Howlin' Wolf was a musical giant in every way. He stood 6' 3', wore size 16 shoes, had skin so dark it shined like silver, and poured out his darkest sorrows in a voice that sounded like a rampaging chainsaw. Half a century after his first hits, Wolf's sound still terrifies and inspires.

Born Chester Arthur Burnett in 1910, the Wolf survived a grim childhood and hard scrabble youth as asharecropper in Mississippi. He began his career playing and singing in perilous juke joints with the f...