Hubert Sumlin
Encyclopedia
Hubert Sumlin is an American
Chicago blues
and electric blues
guitarist
and singer, best known for his celebrated work, from 1955, as guitarist in Howlin' Wolf
's band. His singular playing is characterized by "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic suspensions". Listed as number sixty-five in the Rolling Stone
100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, Sumlin continues to tour and play blues guitar.
, United States
, Sumlin was raised in Hughes, Arkansas
. When he was six years old, he got his first guitar. As a boy, Sumlin first met Howlin' Wolf by sneaking into a performance. When Burnett relocated from Memphis to Chicago in 1953, his long-time guitarist Willie Johnson chose not to join him. Upon his arrival in Chicago, Wolf first hired Chicago guitarist Jody Williams
, and in 1954 Wolf invited Sumlin to relocate to Chicago to play second guitar in his Chicago-based band. Williams left the band in 1955, leaving Sumlin as the primary guitarist in Wolf's band, a position he held almost continuously (except for a brief spell playing with Muddy Waters
around 1956) for the remainder of Wolf's career. According to an interview cited in Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf by James Segrest and Mark Hoffman, Howlin' Wolf sent Sumlin to a classical guitar instructor at the Chicago Musical College
. Sumlin played on the album Howlin' Wolf
, also called The Rockin' Chair Album, which was named the third greatest guitar album of all time by Mojo
magazine in 2004.
Upon Wolf's death in 1976, Sumlin continued on with several other members of the late Burnett's band under the name "The Wolf Pack" until about 1980. Sumlin has also recorded under his own name, beginning with a session recorded while touring Europe with Burnett in 1964. His latest effort is About Them Shoes, released in 2004 by Tone-Cool Records. He underwent lung removal surgery in 2004. He performed at the Crossroads 2010 Guitar Festival with his oxygen tank.
Sumlin was inducted into the Blues Foundation
Hall of Fame in 1988. Sumlin was also a judge for the fifth annual Independent Music Awards
to support independent artists' careers.
guitar.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Chicago blues
Chicago blues
The Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois, by taking the basic acoustic guitar and harmonica-based Delta blues, making the harmonica louder with a microphone and an instrument amplifier, and adding electrically amplified guitar, amplified bass guitar, drums,...
and electric blues
Electric blues
Electric blues is a type of blues music distinguished by the amplification of the guitar, bass guitar, drums, and often the harmonica. Pioneered in the 1930s, it emerged as a genre in Chicago in the 1940s. It was taken up in many areas of America leading to the development of regional subgenres...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and singer, best known for his celebrated work, from 1955, as guitarist in Howlin' Wolf
Howlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
's band. His singular playing is characterized by "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic suspensions". Listed as number sixty-five in the Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, Sumlin continues to tour and play blues guitar.
Career
Born in Greenwood, MississippiGreenwood, Mississippi
Greenwood is a city in and the county seat of Leflore County, Mississippi, United States, located at the eastern edge of the Mississippi Delta approximately 96 miles north of Jackson, Mississippi, and 130 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. The population was 15,205 at the 2010 census. It is the...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Sumlin was raised in Hughes, Arkansas
Hughes, Arkansas
Hughes is a city in St. Francis County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 1,867 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Hughes is located at ....
. When he was six years old, he got his first guitar. As a boy, Sumlin first met Howlin' Wolf by sneaking into a performance. When Burnett relocated from Memphis to Chicago in 1953, his long-time guitarist Willie Johnson chose not to join him. Upon his arrival in Chicago, Wolf first hired Chicago guitarist Jody Williams
Jody Williams (blues musician)
Joseph Leon Williams , better known as Jody Williams, is an American blues guitarist and singer. His singular guitar playing, marked by flamboyant string-bending, imaginative chord changes and a distinctive tone, was influential in the Chicago blues scene of the 1950s.-Career:In the mid 1950s,...
, and in 1954 Wolf invited Sumlin to relocate to Chicago to play second guitar in his Chicago-based band. Williams left the band in 1955, leaving Sumlin as the primary guitarist in Wolf's band, a position he held almost continuously (except for a brief spell playing with Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
around 1956) for the remainder of Wolf's career. According to an interview cited in Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf by James Segrest and Mark Hoffman, Howlin' Wolf sent Sumlin to a classical guitar instructor at the Chicago Musical College
The Music Conservatory of Chicago College of Performing Arts
The Music Conservatory was founded in 1867 as the Chicago Musical College, a conservatory whose primary focus was the intensive and rigorous training of young men and women preparing for careers as professional musicians...
. Sumlin played on the album Howlin' Wolf
Howlin' Wolf (album)
Howlin' Wolf is the second album from Chicago blues singer/guitarist/harmonicist Howlin' Wolf. It is a collection of six singles previously released by the Chess label from 1960 through 1962...
, also called The Rockin' Chair Album, which was named the third greatest guitar album of all time by Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
magazine in 2004.
Upon Wolf's death in 1976, Sumlin continued on with several other members of the late Burnett's band under the name "The Wolf Pack" until about 1980. Sumlin has also recorded under his own name, beginning with a session recorded while touring Europe with Burnett in 1964. His latest effort is About Them Shoes, released in 2004 by Tone-Cool Records. He underwent lung removal surgery in 2004. He performed at the Crossroads 2010 Guitar Festival with his oxygen tank.
Sumlin was inducted into the Blues Foundation
Blues Foundation
The Blues Foundation is an American nonprofit corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, that is affiliated with more than 175 Blues organizations from various parts of the world....
Hall of Fame in 1988. Sumlin was also a judge for the fifth annual Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....
to support independent artists' careers.
Equipment
Sumlin has favored a Louis Electric Model HS M12 amplifier, and prefers his 1955 Gibson Les Paul GoldtopGibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
guitar.
Albums
| Year | Title | Label | Number | Notes |
| 1964 | American Folk Blues | Amiga | 850 043 | Germany |
| 1974 | Kings of Chicago Blues, Vol. 2 | Disques Vogue Disques Vogue Disques Vogue was founded in France in 1947, the same year that the USA Vogue closed shop. They originally specialized in jazz recordings, featuring such artists as Sidney Bechet, Django Reinhardt, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, and Errol Garner. In the late 1950s Vogue expanded into pop music,... |
LDM 30175 | France, recorded 1971 |
| 1976 | Groove | Black & Blue Black & Blue Records Black & Blue Records is a French record label specializing in swing jazz and blues.Black & Blue was founded in 1968, and in its early years concentrated on reissuing jazz that had been previously released on American labels. The label recorded Blues and Jazz musicians both in America and France and... |
33.511 | France, recorded 1975 |
| 1980 | Gamblin' Woman | L + R Horst Lippmann Horst Lippmann was a German jazz musician, concert promoter, writer and television director, best known as promoter of the influential American Folk Blues Festival tours of Europe during and after the 1960s.-Life:The son of a hotelier, Lippmann played drums in the illegal Frankfurter Hot Club in... |
42.008 | Germany, recorded 1980 |
| 1987 | Hubert Sumlin's Blues Party | Black Top Black Top Records Black Top Records was a New Orleans, Louisiana based independent record label founded in 1981 by brothers Nauman S. Scott, III and Hammond Scott. The label specialized in blues and R&B music. The first release was "Talk To You By Hand" by Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets... |
BT-1036 | US |
| 1989 | Heart & Soul | Blind Pig Blind Pig Records Blind Pig Records is an American blues record label.Blind Pig was formed in 1977 in Ann Arbor, Michigan by Jerry Del Giudice, owner of the Blind Pig Cafe, and his friend Edward Chmelewski. The label is now based in San Francisco... |
BP-3389 | US |
| 1990 | Healing Feeling | Black Top Black Top Records Black Top Records was a New Orleans, Louisiana based independent record label founded in 1981 by brothers Nauman S. Scott, III and Hammond Scott. The label specialized in blues and R&B music. The first release was "Talk To You By Hand" by Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets... |
BT-1053 | US |
| 1991 | Blues Guitar Boss | JSP JSP Records JSP Records is a British record label, founded in 1978 by John Stedman , releasing recordings by blues musicians such as Professor Longhair, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Witherspoon, Louisiana Red and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson. The label is based in London, England.JSP now predominantly releases remastered CDs... |
239 | UK, recorded 1990 in London |
| 1994 | Made in Argentina 1993 | Blues Special | 9501 | Argentina, recorded 1993 in Buenos Aires with Emilion Villanueva and the Kansas City Boys |
| 1994 | I'm the Back Door Man | Blues Special | 9506 | Argentina, recorded 1993 in Buenos Aires |
| 1996 | Blues Classics | Bellaphon Bellaphon Records Bellaphon Records is an independent German record label. Their artists have included Geordie, Limahl, Johnny Cash, Nektar, and Ganymed.Bellaphon were founded in 1961 by Branco Zivanovic. They are headquartered in Frankfurt. The company runs the labels Bellaphon, Bacillus and L&R. Bellaphon has... |
82007 | Germany, recorded 1964 in East Berlin |
| 1998 | I Know You | APO | 2004 | US |
| 1998 | Wake Up Call | Blues Planet | 1116 | US |
| 1999 | Pinetop Perkins & Hubert Sumlin: Legends | Telarc Telarc International Corporation Telarc International Corporation is an independent record label, based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods... |
83446 | US |
| 2004 | About Them Shoes | Tone-Cool/Artemis Records | 51609 | US, also Rykodisc Rykodisc Rykodisc Records is an American record label. It is owned by Warner Music Group, operates as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.-Company history:... RCD 17307 in the UK |
Videos
| Year | Title | Label | Number | Notes |
| 2005 | The Blues Guitar of Hubert Sumlin | Homespun Tapes | SUMGT21 | US, VHS & DVD |