Muddy Waters

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McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913[2] – April 30, 1983), known by his stage name Muddy

Waters, was an American blues musician. He is often considered the "father of

modernChicago blues".

 

Muddy Waters grew up on Stovall Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi and by age

seventeen was playing the guitar at parties, emulating local blues artists Son House and

Robert Johnson.[4] He was recorded by Alan Lomax there for the Library of Congress in

1941In 1943, he headed to Chicago with the hope of becoming a full-time professional

musician, eventually recording, in 1946, for first Columbia and then Aristocrat Records, a

newly formed label run by brothers Leonard and Phil Chess.

 

In the early 1950s, Waters and his band, Little Walter Jacobs on harmonica, Jimmy

Rogers on guitar, Elgin Evans on drums and Otis Spann on piano, recorded a series of

blues classics, some with bassist/songwriter Willie Dixon, including "Hoochie Coochie

Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "I'm Ready". In 1958, Waters headed to

England, helping to lay the foundations of the subsequent blues boom there, and in 1960

performed at the Newport Jazz Festival, recorded and released as his first live album, At

Newport 1960.

 

Water's influence is tremendous, not just on blues and rhythm and blues but on rock 'n'

roll, hard rock, folk, jazz, and country; his use of amplification is often cited as the link

betweenDelta blues and rock 'n' roll.

 

 

Early life

 

Although in his later years Waters usually said that he was born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, in 1915, he was most likely born at Jug's Corner in

neighboring Issaquena County in 1913 Recent research has uncovered documentation showing that in the 1930s and 1940s, before his rise to fame,

he reported his birth year as 1913 on his marriage license, recording notes and musicians' union card. A 1955 interview in the Chicago Defender is

the earliest claim of 1915 as his year of birth, which he continued to use in interviews from that point onward. The 1920 census lists him as five

years old as of March 6, 1920, suggesting that his birth year may have been 1914. The Social Security Death Index, relying on the Social Security

card application submitted after his move to Chicago in the mid-1940s, lists him as being born April 4, 1913. Waters' gravestone gives his birth

year as 1915.

 

Waters' grandmother, Della Grant, raised him after his mother died shortly following his birth. Della gave the boy the nickname "Muddy" at an early

age because he loved to play in the muddy water of nearby Deer Creek. Waters later changed it to "Muddy Water" and finally "Muddy Waters".

 

The shack where Waters lived in his youth on Stovall Plantation is now located at the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He started out

on harmonica, but by age seventeen he was playing the guitar at parties, emulating two blues artists in particular, Son House and Robert Johnson.

 

On November 20, 1932, Waters married Mabel Berry. Guitarist Robert Nighthawk played at the wedding and the party reportedly got so wild the

floor fell in.[11] Mabel left Waters three years later when his first child was born; the child's mother was Leola Spain, 16 years old (Leola later

used her maiden name, Brown), "married to a man named Steven" and "going with a guy named Tucker". Leola was the only one of his girlfriends

with whom Waters would stay in touch throughout his life; they never married. By the time he finally cut out for Chicago in 1943, there was

another Mrs. Morganfield left behind, a girl called Sallie Ann.[

 

Early career

 

In August[6] of 1941, Alan Lomax went to Stovall, Mississippi on behalf of the Library of Congress to record various country blues musicians. "He

brought his stuff down and recorded me right in my house," Waters recalled inRolling Stone, "and when he played back the first song I sounded just

like anybody's records. Man, you don't know how I felt that Saturday afternoon when I heard that voice and it was my own voice. Later on he sent

me two copies of the pressing and a check for twenty bucks, and I carried that record up to the corner and put it on the jukebox. Just played it and

played it and said, 'I can do it, I can do it.'"[5] Lomax came back in July 1942 to record Waters again. Both sessions were eventually released as

Down On Stovall's Plantation on the Testament label. The complete recordings were re-issued on CD as Muddy Waters: The Complete Plantation

Recordings. The historic 1941-42 Library of Congress field recordings by Chess Records in 1993, and re-mastered in 1997.

 

In 1943, Waters headed to Chicago with the hope of becoming a full-time professional musician. He lived with a relative for a short period while

driving a truck and working in a factory by day and performing at night. Big Bill Broonzy, then one of the leading blues-men in Chicago, helped

Waters break into the very competitive market by allowing him to open for his shows in the rowdy clubs.[15] In 1945, Waters' uncle, Joe Grant,

gave him his first electric guitar, which enabled him to be heard above the noisy crowds.

 

In 1946, he recorded some tunes for Mayo Williams at Columbia but they were not released at the time. Later that year he began recording for

Aristocrat Records, a newly formed label run by two brothers, Leonard and Phil Chess. In 1947, he played guitar with Sunnyland Slim on piano on

the cuts "Gypsy Woman" and "Little Anna Mae." These were also shelved, but in 1948, "I Can't Be Satisfied" and "I Feel Like Going Home" became

big hits and his popularity in clubs began to take off. Soon after, Aristocrat changed their label name to Chess Records and Waters' signature tune

"Rollin' Stone" also became a smash hit.

 

Commercial success

 

Initially, the Chess brothers would not allow Waters to use his working band in the recording studio; instead he was provided with a backing bass

by Ernest "Big" Crawford, or by musicians assembled specifically for the recording session, including "Baby Face" Leroy Foster and Johnny Jones.

