{"id":1999,"date":"2011-12-05T15:42:43","date_gmt":"2011-12-05T20:42:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/?p=1999"},"modified":"2011-12-05T15:42:43","modified_gmt":"2011-12-05T20:42:43","slug":"tribute-to-guitarist-hubert-sumlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/tribute-to-guitarist-hubert-sumlin\/","title":{"rendered":"Tribute To Guitarist Hubert Sumlin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Blues guitarist Hubert Sumlin courtesy of Wikipedia.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’m sad to announce that we just recently lost blues guitar legend, Hubert Sumlin.\u00a0 Sumlin performed with blues legends, Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, and influenced generations of rock and blues guitarists.\u00a0 I was happy to find two articles that Guitar World featured this week about Sumlin, the first a profile of his career and the second an interview about his experiences with Wolf and Waters.\u00a0 I also came across some videos that I want to share with you that features Sumlin in action.\u00a0 I hope you enjoy learning about legendary blues guitarist Hubert Sumlin.<\/p>\n

The first article comes to us from Guitar World and features a biography and video performance from of Hubert Sumlin.\u00a0 Find the article here at http:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/blues-legend-hubert-sumlin-guitarist-howlin-wolf-and-muddy-waters-dies-80<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Legendary blues guitarist Hubert Sumlin died of heart failure at a hospital in Wayne, New Jersey, last night, December 4. He was 80.<\/p>\n

As Howlin’ Wolf’s guitarist in the 1950s, Sumlin influenced several generations of blues and rock guitarists, including Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmy Page. What made Sumlin’s resume even more impressive was that he also was Muddy Waters’ guitarist for a brief period in the mid-’50s before rejoining Wolf’s band.<\/p>\n

Sumlin was born November 16, 1931, in Greenwood, Mississippi, and was raised near West Memphis, Arkansas. The young guitarist briefly performed with harpist James Cotton before getting the call from Wolf to join him in Chicago in 1954. By the dawn of the 1960s, Sumlin’s exciting and unique lead lines and phrasing were a major part of Wolf’s sound, as can be heard on “Wang Dang Doodle,” “Shake for Me,” “Killing Floor,” “Three Hundred Pounds of Joy” and “Hidden Charms,” often considered to feature his finest fretwork. Outside of a brief spell in Waters’ band in 1956, Sumlin stayed with Wolf until Wolf’s death in 1976.<\/p>\n

Sumlin continued performing with other members of Wolf’s band under the moniker The Wolf Pack until the early ’80s. Since then, Sumlin had emerged as a solo artist, moving to the front of the stage as the lead vocalist\/guitarist in his own band. As the decades passed, Sumlin also — happily and deservedly — filled the role of living blues legend alongside B.B. King, Buddy Guy and David “Honeyboy” Edwards, who died earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Sumlin’s high-profile 2004 solo album, About Them Shoes<\/em>, featured guest appearances by Cotton, Clapton, Keith Richards, Bob Margolin, Levon Helm and David Johansen.<\/p>\n

Sumlin came in at No. 43 on Rolling Stone magazine’s recent list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, right above Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits.<\/p>\n

[youtube_sc url=”http:\/\/youtu.be\/BYtgj5v49gE” width=”420″ rel=”0″]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The second article about Hubert Sumlin comes from a Guitar World interview conducted in 1994.\u00a0 In the interview, Sumlin talks about his musical experiences working with some of the original blues legends.\u00a0 I was fascinated to hear about Sumlin’s stories and I’m sure you will be too.\u00a0 Find the interview here at http:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/interview-hubert-sumlin-discusses-working-howlin-wolf-1994-guitar-world-interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This 1994 interview with Hubert Sumlin is reprinted from Guitar Legends: Blues Power<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWolf and I had some tremendous fights. He knocked my teeth out, and I knocked his out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI never used a pick again\u2014that was my secret to unlocking everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cClapton said, \u2018If Hubert\u2019s not there, I don\u2019t record.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Few musical marriages have been so magical, so intuitively right, as that of the great blues singer Howlin\u2019 Wolf and his guitarist, Hubert Sumlin. From the time he joined the blues legend\u2019s band in 1954 until Wolf\u2019s death in 1976, Sumlin played a central role in crafting some of the century\u2019s most memorable and influential American roots music. His economical, stinging fills, unusual rhythmic approach and perfectly placed bent notes are as integral as Wolf\u2019s growl to the blues power of classics like \u201cSpoonful,\u201d \u201cSmokestack Lightnin\u2019,\u201d \u201cKilling Floor\u201d and \u201cThe Red Rooster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blues and rock guitarists who cut and bloodied their teeth on Howlin\u2019 Wolf tunes were heavily influenced by Sumlin: Hendrix often covered \u201cKilling Floor\u201d; the Rolling Stones, Clapton and countless lesser blues-rock lights continue to play \u201cThe Red Rooster\u201d; the Doors remade \u201cBack Door Man\u201d in their own image; The Sky Is Crying, a 1991 collection of Stevie Ray Vaughan outtakes, includes the late guitarist\u2019s version of \u201cMay I Have a Talk with You\u201d; and Page, Clapton and Beck each flattered Sumlin by imitating him on \u201cSpoonful\u201d and \u201cSmokestack Lightnin.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Sumlin backed Howlin\u2019 Wolf for 23 years, a stretch broken only by six months in 1956 when he worked for Wolf\u2019s arch rival, Muddy Waters. After Wolf\u2019s death, Sumlin launched his long-delayed solo career, becoming a Chicago blues club fixture and making occasional festival appearances. Over the past 15 years, however, he has picked up steam, touring often and recording numerous albums. Sumlin, now 77, was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2008 and still enjoys performing around the world.<\/p>\n

