Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf

Standing six-foot-three and weighing nearly three hundred pounds, and with a voice like a raging chain-saw, Howlin' Wolf could rock the house like no one else. Born in Mississippi in 1913, he began his career after laboring as a sharecropper on plantations, under the tutelage of the blues giants Charlie Patton and Sonny Boy Williamson, singing and playing in juke joints and dives throughout the Mississippi Delta in the 1930s and 1940s. In the early 1950s he moved to Chicago, and together with Muddy Waters, Little Walter, and Willie Dixon, he helped to define electric blues. The 1960s and early 1970s saw him recording and performing with Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, a Beatle or two, Eric Clapton, and other rock musicians. Howlin' Wolfs amazing energy and his passion for the blues kept him performing--despite a series of physical problems that would have stopped almost anyone else--right up until his death in January 1976. Moanin' at Midnight brings to life this American treasure--a man who always seemed to be just a little larger than life itself.

The definitive biography of the musical giant who became a titan in the blues pantheon

One of the greatest artists the blues ever produced, Howlin' Wolf was a musical giant in every way. He stood six foot three, weighed almost three hundred pounds, wore size sixteen shoes, and poured out his darkest sorrows onstage in a voice that captured all the pain of growing up black and poor in Jim Crow Mississippi. Half a century after his first hits, his sound still terrifies and inspires. Wolf began his career singing with the first Delta blues stars, was present at the birth of rock 'n' roll in Memphis, and vied with rival Muddy Waters for the title of king of Chicago blues.

This new and revised edition is full of harrowing anecdotes about his early years, entertaining stories about his decades at the top, and never-before-seen photographs of the artist onstage. An essential volume for Wolf's legions of fans, lovers of blues, and anyone interested in the history of American music.

One of the greatest artists the blues ever produced, Howlin' Wolf was a musical giant in every way. He stood six foot three, weighed almost three hundred pounds, wore size sixteen shoes, and poured out his darkest sorrows onstage in a voice that captured all the pain of growing up black and poor in Jim Crow Mississippi. Half a century after his first hits, his sound still terrifies and inspires. Wolf began his career singing with the first Delta blues stars, was present at the birth of rock 'n' roll in Memphis, and vied with rival Muddy Waters for the title of king of Chicago blues. This new and revised edition is full of harrowing anecdotes about his early years, entertaining stories about his decades at the top, and never-before-seen photographs of the artist onstage. An essential volume for Wolf's legions of fans, lovers of blues, and anyone interested in the history of American music.

This new and revised edition is full of harrowing anecdotes about legendary Howlin' Wolf's early years, entertaining stories about his decades at the top, and never-before-seen photographs of the artist onstage.

Howlin' Wolf was a musical giant in every way. He stood six foot three, weighed almost three hundred pounds, wore size sixteen shoes, and poured out his darkest sorrows onstage in a voice like a raging chainsaw. Half a century after his first hits, his sound still terrifies and inspires.

Born Chester Burnett in 1910, the Wolf survived a grim childhood and hardscrabble youth as a sharecropper in Mississippi. He began his career playing and singing with the first Delta blues stars for two decades in perilous juke joints. He was present at the birth of rock 'n' roll in Memphis, where Sam Phillips-who also discovered Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis-called Wolf his "greatest discovery." He helped develop the sound of electric blues and vied with rival Muddy Waters for the title of king of Chicago blues. He ended his career performing and recording with the world's most famous rock stars. His passion for music kept him performing-despite devastating physical problems-right up to his death in 1976.

There's never been a comprehensive biography of the Wolf until now. Moanin' at Midnight is full of startling information about his mysterious early years, surprising and entertaining stories about his decades at the top, and never-before-seen photographs. It strips away all the myths to reveal-at long last-the real-life triumphs and tragedies of this blues titan.