Where was howlin' wolf born

Peter Guralnick, one of the best American roots-music writers ever, has just released an outstanding new biography of Memphis music trailblazer Sam Phillips, who “discovered” Howlin’ Wolf, Ike Turner, Walter Horton, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roy Orbison, among others. Reading this book, you’ll see how tough and touch-and-go recording all these great artists was for Phillips physically, psychically, and financially. For example, he had to sell Elvis’s contract to a large record company for $35,000 because he needed the money to pay off debts to keep going. Phillips always said, truthfully that he never regretted this decision. His alternative was to declare bankruptcy, and $35,000 was a huge sum in 1955--the most any popular singer's contract had ever garnered until then.

Until the end of his life, Phillips said that Wolf was the most profound artist he ever worked with, and he wanted to record Wolf until either of them died. He never got that chance because Wolf left Sun Records to record for

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