416 Howlin’ Wolf (1910-1976) “Spoonful” 1960

“After the release of his recording ‘Spoonful,’ Wolf added an enormous cooking spoon to his on-stage arsenal, which he brandished like a phallic symbol in a pagan fertility rite—not even toning down his act for the white wives of Ole Miss alums at a university event that people still talked about years later…But just as much as he pushed the limits on the bandstand, Wolf knew where to draw the line off stage…Wolf knew that his performance antics might shock, but in the less tolerant world of ‘real-life’ Mississippi, liberties of this sort could get you killed” (Ted Gioia, Delta Blues, 2008). 

Howlin’ Wolf “Spoonful”