Slow-Blues.com — Global Blues Encyclopedia
Back to artists
Muddy Waters
Performance photograph, November 1976 — photographer unrecorded/unknown (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)
Chicago

Muddy Waters

This artist is no longer with us.
Born: April 4, 1913 (per most documentary evidence; he himself sometimes claimed 1915, the year on his own gravestone), most likely Jug's Corner, Issaquena County, Mississippi (he claimed Rolling Fork, Sharkey County) · Died: April 30, 1983, Westmont, Illinois (heart failure and cancer-related complications)• United States
Chicago BluesElectric Blues
Instruments
Electric guitar (slide), Voice
Labels
Aristocrat, Chess, Blue Sky
from
Stovall Plantation, Mississippi → Chicago
Born
April 4, 1913 (per most documentary evidence; he himself sometimes claimed 1915, the year on his own gravestone), most likely Jug's Corner, Issaquena County, Mississippi (he claimed Rolling Fork, Sharkey County)
Alan Lomax drove out to Stovall Plantation in 1941 to record a tractor driver who'd caught his ear, played him the recording back on the spot, and Muddy Waters later said hearing his own voice for the first time was the moment he decided music was going to be his life. Two years later he was on a train to Chicago, and within a decade he'd rebuilt the entire genre of blues around an amplifier. He was born McKinley Morganfield, most likely on April 4, 1913, though he himself sometimes claimed 1915 and his own gravestone lists that year — his birthplace is disputed too, between Rolling Fork in Sharkey County (his own account) and Jug's Corner in Issaquena County, Mississippi, which the documentary record better supports (Kilde: Wikipedia). His mother died when he was young, and his grandmother, Della Grant, raised him — she's the one who gave him the nickname "Muddy," for playing in the mud along Deer Creek as a small child. He grew up on the Stovall Plantation near Clarksdale, taught himself harmonica, sang in church, and at seventeen sold the family horse to buy his first guitar, a Stella from the Sears-Roebuck catalogue. He built his early style directly out of listening to Son House and Robert Johnson (Kilde: Wikipedia). Alan Lomax and John W. Work III recorded him for the Library of Congress in 1941 and again in 1942, documenting his acoustic Delta style before it changed forever. He called his 1943 move to Chicago "the single most momentous event" of his life. His first Chicago sessions, for Columbia in 1946, went unreleased, but he found a home that same year at Aristocrat Records, the label run by brothers Leonard and Phil Chess that would soon rename itself after them. In 1948, "I Can't Be Satisfied" backed with "I Feel Like Going Home" became his breakthrough hit, and Chess Records had its first genuine blues star (Kilde: Wikipedia). Through the early-to-mid 1950s he assembled what's generally regarded as the greatest blues band ever recorded: Little Walter Jacobs on harmonica, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Otis Spann on piano, drummer Elga "Elgin" Edmonds, and bassist/songwriter Willie Dixon, who wrote a string of songs that became indistinguishable from Waters's own identity — "Hoochie Coochie Man" (recorded January 7, 1954), "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "I'm Ready," all from 1954, followed by "Mannish Boy" (recorded May 24, 1955), his own answer song to Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man," itself an answer to "Hoochie Coochie Man." "Rollin' Stone," his 1950 reworking of the older "Catfish Blues," would eventually lend its name to both a rock band and a magazine that never bothered to credit him properly for either (Kilde: Wikipedia). In 1958 he took his electric band to Britain, and the volume alone caused a scandal among folk-purist audiences expecting acoustic Delta blues. "I was definitely too loud for them," he said later. "The next morning we were in the headlines of the paper: 'Screaming Guitar and Howling Piano.'" Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies were in the audience taking notes, and the musicians who came up under their influence would go on to form the Rolling Stones — who took their name directly from his song — along with Cream and Fleetwood Mac (Kilde: Wikipedia). He kept recording prolifically for Chess through the 1960s and 70s, including "Muddy Waters Sings 'Big Bill'" (1960), the deliberately acoustic "Folk Singer" (1964, with a young Buddy Guy on guitar), the psychedelic-leaning "Electric Mud" (1968, which Waters later publicly disowned), the celebrated "Fathers and Sons" (1969, with Michael Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield), "The London Muddy Waters Sessions" (1972) and "The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album" (1975). Starting in 1977, guitarist Johnny Winter produced a run of albums for Blue Sky Records that became one of the great late-career comebacks in blues history: "Hard Again" (1977), "I'm Ready" (1978), the live album "Muddy 'Mississippi' Waters — Live" (1979), and "King Bee" (1981) (Kilde: Wikipedia). He married three times — Mabel Berry in the early 1930s, Geneva Wade (who died of cancer in 1973), and finally Marva Jean Brooks in 1979, with Eric Clapton serving as his best man — and fathered at least six children, several of whom, including Larry "Mud" Morganfield and Big Bill Morganfield, became blues musicians themselves (Kilde: Wikipedia). He won six competitive Grammy Awards between 1972 and 1980, plus a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992. He died of heart failure and cancer-related complications at his home in Westmont, Illinois, on April 30, 1983, at 70, and was buried beside Geneva at Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois (Kilde: Wikipedia). In 2016 the International Astronomical Union named a crater on Mercury after him.

