It would be the
only
time Clapton and Hendrix would play together.
Stevie Ray Vaughan was a fan. In the early 1980s Vaughan gave Mr.
Sumlin a
vintage Rickenbacker guitar, one that Mr. Sumlin loved so much he was
afraid
to take out of his house.
Born in Greenwood, Miss., Mr. Sumlin was part of the great blues
migration
to Chicago. He and Burnett arrived in Chicago in 1953. Mr. Sumlin had
been
playing with James Cotton in West Memphis, and Burnett hired him in
Chicago.
"We were playing Silvio's [at Lake and Oakley], and he said, 'You go
home
when you find out you've got my courage, then you can come back and
play my
songs,' " Mr. Sumlin told me in a 1988 interview from his South Side
home.
"Man, I got home and cried all night. I slept with my guitar by my
head.
Then about 4 o'clock in the morning something said, 'Hey man, why
don't you
put the [guitar] picks down. You ain't got no business using picks!"
At that moment, Mr. Sumliln said, he discovered his own style, which
evolved
into an individualistic mix of African syncopation and itemized
structure
that forced the notes to stand alone. Clapton once called Mr. Sumlin's
style
"just the weirdest."
Chicago blues guitarist Dave Specter began playing with Mr. Sumlin in
1985.
Wolf and Paul Butterfield drummer Sam Lay had hired Specter to join
him and
Mr. Sumlin on a three-week tour of Canada. Specter was 22 years old.
"Hubert was just the sweetest guy and very encouraging and supportive
of
younger players," Specter said on Sunday. "I wouldn't use 'tough' as
an
adjective for his playing. He had a totally unique sound. When you
listen to
his famous solos on [Wolf's] 'Hidden Charms' or '300 Pounds of
Heavenly Joy'
[later a hit for Chicago's Big Twist and the Mellow Fellows], there is
so
much style to it. A lot of it had to do with his touch and playing
with his
fingers. There are lot of guitar players who played with their fingers
and
had a more aggressive approach, like Albert Collins. Your sound and
your
tone is a reflection of your personality.
"And Hubert had larger-than-life charm and devilishness."
In recent years Mr. Sumlin relocated from Chicago and then Milwaukee
to
Totowa, N.J. Specter last saw Mr. Sumlin in 2009, when he was touring
with
the Nighthawks and they appeared at S.P.A.C.E., the popular Evanston
music
room that Specter co-owns. .
In 2010 young guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Mr. Sumlin received a
best
contempoary blues album Grammy nomination for "Live! in Chicago." Mr.
Sumlin
was also nominated for Grammys in 1998, 1999 and 2005 in best
traditional
blues album categories. He never won.
Mr. Sumlin's patience likely came from his years of traveling with
Burnett.
"Once we were on the road for three months and I had to drive because
Eddie
Shaw [the saxophonist who became Wolf's bandleader] wasn't with us,"
Mr.
Sumlin said in 1988. "I had to set up the instruments, load the
instruments.
And nobody would help with nothin'. We were at Silvio's and we were
beat. I
was sitting up at a table and the folks hadn't even walked in yet.
Wolf was
tired and just hauled off and hit me. I hit him back. We both knocked
each
other's teeth out. And the whiskey went upside the wall. I figure we
tore
down about $1,800 or $1,900 worth of whiskey displays.
"Yes sir."
Mr. Sumlin had been scheduled to appear at last summer's Chicago Blues
Festival with David "Honeyboy" Edwards in a tribute to Robert Johnson.
They
canceled their appearences due to health issues. Edwards died at age
95 on
Aug. 29.
Mr. Sumlin had a lung removed in 2004 and last year appeared at the
Crossroads Guitar Festival with his oxygen tank. Earlier this year the
New
York Times reported that Keith Richards was assisting Mr. Sumlin with
his
medical bills. Richards was a guest on Mr. Sumlin's 2005
Grammy-nominated
"About Them Shoes."
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Smokestack Lightnin'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71YsuipBSn0
Killing Floor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tEVB-t04OU
w/Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughn
some relevant news (reposted from alt.obituaries):
Bluesman Hubert Sumlin, guitarist for Howlin' Wolf, dies at 80
Photo:
http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/252/95695.gif
FROM: The Chicago Sun-Times ~
By Dave Hoekstra, Staff Reporter
Hubert Sumlin put the bite behind Howlin' Wolf.
And he then influenced a new pack of electric blues and rock
guitarists.
Mr. Sumlin died Sunday in a hospital in Wayne, N.J., reportedly of
heart
failure. He had turned 80 on Nov. 16. Mr. Sumlin was best known as
lead
guitarist for Howlin' Wolf (Chester Burnett) from 1953 until Wolf's
death in
1976.
This was no small feat. The combustible guitar parts in Wolf's
big-voiced
tracks - "Smokestack Lightning," "Spoonful," "Ain't Superstitious" -
set
Wolf on fire at Sun Records in Memphis and later at Chess Records in
Chicago.
