With a booming voice and looming physical presence, Burnett is commonly ranked among the leading performers in electric blues; musician and critic Cub Koda declared, "no one could match Howlin' Wolf for the singular ability to rock the house down to the foundation while simultaneously scaring its patrons out of its wits." A number of songs written or popularized by Burnettโsuch as "Smokestack Lightnin'", "Back Door Man", "Killing Floor" and "Spoonful"โhave become blues and blues rock standards.
At 6 feet, 6 inches (198 cm) and close to 300 pounds (136 kg), he was an imposing presence with one of the loudest and most memorable voices of all the "classic" 1950s Chicago blues singers. This rough-edged, slightly fearsome musical style is often contrasted with the less crude but still powerful presentation of his contemporary and professional rival, Muddy Waters. Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller), Little Walter Jacobs, and Muddy Waters are usually regarded in retrospect as the greatest blues artists who recorded for Chess in Chicago. Sam Phillips once remarked, "When I heard Howlin' Wolf, I said, 'This is for me. This is where the soul of man never dies.'" In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #51 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".
Burnett died at Hines VA Hospital in Hines, Illinois on January 10, 1976 and was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Hillside, Cook County, Illinois in a plot in Section 18, on the east side of the road. His large gravestone, allegedly purchased by Eric Clapton, has an image of a guitar and harmonica etched into it.
The Howlin' Wolf Memorial Blues Festival is held each year in West Point, Mississippi. Wolf's Juke Joint Jam is another annual Howlin' Wolf tribute festival held in West Point. Some of the artists who have played 'Wolf Jam' include Wolf's lead guitarist Hubert Sumlin, Muddy Waters' back band of Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Calvin "Fuzz" Jones and "Steady Rollin" Bob Margolin, Willie King, Blind Mississippi Morris, Kenny Brown, Burnside Exploration, etc. The festival is held at the 500-acre (2.0 km2) festival grounds known as Waverly Waters Resort.
A popular music venue in New Orleans, Louisiana was named The Howlin' Wolf when it opened in 1988.
Burnett was portrayed by Eamonn Walker in the 2008 motion picture Cadillac Records.
Howlin' For My Darling
Howlin' Wolf Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Come on home
I love you
If you hear me howlin', calling on my darlin'
She's hot like red pepper, sweet like cherry wine
I'm so glad she love me, love me all the time
She's my little baby, sweet as she can be
If you hear me howlin', calling on my darling, hoo, hoo-wee
My baby, come on home
I love you, come on home
If you hear me howlin', calling on my darling, hoo, hoo-wee
Every time she kiss me, she makes the lights go out
From early in the morning, she makes me jump and shout
This bad love she got, makes me laugh and cry
Makes me really know, that I'm too young to die
If you hear me howlin', calling on my darling, hoo, hoo-wee
Come on, I love you, pretty baby
The lyrics to Howlin' for My Darlin' by blues legend Howlin' Wolf express his intense love for a woman who he wants to call back home. The song is full of passion and raw emotion as he declares his love for her in a gravelly voice. He describes her as a fiery and sweet woman, hot like red pepper and sweet like cherry wine. He is grateful that she loves him, and he feels lucky to be with her all the time. He claims her as his, saying that all the love she has belongs to him. The song is an appeal to his lover to come back to him, and he believes that his howling will reach her and bring her back.
The chorus of the song, "If you hear me howlin', calling on my darling," is a poignant expression of his desperation, hoping that his howling will be heard by his lover and will bring her back to him. He also talks about the physical chemistry between them, saying that every time she kisses him, the lights go out. He is so filled with passion and desire that he jumps and shouts from early in the morning. Although the love he has with his darling makes him laugh and cry, he feels that it makes him truly alive and that he is too young to die without her.
Line by Line Meaning
Pretty baby
Addressing his lover by a nickname
Come on home
Asking his lover to come back to him
I love you
Expressing his love for his lover
If you hear me howlin', calling on my darlin'
Announcing to his lover that he will be calling for her
She's hot like red pepper, sweet like cherry wine
Comparing his lover's physical and emotional attributes to food and spices
I'm so glad she love me, love me all the time
Expressing his gratitude for his lover's constant love
She's my little baby, sweet as she can be
Describing his lover in affectionate terms
All this love she's got, do belong to me
Asserting that his lover's love is exclusively for him
Every time she kiss me, she makes the lights go out
Describing the intensity of his passion with his lover
From early in the morning, she makes me jump and shout
Expressing the excitement he feels when he's with his lover
This bad love she got, makes me laugh and cry
Admitting the emotional toll his lover has on him
Makes me really know, that I'm too young to die
Realizing that his intense love for his lover makes him feel alive
If you hear me howlin', calling on my darling, hoo, hoo-wee
Reiterating that he will be calling for his lover
Come on, I love you, pretty baby
Endlessly expressing his love and asking his lover to come back to him
Lyrics ยฉ Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: CHESTER BURNETT, WILLIE DIXON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@kraeckelium
Pretty baby, come on home, I love you
If you hear me howlin', calling on my darlin' -oooh oooh wee
She's hot like red pepper, sweet like cherry wine
I'm so glad she love me, love me all the time
She's my little baby, sweet as she can be
All this love she's got, do belong to me
If you hear me howlin', calling on my darling -oooh oooh weeMy baby, come on home, I love you, come on home
If you hear me howlin', calling on my darling -oooh oooh wee
Every time she kiss me, she makes the lights go out
From early in the morning, she makes me jump and shout
This bad love she got, makes me laugh and cry
Makes me really know, that I'm too young to die
If you hear me howlin', calling on my darling -oooh oooh wee
Come on, I love you, pretty baby
@JoaoVCRP
Watch Dogs was such a masterpiece, if It wasnt by the "super-hype" and The downgrades, It would have been one of The greatest games of the decade
@HadyAbbas
favorite song on watchdogs
@spanner5665
Oh yeah!
@vilemstehlik8588
My too but "Help is on the way" is better
@crambow2932
Mine too
@PotatoPotataaa
Hady Abbas exactly ๐๐๐๐๐
@alabama6921
Yasss and blues for sunrise
@onkelirohsjasmintee5613
I really miss the old watchdog times when the game came out.. I really love this game ๐ญ
@caribman10
A completely unique talent, then and now. Howlin' was one of one. Muddy gets a lot of props, but Howlin' is my man, always (with Hubert Sumlin).
@frankyramone
Whenever I listen to this song I listen to it three times.