GUITAR WORLD: Did Howlin\u2019 Wolf explicitly tell you what to play?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not really. When I first got with him, he told me that I wasn\u2019t ready to play his music, so I should go home and think about it for a day, a week, a month or a year, whatever it took. \u201cCome back when you\u2019re ready,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you figure out how to play my stuff, then you\u2019re hired.\u201d I went home and prayed and slept with my guitar under my pillow trying to figure something out, because I knew that this man was serious. Wolf did not bullshit.<\/p>\n

I had played with a pick for eight or nine years, and I couldn\u2019t put it down. Then I woke up one morning and started playing without a pick, and the first thing I thought of was \u201cSmokestack Lightnin.\u2019 \u201d I played it better than I ever had and realized, I don\u2019t need no pick. I don\u2019t need anything but my fingers. And that was it.<\/p>\n

Everything fell into place when you got rid of the pick.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Exactly. I started playing with a lot more soul. I never used a pick again. That was my secret to unlocking everything. My tone, my sound, everything happened right then. People can\u2019t understand how I play. The average guitar player don\u2019t know what I\u2019m doing. But it\u2019s my thing. It\u2019s what God gave me; I don\u2019t need a pick because I got five fingers. How can one pick compete?<\/p>\n

One unusual aspect of your style is that you don\u2019t play a lot of chords. <\/strong><\/p>\n

No, I don\u2019t, but I play a lot of tricks. Like Muddy Waters once said, I\u2019ve got a lot of gimmicks up my sleeves. I know when to get in and when to get out. Lots of guitarists just miss out on that aspect of playing. I know how and where to put it, which is what it\u2019s all about.<\/p>\n

Did many of your personal playing trademarks develop as a result of playing with Howlin\u2019 Wolf for so long?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes and no. I also played with Muddy Waters for six months and, Lord, I learned a lot from Jimmy Rogers [Waters\u2019 lead guitarist]. I picked up from every guitarist I ever worked with. I\u2019d take a note from here and a note from here, a lick from him and a lick from him, and put it all together. That\u2019s the Hubert Sumlin style. And that\u2019s what I would recommend any guitarist do: listen to players you like and pick things up from everyone and everywhere.<\/p>\n

You have to learn how to use your instrument to its fullest. You got five different Es, you got five different As, and you got to use them all. If you\u2019re all over the neck, you\u2019re better. That\u2019s why I never used a clamp [capo] like Muddy or Albert Collins or Jimmy Rogers: Why limit yourself? You\u2019ll notice that kids coming up today play great, and they don\u2019t use a clamp because they\u2019ve got better knowledge of the instrument.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s one element of your background that\u2019s almost unique among bluesmen: you studied guitar at the Chicago Conservatory of Music. What was the extent of your formal training?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I studied for six months with this old guy who was with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It was the first time I ever saw a dude who played both opera and blues on his guitar. It had a huge impact on me, because I didn\u2019t know the piano keyboard and I didn\u2019t know how to read\u2014I didn\u2019t know an F from an A, an A from a B or a B from a C. That guy showed me so much in just six months.<\/p>\n

