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Died on this date 45 years ago: Chester Arthur Burnett.
That’s Howlin’ Wolf to you and me.
While I have yet to find the specifics of his lodge membership, we all know African-American musicians, who traveled extensively, very often sought Masonic belonging so as to have an extra-friendly support system wherever they turned.
It seems the only clue we have is that pinkie ring visible in this photo, shot by Brian Smith in 1964.
That’s not much at all, of course. We do not know where or when Burnett received the degrees of Freemasonry. If the Mississippi native was made a Mason after relocating to Chicago, which is home to myriad lodges of offshoots derivative from Prince Hall Masonry, then the unanswered question could become more complicated.
I’m happy just to think of him as a Brother, without the political complications.
Burnett is said to have stood six and a half feet tall, and otherwise was massive in stature. I’d like to see the Ruffian tasked with the final blow. (And, if you know how physical a Prince Hall degree can be....) I hope he was a ritualist. A charge, for example, emanating from his presence would resound very effectively!
The music of Howlin’ Wolf reached a whole new world during the late 1960s when blues-based, guitar-heavy rock bands performed his songs. Just off the top of my head:
“I Ain’t Superstitious”
Jeff Beck Group
“Back Door Man”
The Doors
“Spoonful”
Cream
“Wang Dang Doodle”
Savoy Brown
“No Place to Go”
Fleetwood Mac
“Smokestack Lightning”
The Yardbirds
“Killing Floor”
Jimi Hendrix Experience
(and adapted by Led Zeppelin as “The Lemon Song”)
I’m sure there are many others. It actually took a Rolling Stones appearance on Shindig! in 1965 to bring Burnett before an American television audience. (And that Masonic ring can be seen.)
Raise your glass today to the memory of Howlin’ Wolf: Bro. Chester Burnett.