Musical Influence

The Rolling Stones took their name directly from his song and cited him as the reason they picked up instruments in the first place. Eric Clapton served as best man at his final wedding. Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies, who saw his electrified 1958 UK tour firsthand, went on to seed the entire British blues boom that produced Cream and Fleetwood Mac. Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead and countless American rock bands built directly on the sound of his Chess-era band. Four of his songs — "Rollin' Stone," "Hoochie Coochie Man," "Mannish Boy" and "Got My Mojo Working" — are included on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Influences

Son HouseRobert Johnson

Family and personal life

Grandmother
Della Grant

Raised him after his mother's death; gave him the nickname "Muddy" for playing in the mud along Deer Creek.

Wife (1st)
Mabel Berry

Married early 1930s.

Wife (2nd)
Geneva Wade

Married in the 1940s; died of cancer March 15, 1973.

Wife (3rd)
Marva Jean Brooks ("Sunshine")

Married 1979; Eric Clapton served as best man.

Sons
Larry "Mud" Morganfield, Big Bill Morganfield, Joseph "Mojo" Morganfield

Among at least six children; several became blues musicians themselves.

Formative experiences

  • •1941–1942: Recorded by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress at Stovall Plantation. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1943: Moved to Chicago — "the single most momentous event" of his life, in his own words. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1948: "I Can't Be Satisfied" became his breakthrough hit on the newly renamed Chess Records. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1954–1955: Recorded the Willie Dixon-written songs that would define his identity — "Hoochie Coochie Man," "I'm Ready," "Mannish Boy." (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1958: Electric UK tour scandalized folk-purist audiences and directly seeded the British blues boom. (Kilde: Wikipedia)

Instruments & Equipment

Guitar

Stella acoustic guitar (early years)
c. 1930–1943

His first guitar, bought with money from selling the family horse.

Electric slide guitar (Chicago era)
1943–1983

Rebuilt Delta slide technique for the electric guitar, becoming the foundational sound of postwar Chicago blues.

Stories & Anecdotes

"Hearing his own voice played back by Alan Lomax in 1941 was, by his own account, the moment he decided to pursue music as a career. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"His 1958 UK tour drew a newspaper headline reading "Screaming Guitar and Howling Piano" — considered scandalous at the time, it's now viewed as the spark for the entire British blues boom. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"He publicly disowned his own 1968 psychedelic-soul album "Electric Mud" despite its eventual cult status. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"In 2016, the International Astronomical Union named a crater on the planet Mercury after him. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

Collaborators

Little Walter Jacobs

Harmonica player in his classic 1950s Chess band.

