Customer Reviews

Incurable Blues: The Troubles and Triumph of Blues Legend Hubert Sumlin (Book)

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Some time ago, at a show in NYC, I got the chance to see Hubert play and was just amazed. Not only at the music I was hearing...but at the vibe that he exuded. At the end of the show I was lucky enough to briefly meet him..and I can tell you that he just put you in a good mood the moment he spoke. After the show I was interested in hearing more of his music and while searching for some Howlin' Wolf tunes I came across this book..I immediately picked it up and it was a great read.

I really liked that the book was different than most bios. It seemed to focus more on Hubert's character, and I can tell you that the sense I got in that brief meeting shined thru in this book. I got the sense that Hubert's wonderful and unique guitar playing has always been a part of his personality. And his personality, as much as his musical abilities, makes Hubert special. I really enjoyed this book...and am enjoying Hubert's music - especially the music he made with Wolf. You can sense something different in the music he made with Wolf...and after reading the book and understanding that relationship I can see why.

It's incredible to hear his stories. From breaking his older brother's Didley Bow, to meeting Wolf for the first time, moving to Chicago and playing with Wolf. The inside stories from their nearly 30 year musical relationship and his suffering and surviving lung cancer to continue performing and helping the music live on.

Hubert Sumlin is a wonderful and unique guitar player, and this is a well meaning but unnecessary book. Hubert Sumlin is important as a historical figure because he was the guitar player for 23 years in the Howling Wolf Band. Since Wolf's death in 1976 Sumlin has continued to perform and record but he has been unable to establish much of an artistic identity apart from being Howling Wolf's guitar player. That's why a decent biography of Howling Wolf, such as Segrest and Hoffman's "Moanin' At Midnight," covers the historically relevant portion of Hubert Sumlin's career adequately. Alternatively, "Rollin' and Tumblin': Postwar Blues Guitarists," edited by Jas Obrect, is a good compilatation of articles covering Hubert Sumlin and many other fine underappreciated blues guitar players as well. Both books are more carefully presented and more informative on the subject than this one.

For anybody who loves the blues and wants to learn as much as possible about the music and artists who made it, Will Romano has written a must-read book. The power of Romano's book comes in the insights he gives not only into Sumlin the musician and blues great, but Sumlin the man. The amount of painstaking research shows that Romano was able to get as close to the man and the truth as probably anybody. This is not dry, academic research effort, but popular history done by a journalist who is an excellent writer and storyteller. And there can be little doubt about the importance of Romano's subject. When you listen to the records of Howlin' Wolf, you hear the impact of Sumlin on the postwar Chicago blues. This was a musician who not only was present at the creation but helped shape that creation. And the impact Sumlin has had on musicians ranging from Eric Clapton to Michael Hill is testimony to his importance. The musicians know that this was not a minor figure. The recent deaths of R.L. Burnside and Gatemouth Brown underlines the importance of getting these stories on record while we still have the chance. These artists are keys to helping us not just enjoy the blues but understand where this valuable part of our culture comes from. Romano has written a book that does just that with Hubert Sumlin, which is why is will have a lasting impact.

