Hubert Sumlin

November 16, 1931 - Present
Birthplace: Greenwood, Mississippi

For more than twenty years Hubert Sumlin played guitar in Howlin Wolf's band. His terse, sharp-edged solos and scratchy tones became an integral part of Wolf's sound. Sumlin played on numerous Wolf classics, including "Spoonful," "I Ain't Superstitious," "Back Door Man," "Smokestack Lightnin'," and "The Red Rooster." Though not nearly as well known as other post-World War II Chicago guitarists, Sumlin has always been highly regarded in blues musicians' circles.

Sumlin was born in Mississippi but raised in Arkansas, just outside West Memphis. He learned to play the drums before he picked up a guitar. In 1954, after a brief stint with James Cotton, Sumlin joined Howlin' Wolf's band and moved to Chicago. He toured with Wolf for two years before a personality clash led him to leave and joinMuddy Water's band. Sumlin toured with Waters for a year before returning to the Wolf fold, where he remained until Wolf s death in 1976.

Sumlin help lead the Wolf band for a while after Wolf's passing, but eventually branched out into a long-overdue solo career. He made an album called Groove with the French Black and Blue label, but it wasn't until the release of Hubert Sumlin's Blues Party in 1986 on the Black Top label that his solo career in the U.S. took shape. Sumlin continues to tour regularly.