iRide.2020.05.01 Howlin' wolf

It is a quantum leap from Danny Boy (see my post for yesterday) to Howlin' Wolf (Chester Arthur Burnett 1910-1976) the blues musician. The howlin' wolf (see below: you would howl, too, if you had just sat on that cactus) was accompanied by what I thought was a Mexican balalaika player because of the triangular base of the object he was holding.

The figure was in deep shadow except for that triangular base (the photo has been adjusted to make the detail easier to see). I try to avoid stereotypical assumptions, but men in sombreros are often Mexican and equally as often they eschew balalaikas in favor of guitars. I thought the balalaika was quirky, but hereabouts quirky is not out of the ordinary.

It was not until I was able to examine the photo on a big screen that I realized it was not a musical instrument the figure was holding. That was a potentially dangerous mistake to have made, although understandable for someone during whose updragging it was considered that gun- and razor-totin' was anti-social behavior.

Tell Automatic slim, to tell razor totin' Jim

That's the opening line from Wang Dang Doodle (a song written by Willie Dixon), which it is alleged Howlin' Wolf hated even though it was commercially successful for him. I will take it as fair warning to be more circumspect when I am out riding in the Wild West.

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