Hubert Sumlin
On 16/11/1931: Hubert Sumlin was born. He was born in Greenwood, Mississippi. Hubert was brought up in Hughes, Arkansas. When he was eight, he received his first guitar. As a boy, he sneaked into Howlin' Wolf gig and met him there.In 1953, Howlin' Wolf moved from Memphis to Chicago. His guitarist Willie Johnson, didn't come with him. Initially, Wolf hired guitarist Jody Williams to be his replacement. In 1954, Wolf asked Sumlin to come to Chicago and play as a second guitarist. In 1955, Williams left the band and Sumlin replaced him as the primary guitarist. Sumlin would be Howlin' Wolf's guitar player for the rest of Wolf's career. Wolf sent Sumlin to a classical guitar instructor at the Chicago Conservatory of Music to learn keyboards and scales.
In 1956, Sumlin had a brief spell playing for Muddy Waters.
In 1962, the album "Howlin' Wolf" was released by Howlin' Wolf with Sumlin featuring on guitar. The album would receive great critical acclaim. In 1985, it won a Blues Music Award by The Blues Foundation for "Classics of Blues Recordings - Album". In 2004, it was named the third greatest guitar album of all time by Mojo.
In 1965, Hubert Sumlin was featured under his own name when recordings of him were released on the album "American Folk Blues".
In 1976, Howlin' Wolf died. Sumlin would continue to work with the other members of his band. They named themselves the Wolf Pack.
In 1980, the Wolf Pack disbanded.
In 1999, Sumlin received a Grammy Award nomination for the album "Tribute to Howlin' Wolf".
In 2000, Sumlin would receive another Grammy Award nomination for the album "Legends" with Pinetop Perkins.
In 2004, Sumlin released his final solo album called "About Them Shoes". It would receive a Grammy nomination. In the same year, he had lung removal surgery. He would continue to perform, though.
In 2008, Sumlin was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame.
In 2010, Sumlin received a Grammy nomination for his contribution to Kenny Wayne Sheperd's Live! in Chicago.
On 04/12/2011, Hubert Sumlin died of heart failure in Wayne, New Jersey. He had made his final recording just a few days before for Stephen Dale Petit's album "Cracking the Code".
Sumlin won multiple Blues Music Awards throughout his career. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones paid for Sumlin's funeral expenses.