Quiet and extremely unassuming off the bandstand,
Hubert Sumlin played a style of guitar incendiary enough to stand tall beside the immortal
Howlin' Wolf.
The Wolf was
Sumlin's imposing mentor for more than two decades, and it proved a mutually beneficial relationship;
Sumlin's twisting, darting, unpredictable lead guitar constantly energized
the Wolf's 1960s Chess sides, even when the songs themselves (check out "Do the Do" or "Mama's Baby" for conclusive proof) were less than stellar.
Sumlin started out twanging the proverbial broom wire nailed to the wall before he got his mitts on a real guitar. He grew up near West Memphis, Arkansas, briefly hooking up with another Young Lion with a rosy future, harpist
James Cotton, before receiving a summons from the mighty
Wolf to join him in Chicago in 1954.
Sumlin learned his craft nightly on the bandstand behind
Wolf, his confidence growing as he graduated from rhythm guitar duties to lead. By the dawn of the '60s,
Sumlin's slashing axe was a prominent component on the great majority of
Wolf's waxings, including "Wang Dang Doodle," "Shake for Me," "Hidden Charms" (boasting perhaps
Sumlin's greatest recorded solo), "Three Hundred Pounds of Joy," and "Killing Floor."
Although they had a somewhat tempestuous relationship,
Sumlin remained loyal to
Wolf until the big man's 1976 death. But
Sumlin cut a handful of solo sessions before that, beginning with a most unusual 1964 date in East Berlin that was produced by
Horst Lippmann during a European tour under the auspices of the American Folk Blues Festival (the "behind the Iron Curtain" session also featured pianist
Sunnyland Slim and bassist
Willie Dixon). In subsequent years
Sumlin allowed his vocal talents to shine, recording solo sets that revealed him to be an understated but effective singer -- while his guitar continued to communicate most forcefully. The esteem with which he was held by musicians of a later generation was ably demonstrated by the guest list on
Sumlin's 2004 album
About Them Shoes, including
Keith Richards,
Eric Clapton,
Levon Helm, and
David Johansen, not to mention a noted bluesman from
Sumlin's own past, harmonica player
James Cotton, the old friend and bandmate who first played with
Sumlin in West Memphis back in their teenage years of the early '50s, before
Cotton joined up with
Muddy Waters and moved to Chicago, paralleling
Sumlin's own journey to the Windy City around the same time. He followed up
About Them Shoes with Treblemaker in 2007.
Hubert Sumlin died of heart failure in Wayne, New Jersey on December 4, 2011; he was 80 years old.
Mick Jagger and
Keith Richards paid for the bluesman's funeral expenses. ~ Bill Dahl