Even though you always played electric guitar with Wolf, your sound often had a bit of a country blues vibe. Is that where you come from, musically?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Actually, when I was a kid I wanted to be a jazz player like Charlie Christian more than anything, but I also loved and heard the blues. [Those players] were all around me, and at a certain point, I realized how great all these dudes I listened to were: Charley Patton, Lonnie Johnson, Robert Johnson\u2026all those guys. Peetie Wheatstraw, the \u201cdevil\u2019s son-in-law\u201d\u2014Jesus, man, he was something! Then when I got with Wolf and Muddy I realized that they actually played with these guys, and that blew my mind. I\u2019ll never forget my old 78 of Charlie Patton. He was a wizard, man, a genius. I tried to ask Wolf about him, and he said, \u201cAw, you young punk, you\u2019re too young to understand.\u201d It always hurt me that I missed out on seeing and playing with those old guys, because they wrote the book that Wolf and Muddy electrified and expanded. If Wolf and Muddy were the fathers of rock and roll, then those acoustic guys were the granddaddies.<\/p>\n

It sounds like Wolf was very conscious of the age difference between you two.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah. He told me one time, a couple of years before he died, that he was \u201c40 years too early.\u201d He said, \u201cI plowed mules barefoot in December, with snow on the ground, the dirt frozen as a rock.\u201d I said, \u201cDon\u2019t lie, man.\u201d And he said, \u201cI\u2019m not lying. I\u2019m 40 years too early. Things are getting better all the time.\u201d The next year he got sick and went on a kidney dialysis machine.<\/p>\n

It can be said that you are the link between the Delta bluesmen and rock and roll. On the one hand, you played with Wolf, who was a contemporary of Robert Johnson and the other guys you mentioned. At the same time, you also exerted a huge influence on the next generation\u2014rock guitarists who weren\u2019t really all that much younger than you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m very proud of that, and I got to meet those guys. I met Eric Clapton in 1970 when I played on Wolf\u2019s London Sessions. I wasn\u2019t supposed to be there, but Clapton said, \u201cIf Hubert\u2019s not there, I don\u2019t record.\u201d Then Wolf said he couldn\u2019t record without me, so they had to bring me. Wolf was on a dialysis machine right in the studio, with doctors tending him night and day. He was so sick that on a couple of nights we didn\u2019t even record; we just sat in the studio and got high. Mick Jagger and Bill Wyman came in, and we partied all night long, man. The cleaning lady came in the next morning and everyone was laying there on the floor. Mick Jagger had his head up inside the bass drum. [laughs] It was wild. We had a ball.<\/p>\n

Did you spend much time with Clapton?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes. One day, Eric sent a limousine for me, and we drove for 30 or 40 miles outside of London to his big old mansion in the country. A gorgeous place, like a castle. We had a beautiful dinner, then he took me down to the basement, where he had all these guitars. It looked like a factory: three and a half walls of a room lined with every kind of guitar you can imagine.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cPick out a couple of those guitars, Hubert. I\u2019m giving you two of them.\u201d I walked all the way around the room, looking at every one of them. Then I saw this case sitting in the middle of the room. I sat down on the floor and said, \u201cWhat\u2019s in there?\u201d He said, \u201cIt ain\u2019t nothing, man.\u201d I asked if I could take a look. He said. \u201cYou don\u2019t want that.\u201d I opened the case and took out this beautiful Fender Stratocaster and started playing it there, sitting on the floor.<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cHey, man, I told you to pick any two you want from those that are up against the wall.\u201d I said, \u201cI know, but this Fender sure sounds good. Is it your regular?\u201d He said, \u201cIt sure is.\u201d I said, \u201cI knew it, because that\u2019s the one.\u201d He said, \u201cYou mean to say you\u2019re going to take it from me, man?\u201d I said, \u201cNo, I can\u2019t do it. I don\u2019t want none of these.\u201d He said, \u201cTake it, man. At least I know it\u2019s got a good home. Just promise me that if I ever want it back you\u2019ll give it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

I kept it for two years and hardly ever played it. Then we were both at the Montreaux Jazz Festival, and I brought it over to him. He asked me how much money I wanted, if there was anything I needed. I said, \u201cNothing man, it\u2019s your guitar. Don\u2019t embarrass me.\u201d He just gave me a hug. He\u2019s a nice guy. A beautiful guy.<\/p>\n

Did you have any sense that you were making history when you recorded those classic tracks with Wolf?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, and I really didn\u2019t care. But I knew that he was going to be one of the greats. And I was so devoted that I wanted to push him to the top. When you\u2019re recording for people the caliber of Howlin\u2019 Wolf, you\u2019re going to do your best. And in those days, there wasn\u2019t even a question, man: you were going to play your guts out. There had been some days in the past when my stomach ached from not having anything to eat. When I recorded, I would remember those days and remember how I never wanted to go back to them. And I would play!<\/p>\n

What kind of personal relationship did you have with Wolf?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We were like father and son, although we had some tremendous fights. He knocked my teeth out, and I knocked his out. None of it mattered; we always got right back together.<\/p>\n