The 1953 summit of Mr. Sumlin and Wolf was to blues what the meeting
of
Scotty Moore and Elvis Presley was to rock just a year later.
In the current issue of Rolling Stone, Mr. Sumlin is ranked 43rd on
the
magazine's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. Led
Zeppelin's
Jimmy Page told the magazine, "I love Hubert Sumlin. He always played
the
right thing at the right time."
Mr. Sumlin's menacing lead on Wolf's "Killing Floor" inspired Jimi
Hendrix
to sit in with Eric Clapton during a 1967 London gig. It would be the
only
time Clapton and Hendrix would play together.
Stevie Ray Vaughan was a fan. In the early 1980s Vaughan gave Mr.
Sumlin a
vintage Rickenbacker guitar, one that Mr. Sumlin loved so much he was
afraid
to take out of his house.
Born in Greenwood, Miss., Mr. Sumlin was part of the great blues
migration
to Chicago. He and Burnett arrived in Chicago in 1953. Mr. Sumlin had
been
playing with James Cotton in West Memphis, and Burnett hired him in
Chicago.
"We were playing Silvio's [at Lake and Oakley], and he said, 'You go
home
when you find out you've got my courage, then you can come back and
play my
songs,' " Mr. Sumlin told me in a 1988 interview from his South Side
home.
"Man, I got home and cried all night. I slept with my guitar by my
head.
Then about 4 o'clock in the morning something said, 'Hey man, why
don't you
put the [guitar] picks down. You ain't got no business using picks!"
At that moment, Mr. Sumliln said, he discovered his own style, which
evolved
into an individualistic mix of African syncopation and itemized
structure
that forced the notes to stand alone. Clapton once called Mr. Sumlin's
style
"just the weirdest."
Chicago blues guitarist Dave Specter began playing with Mr. Sumlin in
1985.
Wolf and Paul Butterfield drummer Sam Lay had hired Specter to join
him and
Mr. Sumlin on a three-week tour of Canada. Specter was 22 years old.
"Hubert was just the sweetest guy and very encouraging and supportive
of
younger players," Specter said on Sunday. "I wouldn't use 'tough' as
an
adjective for his playing. He had a totally unique sound. When you
listen to
his famous solos on [Wolf's] 'Hidden Charms' or '300 Pounds of
Heavenly Joy'
[later a hit for Chicago's Big Twist and the Mellow Fellows], there is
so
much style to it. A lot of it had to do with his touch and playing
with his
fingers. There are lot of guitar players who played with their fingers
and
had a more aggressive approach, like Albert Collins. Your sound and
your
tone is a reflection of your personality.
"And Hubert had larger-than-life charm and devilishness."
In recent years Mr. Sumlin relocated from Chicago and then Milwaukee
to
Totowa, N.J. Specter last saw Mr. Sumlin in 2009, when he was touring
with
the Nighthawks and they appeared at S.P.A.C.E., the popular Evanston
music
room that Specter co-owns. .
In 2010 young guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Mr. Sumlin received a
best
contempoary blues album Grammy nomination for "Live! in Chicago." Mr.
Sumlin
was also nominated for Grammys in 1998, 1999 and 2005 in best
traditional
blues album categories. He never won.
Mr. Sumlin's patience likely came from his years of traveling with
Burnett.
"Once we were on the road for three months and I had to drive because
Eddie
Shaw [the saxophonist who became Wolf's bandleader] wasn't with us,"
Mr.
Sumlin said in 1988. "I had to set up the instruments, load the
instruments.
And nobody would help with nothin'. We were at Silvio's and we were
beat. I
was sitting up at a table and the folks hadn't even walked in yet.
Wolf was
tired and just hauled off and hit me. I hit him back. We both knocked
each
other's teeth out. And the whiskey went upside the wall. I figure we
tore
down about $1,800 or $1,900 worth of whiskey displays.
"Yes sir."
Mr. Sumlin had been scheduled to appear at last summer's Chicago Blues
Festival with David "Honeyboy" Edwards in a tribute to Robert Johnson.
They
canceled their appearences due to health issues. Edwards died at age
95 on
Aug. 29.
Mr. Sumlin had a lung removed in 2004 and last year appeared at the
Crossroads Guitar Festival with his oxygen tank. Earlier this year the
New
York Times reported that Keith Richards was assisting Mr. Sumlin with
his
medical bills. Richards was a guest on Mr. Sumlin's 2005
Grammy-nominated
"About Them Shoes."
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Smokestack Lightnin'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71YsuipBSn0
Killing Floor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tEVB-t04OU
w/Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughn
rwalker
Dec 5, 2011, 1:24:56 AM12/5/11
to
marcuscp
Dec 5, 2011, 6:30:15 AM12/5/11
to
> w/Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughn
Great player, killer sound.
http://youtu.be/Xvw7VGBWU8w
Just Walkin'
Dec 7, 2011, 3:51:50 PM12/7/11
to
> w/Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughn
>
Hope his family gets some downstream benefit for his contributions.
>
Lucky to have seen him on the Experience Hendrix Tour.
Catch the Masters now; they're goin' fast...
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