On Labor Day Weekend 2001, I visited Howlin' Wolf's grave in Chicago-land, namely Oak Ridge Cemetery in Hillside.  As many of you may know, my mother raised me on blues music and Howlin' Wolf's London Sessions album in particular...

...so I may go to Hell or Heaven for this one, but I think the good Lord understood and enjoyed it----I visited at twilight and played Wolf's "Howlin' Wolf's London Sessions" CD at two-thirds of maximum volume as the sun slowly set.  The first song was "Rocking Daddy" which you can hear here on Amazon.com .

Many people don't know about it, but many bluesmen were veterans.  Howlin' Wolf was a World War II veteran from the Army where he served as a radioman in the Pacific Northwest.

Mrs. Lillie Burnett, Howlin' Wolf's wife, just passed away in the Spring of 2001.

In typical bluesman's fashion, Howlin' Wolf's grave carries his stage moniker and images of his guitar and harmonica, although the ravages of the elements is gradually wearing away the finer points of the harmonica's carving.

If you have only one blues recording in your possession, you should have the Howlin' Wolf London Sessions CD which you can purchase at almost any decent music store.