You fought with Wolf? He was a huge man.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh man, he was big. He could wrap one of his fingers around my guitar neck three times. One time after a gig, we were loading up the truck, and I wasn\u2019t there because I\u2019d run off with this cute girl who\u2019d been sitting on my amplifier, smiling at me all night long. When I got back they were just finishing loading, and Wolf was standing on top of the stage. He started yelling at me, calling me every name you ever heard\u2014and some you couldn\u2019t imagine\u2014because he had to load my gear. I was embarrassed, man, because this was right in front of the whole band.<\/p>\n

So I thought, He can\u2019t do this to me. He can\u2019t humiliate me. So I waited until he was looking the other way, and I hit him in the face as hard as I could. He didn\u2019t move. He just turned back real slow and slapped me with the back of his hand. I fell and rolled down the ramp that was pushed up to the stage to load the amps. I got up and walked back, screaming at him. When I got to the top he did the same thing again, and I rolled right back down, spitting out teeth.<\/p>\n

Is that why you left to play with Muddy Waters?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No. Me and Wolf patched it up right away. In fact, the next morning, my wife woke me up and said that Wolf had been sitting in his car in front of my house all night long. I went out there and he apologized and gave me money to fix my mouth. I left to play with Muddy because he tripled my salary. They were rivals, and Muddy wanted to take me away from Wolf.<\/p>\n

Was the rivalry between Wolf and Muddy apparent to everybody?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sure. They were jealous of one another; they were enemies: \u201cYou stole my shit.\u201d \u201cYou did this.\u201d \u201cYou did that.\u201d It was endless because they were the two biggest dudes in Chicago, and they were always arguing and competing about who was number one. [laughs] I\u2019ll never forget the day we played the Ann Arbor Blues Festival, and Wolf and Muddy sat down and talked and made friends. They shook hands and said, \u201cNo more enemies.\u201d That thrilled me so much, I went and got a beer. This is a business we do every day and love to death, and I never understood that jealousy. It\u2019s music. Who cares who\u2019s the best?<\/p>\n

What are your memories of Jimi Hendrix?<\/strong><\/p>\n

He was just a little ol\u2019 dude living in England. It was before his band, the Experience, hit it big. We played in Liverpool, the Beatles\u2019 home, and in walked Jimi Hendrix, a little ol\u2019 hip guy wearing earrings and a bandanna. Wolf said, \u201cWhat the fuck is this guy? I ain\u2019t saying nothing to that motherfucker.\u201d He came right up to Wolf and asked if he could play his guitar. Wolf nodded and Hendrix picked it up, turned it over and played it with his teeth. [laughs] He played the hell out of it. Wolf looked at him, big-eyed, and said, \u201cYou hired, man, you hired!\u201d He said, \u201cNo thank you, Mr. Wolf. But I admire you and the blues. You guys are 100 percent. Beautiful, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

I never played with him after that, but I saw him do his thing in New York, after he hit, and I fell in love. The guy was great! Just a little ol\u2019 skinny youngster. He was in his twenties, but he looked 16 or 17, and he was good, man. I mean, really good.<\/p>\n

Hendrix often called you a big influence. Your playing on several tracks from the Fifties represents some of the earliest instances of guitarist using distortion. How did you do that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was just using my Gibson and my Wabash amp, which I used for a long time. It was one of the first amps to have 15-inch speakers. I also got an Echoplex right when they came out, and combined with those 15-inch speakers, that made \u201cdistortion.\u201d<\/p>\n

What sort of Gibson did you play?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Les Paul\u2014I believe it was a \u201956. I often played them. I also had a Kay guitar. For four years, Wolf didn\u2019t have a piano or even a bass\u2014just two guitars and drums, so Jody Williams [Wolf\u2019s second guitarist] and I coordinated our parts closely and decided that we would both play Kays. I didn\u2019t like that Les Paul all that much, but I sure do wish that I had it now. [laughs]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We have suffered a great loss with the passing of blues legend, Hubert Sumlin, but we can also be thankful to have as many video performances and lessons from him as we do.\u00a0 Enjoy this next video of Sumlin here at http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2OweEOTY4B4<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[youtube_sc url=”http:\/\/youtu.be\/2OweEOTY4B4″ width=”420″ rel=”0″]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I hope you enjoyed this tribute to blues guitar legend, Hubert Sumlin.\u00a0 Stay tuned for more at Blues Guitar Unleashed.<\/p>\n

Thanks,<\/p>\n

Griff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m sad to announce that we just recently lost blues guitar legend, Hubert Sumlin.\u00a0 Sumlin performed with blues legends, Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, and influenced generations of rock and blues guitarists.\u00a0 I was happy to find two articles that Guitar World featured this week about Sumlin, the first a profile of his career and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1999\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluesguitarunleashed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}