Willie Dixon

Bassist and songwriter who wrote "Hoochie Coochie Man," "I'm Ready" and other songs central to Waters's identity.

Otis Spann

Pianist in his classic band for over two decades.

Jimmy Rogers

Guitarist in his classic 1950s Chess band.

Johnny Winter

Guitarist who produced his celebrated late-career Blue Sky Records comeback albums, 1977–1981.

Watch & Listen

Featured

Muddy Waters - Hoochie Coochie Man [1954]

Written by Willie Dixon, recorded January 7, 1954 — the record that defined his classic Chess sound.

Classic Mood Experience

Muddy Waters - Mannish Boy (1955)

Muddy Waters - Mannish Boy (1955)

Muddy Waters - Rollin' Stone

Muddy Waters - Rollin' Stone

Watch & Listen

Henter videoer fra YouTube…

Discography

YearTitleProducerStudioLabelChartSalesMusiciansYouTubeNotes
1946Aristocrat Records era, ChicagoLeonard & Phil Chess—Aristocrat——Ernest "Big" Crawford (Bass), "Baby Face" Leroy Foster (Drums, guitar), Johnny Jones (Piano)Early sessions; label soon renamed Chess Records.
1948"I Can't Be Satisfied" / "I Feel Like Going Home"Leonard Chess—Chess——Ernest "Big" Crawford (Bass)His breakthrough hit, Chess Records' first genuine blues star. A stripped-down duo of guitar and bass — Chess initially doubted the raw sound would sell.
1950"Rollin' Stone"Leonard Chess—Chess———Reworking of "Catfish Blues"; later lent its name to both a rock band and a magazine.
1954Classic Chess band sessionsLeonard Chess—Chess——Little Walter Jacobs (Harmonica), Otis Spann (Piano), Willie Dixon (Bass)"Hoochie Coochie Man" (Jan 7), "I Just Want to Make Love to You," "I'm Ready" — all written by Willie Dixon.
1955"Mannish Boy"Leonard Chess—Chess———Recorded May 24, 1955 — answer song to Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man."
1960Muddy Waters Sings "Big Bill"Chess—Chess———Tribute to Big Bill Broonzy.
1964Folk SingerChess—Chess——Buddy Guy (Guitar)Deliberately acoustic album, featuring a young Buddy Guy on guitar.
1968Electric MudMarshall Chess—Cadet Concept———Psychedelic-soul-leaning album that Waters later publicly disowned.
1969Fathers and SonsChess—Chess——Michael Bloomfield (Guitar), Paul Butterfield (Harmonica)Celebrated collaboration with Michael Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield.
1972The London Muddy Waters SessionsChess—Chess——Carey Bell (Harmonica), Sammy Lawhorn (Guitar), Rory Gallagher (Guitar), Steve Winwood (Keyboards), Rick Grech (Bass), Mitch Mitchell (Drums)Recorded with British rock musicians in London.
1975The Muddy Waters Woodstock AlbumChess—Chess——Bob Margolin (Guitar), Pinetop Perkins (Piano), Paul Butterfield (Harmonica), Levon Helm (Drums), Garth Hudson (Organ, accordion, saxophone)Recorded near Woodstock, New York. Levon Helm and Garth Hudson of The Band appeared as sidemen.
1977Hard AgainJohnny Winter—Blue Sky——Johnny Winter (Guitar/Production)Acclaimed late-career comeback album.
1978I'm ReadyJohnny Winter—Blue Sky———Second Blue Sky/Johnny Winter-produced comeback album.
1979Muddy "Mississippi" Waters — LiveJohnny Winter—Blue Sky———Live album from the Blue Sky comeback era.
1981King BeeJohnny Winter—Blue Sky———Final studio album.

Famous songs

01Hoochie Coochie Man
02Mannish Boy
03Rollin' Stone
04Got My Mojo Working
05I'm Ready

External links

YouTube Music Wikipedia

Sources

Keep SlowBlues independent. Official merch — wear the blues.

Shop merch