JIMI'S FAVORITE GUITARIST? (Guitar News Weekly #90, May 15, 2000

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Guitar News Weekly
Edition #90, May 15, 2000

JIMI'S FAVORITE GUITARIST?

"My favorite guitarist is Hubert Sumlin." - Jimi Hendrix

Introducing legendary blues guitarist, Hubert Sumlin!

Hubert Sumlin made his name as a sideman for Howlin' Wolf, but the guitarist had a short-lived stint in Muddy Waters' band, too...

"Hubert is the heaviest, most original guitar player I've ever heard in my life and that's the truth." - Stevie Ray Vaughan

"Hubert Sumlin is truly amazing!" - Eric Clapton

The youngest of 13 children, Hubert Sumlin was born on November 16, 1931, in Greenwood, Mississippi and grew up in Hughes, Arkansas. When he was eight years old, Hubert's mother sacrificed an entire week's pay to buy him a guitar.

Hubert's first musical experiences were in the Baptist Church where he and the deacon worked out musical arrangements. This is the musical "school" Hubert came from, his roots, along with other blues legends including Otis Spann and Muddy Waters.

Hubert's first gig was as a fill-in guitarist for harp player James Cotton. According to Cotton, guitarist Pat Hare couldn't be found and someone pointed to the young Hubert and said, "He can play." Cotton recalls the rest: "As soon as we hit the bandstand I couldn't tell it wasn't Pat Hare back there!" This started a lifelong friendship between Sumlin and Cotton, who (with permission from Hubert's mother) began to work local juke joints and fish frys. Both men went on to become major players in the Chicago blues community, both sharing time with Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. However, it was Hubert's association with Wolf that helped him make his mark in the blues world and music history.

Sumlin's first meeting with Wolf is as legendary as the music they created together. At 11 years old, Hubert crawled into a local juke joint trying to sneak in and hear the band. He was kicked out as soon as he was spotted, but wandered around back to a window behind the bandstand. Hubert stacked Coca-Cola cases against the window and as he stood on top to peek in at the band, they fell out from under him and he came crashing through the window in the middle of a song.

Hubert remembers: "I looked up and saw Wolf looking down at me; He said 'Let him stay! Let him stay! Bring him a chair.' He wouldn't give me nothing but water, and I sat there and watched Wolf, Pat Hare and Junior Parker. That night he took me home and told my mother to please not punish me because all I only wanted was to hear the music."

A few years later Sumlin began working with Wolf in Memphis. Wolf had to promise Hubert's mother that he would watch over him in order to get permission to take the teenager to Chicago. Several years later, the most legendary and longest partnership in the blues world began when Sumlin moved to Chicago in 1954 to join Wolf's band. Wolf and Hubert changed the sound of American music and helped create rock and roll.

Hubert Sumlin is an electric guitar pioneer, largely responsible for the sound of many modern guitar players. Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, Bob Weir, Jeff Beck, Carlos Santana and many other critically acclaimed musicians consider Sumlin a major influence on their playing. Clapton proved his respect by refusing to do the Chess Records London Howlin' Wolf Sessions unless Hubert was present. "The Red Rooster", "Backdoor Man", "Shake For Me", "Killing Floor", "Smokestack Lightnin" and "Sittin' On Top of the World" are songs you may recognize from cover versions by Cream, The Doors, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, or The Rolling Stones. Hubert Sumlin formulated the original music to these classics.

In Hubert's music you hear the acoustic stylings of the delta meshed with the loud excitement and bright lights of Chicago and Memphis, combined with the artistry of Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson, Pat Hare, Son House and Wolf. Sumlin brought these influences to the next level, creating his own exceptional sound. His tone and intensity were instantly identifiable.

After Wolf's death in 1976, Sumlin quit music for a while; he couldn't imagine performing without his mentor. When he returned to music in the early eighties, Hubert established his own career as a solo artist. He toured the world with various acts, playing with Albert King, Otis Rush, Pinetop Perkins and countless others. Sumlin became close friends with Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan and still wears the trademark "music note" guitar strap that Stevie gave him.

Hubert Sumlin is a historically significant originator of blues composition and one of the last living connections to an era that produced so much monumental music.

OFFICIAL HUBERT SUMLIN SITE
http://www.hubertsumlin.com