AwlMuzikGuyde Howlin Rain biography:
Howlin Rain was born Rudy Remo “Rimmy Ray” Robyns either in Natchez, MS, Natchitoches, LA, or Nevernudenachos, NE in either 1909, 1910, or 1915. Nothing much is known of his early life, so many have speculated that he came out of the womb as a teenage semi-pro guitar and harmonica player who immediately began playing juke joints and dive bars for meals and rent. He was never consistently employed during his early career and supplemented sporadic gig money with piece-meal jobs at local packing plants, slaughterhouses, and teaching backwoods folk the electric slide. He also made a very small mark in films as Buster Keaton’s torso double.
But music was his first love and burning desire. His early recordings were emphatic faith-based ditties like “Hallelujah! It’s Easter!” and “Jesus! Jesus Keeps Beating Me at Checkers!” These recordings sold poorly locally, as he was living in a primarily Jewish part of Chicago at the time of their release. However, Robyns managed to make some money from these early records, by heating them over his stove elements and making groovy ashtrays out of them. The value of an early-period Robyns ashtray was recently estimated at $4,000 on Antiques Roadshow.
For years, people inaccurately attributed Howlin Rain’s stage name to the two acclaimed blues men, Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters (né Muddy Rain), but this is hogwash. The unique moniker comes from a real life event, in which a drunken Robyns stood outside the window screaming his undying love to a certain “Miss Missy” before starting to pull out his own teeth with flat-nose pliers to prove that he meant every word. This misguided but romantic gesture led to unrequited spurning and a restraining order for Robyns, but spawned the creation of his stage name and a spate of regional hits inspired by the incident, like “I’m Pullin’ My Teeth Out (For You)” and “Please Don’t Let Me Be Understood” (later to be altered to “…Misunderstood” by popular beat combo The Animals).
With modest success came a change in behavior and attitude for Rain. He changed his name to ♪, predating Prince’s entity change to a stupid unpronounceable symbol by decades. “Note Symbol #2”,” as Robyns was calling himself, started dressing like the Monopoly Man mixed with the Marlboro Man, complete with silly ‘stache and monocle, ten-gallon hat and chaps. Thankfully, this nouveau riche/cowpie transformation was short-lived and “Note” went back to playing as Howlin Rain after some chick told him he looked like a “half-baked Alaska.” He continued to tour around the country and under the radar for years before succumbing to rickets in 1979 after a half-century eating exclusively uncooked Ramen noodles and gin. Howlin Rain died penny-full, leaving the one penny he owned to be divided among dozens of illegitimate kids. Contrary to popular Howlin accounts, he did not have a circus-sized dong, but he was powerfully virile; rumor has it he didn’t even need a receiving uterus to produce children.
Want the real story? Then go see the real Howlin Rain play live, as they start their next bunch of shows August 22 at the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival in San Francisco. The Cali-centric combo will be tearing a psych-soaked swath of rock across the continent on their forthcoming tour, with many dates opening for a band that knows a thing or two about the blues: The Black Crowes. There may be some new tunes played and definitely some from both their self-titled debut and their latest disc, Magnificent Fiend (TMT Review). There may some blues played, too. If so, expect it to have a full set of teeth.
Magnificent dates:
08.22.08 - San Francisco, CA - Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival
08.29.08 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Media Club
08.30.08 - Victoria, British Columbia - Rifflandia @ The McPherson Playhouse
08.31.08 - Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival
09.10.08 - Arcata, CA - Van Duzer Theater %
09.13.08 - Las Vegas, NV - The Joint %
09.14.08 - Santa Cruz, CA - Civic Auditorium %
09.16.08 - Mesa, AZ - Ikeda Theatre @ Mesa Arts Center %
09.17.08 - Los Angeles, CA - The Greek Theater %
09.19.08 - Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara County Bowl %
09.21.08 - Santa Rosa, CA - Wells Fargo Center %
09.25.08 - Redwood City, CA - The Little Fox ^
10.07.08 - Richmond, VA - The National %
10.08.08 - Richmond, VA - The National %
10.11.08 - Albany, NY - The Palace Theater %
10.12.08 - Northampton, MA - Calvin Theater %
10.15.08 - Portland, OPR - Merrill Auditorium %
10.17.08 - Boston, MA - Boston Opera House %
10.18.08 - Buffalo, NY - The Town Ballroom %
10.28.08 - New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom %
% The Black Crowes
^ acoustic performance, support to Pegi Young