Hubert Sumlin is one of the most individualistic guitar stylists in the blues of the past fifty years and one of the nicest persons you could ever meet. He is best known for his association with the legendary Howlin' Wolf on which his mercurial, unpredictable guitar played so important a role on so many recordings. Will Romano has written a bio of Hubert, "Incurable Blues: The Trouble & Triumph of Blues Legend Hubert Sumlin "(Backbeat Books) that recounts Hubert's life and music from growing up in the Delta and learning to play in various juke bands, his association with the Wolf down in the Memphis area and later coming north to Chicago where he became an integral part of Wolf's band and music through the end of Wolf's life and the thirty odd years since then with Hubert carrying on Wolf's musical legacy as well as trying to establish a bit of his own separate from Wolf. A premise of this book is the Wolf is one of the great and influential blues guitarists and Romano tries to establish this through interviews with blues and rock musicians, discussions of a wide variety of recordings and performances that Hubert was a part of. It is not a completely successful book in part because the author focuses on the testimonials of rock legends to make his case of Hubert's impact and influence, but while Sumlin's best recordings (mostly those with wit) exhibit his brilliant originality and invention, there are few examples other than testimonials to show his influence in the blues world. The fact that Eric Clapton may have pushed to get Sumlin involved in the London Howlin' Wolf sessions when producer Marshall Chess may not have wanted him says more about Clapton's understanding of Wolf's recordings and what Sumlin brought to them. Chess' focus may have been on rock stars to sell this music but Clapton helped insure the music would come out right. Still, the admiration of many blues-influenced rock superstars does little to establish Hubert's influence compared to other equally talented blues guitarists. The discussion of the various recordings, that post-date the Wolf's passing is fascinating but too lengthy and while recognizing Hubert's limitations as a vocalist tries to make these as more important and seminal than some are. I am particularly thinking about the lengthy discussion about "About Them Shoes," the recent Sumlin album that had Clapton, David Johansson, Bob Margolin, Paul Oscher, David Maxwell and others join him on a collection of mostly songs associated with Muddy Waters songs, which resulted in a pleasant recording, but one not nearly as remarkable as Romano suggests, as the grooves in Muddy's music does not lend itself to allow Sumlin's playing to shine. Of course part of the success of Wolf's recordings might have been Willie Dixon's production and shaping of the rhythms. Certainly songs like "Hidden Charms" and "Do the Do," are otherwise forgettable but for the hot, tight band, Wolf's ability to make anything sound good and Sumlin's staggering playing. Also for a book that chronicles Sumlin's life there is no mention of Big Mac's sixties Jewel 45, "Rough Dried Woman", which sported Sumlin's guitar or a late sixties, early seventies Sunnyland Slim session with members of Wolf's band, along with Walter Horton backing the legendary pianist not to mention terrific albums from then by Willie Williams and ANdrew 'Blueblood' McHahon. Sumlin's guitar was prominently featured on this spirited date which strikes me as a lot better than some of the European American Folk Blues Festival recordings that the author here praises. This is a flawed, overlong book by a fan, but it book does get a sense of Hubert's shy and sweet personality that has led many to really love him and when he does get to play, he still can blow one away.

My ex Luz and I were Hubert and Mama Bea's drivers, bankers, confidants and more up until Mama Bea died. There are several factual inaccuracies in the section on Milwaukee and the way things actually were at that point in time. It angered me to see the truth ignored and glossed over for the most part in this book. There were always people flocking around Hubert promoting their own agendas and egos in Milwaukee and that continued into their "contributions" to the book. Very few people ever did anything for Hubert and Bea without an angle to get something for themselves out of it. Luz and I drove them shopping every week, cashed their checks for them until they got a bank account and then drove them to the bank, I fixed Hubert's cars and guitars, dealt with some of the wackos that showed up uninvited and talked to Bea daily on the telephone if I wasn't at the house. We took nothing in return for our time other than a Weber grill they gave me as a present.
Nothing was mentioned of Toni's contributing to the stress Bea was under because few people actually knew what was going on. None of the people that called themselves "friends" were ever around when Hubert was out of town and to me that says a lot about their actual motives. His house there on 37th Street was/is in Milwaukee not Glendale. I grew up in that neighborhood and know it well. Glendale is miles to the east and is like a different universe.
That beautiful 1955 Les Paul Jimmy Vivano gave Hubert vanished one day shortly after he got it when a local crack fiend broke into the house and stole it. Hubert didn't want to get the police involved and as far as I know is still missing. The car he took the engine apart in was a Chevelle station wagon. It actually ran until Hubert took it apart when drunk one day. Mama Bea called me and asked me to come look at it. Hubert had broken the camshaft trying to get it out of the block. He offered me the car for free but I didn't want it. Hubert had a 1987 Cadillac Fleetwood that the hood release cable broke on. Hubert and his neighbor Bill from across the street tried opening the hood using a bumper jack. I had to locate the correct pricey aluminum hood, paint it to match the car in 10 degree winter Milwaukee weather and repair all of the bent and damaged mounts and release mechanism. I kept the old hood as a souvenir. There are many other stories like that to be remain untold for better or worse.
I'm not going to rant on any further but reading the book was an interesting take on how things get twisted and how history is formed from the viewpoints and agendas of those telling the story as opposed to the actual truth.