Jersey History: Hubert Sumlin
Howlin’ Wolf [1910-1976] is one of the pillars of the blues hierarchy. He ruled Chicago. One of the main reasons his band captivated and entranced numerous generations was his hot-shot lead guitar player, Hubert Sumlin [1931-2011], known for his “wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic suspensions,” according to Jeff Kitts of Guitar World magazine. Rolling Stone ranked him #43 in its 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All-Time issue. Mojo magazine was more accurate when they named him #3 of the greatest guitar players of all-time.
Born in Mississippi, raised in Arkansas, he hit Chicago running to revitalize Wolf’s band in 1954 at age 23 and never looked back. Muddy Waters liked his sound so much he done stole him away for his own band but Sumlin soon returned to Howlin’. When the Wolf man died in 1976, Sumlin kept the band going as The Wolf Gang before going solo. Four Grammy nominations, an induction into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame, multiple Blues Music Awards, and a slew of masterful album gems later, he settled in Totowa, Passaic County, where he lived out the rest of his life for over a decade.
He was so revered that Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Levon Helm, David Johansen and James Cotton lined up to record with him on his albums. Kenny Wayne Shepherd invited him in on one of his own albums. Sumlin’s last album, About Them Shoes, was released in 2004. It stands as one of the best albums in any genre that year. Shortly after that album came out, he underwent lung removal surgery but even that couldn’t keep him off the road. In the end, he became a beloved blues icon in his own right, always sought after for his fiery riffs and colorful opinions. On December 4, 2011, he died of heart failure at the age of 80, survived by his wife, son and three daughters. Jagger and Richards paid for the funeral.