Hubert Sumlin

Hubert Sumlin was born on November 16, 1931, in Greenwood, Mississippi, and raised in Hughes, Arkansas. He was taken by the great blues players he heard—Charlie Patton, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, Lonnie Johnson, Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie McTell and Son House.

When Sumlin was about 10, he sneaked out to the local juke joint and stood on a pile of Coca Cola crates to see Howlin’ Wolf. Drawn in by the music, he fell through the window and landed right on the stage. The club owner tried to throw out the underage boy, but Wolf insisted that Sumlin stay and sit on the stage while he played. He later took Sumlin home to his mother and asked that he not be punished. Years later, Wolf invited Sumlin to join his band, bringing him to Chicago in 1954.

It is on Howlin’ Wolf’s early- to mid-‘60s recordings for Chess Records that Sumlin’s guitar playing crossed the line between impressive and legendary with such tracks as “Built For Comfort,” “Shake For Me,” “300 Pounds of Joy,” “Louise,” “Goin’ Down Slow,” “Killing Floor” and “Wang Dang Doodle.”

Sumlin is credited as a major influence by many artists, including Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix.