Just wanted to recommend a well-written, insightful book about Howlin Wolf, Moanin At Midnight by James Segrest and Mark Hoffman. It's quite a story with lots of details. Like the repeated abandonments, losses and abuse Chester Arthur Burnett not only survived but in many ways overcame. And it helped me understand more Blues and Rock history because Wolf played with so many of the early greats who passed way before him...and how he went on to his big revival in the 1960s and 70s. Supported by The Stones, Beatles, Rory Gallagher, Eric Clapton, and these days touted by Jack White, Dan Auerbach...just about every musician you care to name.
Actually this is my second reading; and don't want to bore anyone, but for those of you who might have some curiosity about psychological nuance...Today, behavioral science tells us Wolf more likely would have become a sociopath than the dignified, respected, albeit seriously flawed man he was. More likely he'd have been left with mistrust and no empathy or conscience. But there were just enough nurturers & protectors in his infancy & early childhood; so he did have just enough ability to trust to get along pretty well. Instead of sociopathy, he had what's now understood as a Disorder of Attachment and Complex Developmental Trauma. Reading about his Army experience displays this dramatically.
Great history.
Doug
MOANIN AT MIDNIGHT, Howlin Wolf Biography
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