Hubert Sumlin

Welcome to a new regular feature entitled ‘Guitarists you should know’. With this feature I will introduce or reacquaint readers with some of my favourite guitarists and new players who have caught my ear.

Listening to as many different guitar players and styles as possible will not only help enrich your own playing but will also help to inspire and motivate you to keep practising.

I have picked Hubert Sumlin to kick this feature off as he is one of my favourite Blues players and even though appearing on some of the most important Blues records ever recorded, he is still largely unknown.

Who?

Hubert Sumlin was born on November 16th 1931 and sadly passed away on December 4th 2011, aged 80 years. Hubert is best known as the guitarist in Howlin’ Wolfs band, a position he filled from 1954 till 1976 when Howlin Wolf sadly passed away. Hubert did leave Wolf for a brief spell to play in Muddy Waters band around 1956, but apart from that remained loyal to Wolf until the end.

Hubert has been a huge influence to many guitar greats including Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Jimmy Page. He was listed as number 43 in the Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Sumlin played on the album Howlin' Wolf, also called The Rockin' Chair Album, which was named the third greatest guitar album of all time by Mojo magazine in 2004.

When I First Heard Hubert

I first heard Hubert when I started getting into Blues at college. I remember hearing Smokestack Lightning for the first time and being floored by Wolf’s powerful vocal and Sumlin’s hypnotic riff. I then heard Killing Floor, Spoonful, Shake for me and Down at the bottom and from then on I was completely sold on Howlin Wolf and the Chicago sound which in turn lead to Chess Records.

Howlin Wolf’s music has always sounded vibrant, interesting and unique which is surprising when you realise it was recorded fifty five years ago, but that’s down to Hubert’s playing. Hubert’s sound is aggressive, the tone cutting and his rhythm pushing and pulling but rather than derail the song it just adds to the excitement and interest. It is these elements that make up the Hubert Sumlin sound coveted by British Blues men for decades.

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Howlin' Wolf - Shake It For Me	"Living the Blues" with Hubert Sumlin	Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightnin' (Original)
Rolling Stones and Howlin Wolf _1965_ How Many More Years Cuántos años más.	Eric Clapton/ Robert Cray/ Hubert Sumlin/ Jimmie Vaughan - Killing Floor Live Crossroad Festival	Howlin' Wolf - Meet Me In The Bottom

Hubert’s Sound & Technique

I wrote the lick below for onlineguitaracademy.co.uk which is my online guitar lesson’s site. It takes inspiration from Smokestack Lightning. The lick is based around ‘E’ minor pentatonic played in open position with the addition of the natural 6th (C#) in bar two. Hubert recorded entire songs based around just one lick, creating a strong hypnotic mood, reminiscent of early Delta blues.

Hubert has stated that the most important factor to his sound is his fingers which allow for greater sensitivity and expressive touch when compared to using a plectrum. In regards to guitars Hubert is often seen with either a Gibson Les Paul or a Fender Strat plugged into a valve driven clean toned Fender combo.

For more information on Hubert check out the products below. If you are looking for a good introduction I recommend the Chess Box and also his instruction DVD 'The blues guitar of Hubert Sumlin'.