Gradually Chess relented, and by September 1953 he was recording with one of the most acclaimed blues groups in history: Little Walter Jacobs on

harmonica,Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Elga Edmonds (a.k.a. Elgin Evans) on drums and Otis Spann on piano. The band recorded a series of blues

classics during the early 1950s, some with the help of bassist/songwriter Willie Dixon, including "Hoochie Coochie Man" (Number 8 on the R&B

charts), "I Just Want to Make Love to You" (Number 4), and "I'm Ready". These three were "the most macho songs in his repertoire," wrote Robert

Palmer in Rolling Stone. "Muddy would never have composed anything so unsubtle. But they gave him a succession of showstoppers and an image,

which were important for a bluesman trying to break out of the grind of local gigs into national prominence Along with his former harmonica player

Little Walter Jacobs and recent southern transplant Howlin' Wolf, Waters reigned over the early 1950s Chicago blues scene, his band becoming a

proving ground for some of the city's best blues talent. While Little Walter continued a collaborative relationship long after he left Waters' band in

1952, appearing on most of Waters' classic recordings throughout the 1950s, Waters developed a long-running, generally good-natured rivalry with

Wolf... The success of Waters' ensemble paved the way for others in his group to break away and enjoy their own solo careers. In 1952 Little

Walter left when his single "Juke" became a hit, and in 1955 Rogers quit to work exclusively with his own band, which had been a sideline until that

time. Although he continued working with Waters' band, Otis Spann enjoyed a solo career and many releases under his own name beginning in the

mid-1950s. Around that time, Waters scored hits with songs "Mannish Boy" and "Sugar Sweet" in 1955, followed by the R&B hits "Trouble No More,"

"Forty Days & Forty Nights" and "Don't Go No Farther" in 1956.

 

England and low profile

 

Waters headed to England in 1958 and shocked audiences (whose only previous exposure to blues had come via the acoustic folk/blues sounds of

acts such as Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and Big Bill Broonzy) with his loud, amplified electric guitar and thunderous beat. His performance

at the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival, recorded and released as his first live album, At Newport 1960, helped turn on a whole new generation to

Waters' sound.

 

However, for the better part of twenty years (since his last big hit in 1956, "I'm Ready") Waters was put on the back shelf by the Chess label and

recorded albums with various "popular" themes: Brass And The Blues, Electric Mud, etc. In 1967, he joined forces with Bo Diddley, Little Walter and

Howlin' Wolf to record the Super Blues and The Super Super Blues Band pair of albums of Chess blues standards. In 1972 he went back to England

to recordThe London Muddy Waters Sessions with Rory Gallagher, Steve Winwood, Rick Grech and Mitch Mitchell — but their playing was not up to

his standards. "These boys are top musicians, they can play with me, put the book before 'em and play it, you know," he told Guralnick. "But that

ain't what I need to sell my people, it ain't the Muddy Waters sound. An' if you change my sound, then you gonna change the whole man."

 

Waters' sound was basically Delta blues electrified, but his use of microtones, in both his vocals and slide playing, made it extremely difficult to

duplicate and follow correctly.[needed] "When I play on the stage with my band, I have to get in there with my guitar and try to bring the sound

down to me. But no sooner than I quit playing, it goes back to another, different sound. My blues look so simple, so easy to do, but it's not. They

say my blues is the hardest blues in the world to play.

 

Comeback

 

 

 

Muddy Waters with James Cotton, 1971

 

Waters' long-time wife Geneva died of cancer on March 15, 1973. A devastated Waters was taken to a doctor and told to quit smoking, which he

did. Gaining custody of some of his "outside kids", he moved them into his home, eventually buying a new house in Westmont, Illinois. His first

born, Larry Williams (née Mud Morganfield) stayed with his mother, Mildred McGhee. Another teenage daughter turned up while Waters was on tour

in New Orleans; Big Bill Morganfield was introduced to his Dad after a gig in Florida. Florida was also where Waters met his future wife, the 19-

year-old Marva Jean Brooks whom he nicknamed "Sunshine".[19] Eric Clapton served as best man at their wedding in 1979.

 

In 1981, Waters was invited to perform at ChicagoFest, the city's top outdoor music festival. He was joined onstage by Johnny Winter—who had

successfully produced his most recent albums—and played classics like "Mannish Boy," "Trouble No More" and "Mojo Working" to a new generation

of fans. This historic performance was made available on DVD in 2009 byShout! Factory. Later that year, Waters performed live with the Rolling

Stones at the Checkerboard Lounge, with a DVD version of the concert released in 2012.

 

In 1982, declining health dramatically curtailed Waters' performance schedule. His last public performance took place when he sat in with Eric

Clapton's band at a Clapton concert in Florida in autumn of 1982

 

Death

 

On April 30, 1983, Waters died in his sleep from heart failure, at his home in Westmont, Illinois. At his funeral at Restvale Cemetery in Alsip,

Illinois, throngs of blues musicians and fans showed up to pay tribute to one of the true originals of the art form. "Muddy was a master of just the

right notes," John P. Hammond, told Guitar World magazine. "It was profound guitar playing, deep and simple... more country blues transposed to

the electric guitar, the kind of playing that enhanced the lyrics, gave profundity to the words themselves." Two years after his death, Chicago

honored him by designating the one-block section between 900 and 1000 E. 43rd Street near his former home on the south side "Honorary Muddy

Waters Drive"The Chicago suburb of Westmont, where Waters lived the last decade of his life, named a section of Cass Avenue near his home

"Honorary Muddy Waters Way" Following his death, fellow blues musician B.B. King told Guitar World, "It's going to be years and years before most

people realize how greatly he contributed to American music". A Mississippi Blues Trailmarker has been placed in Clarksdale, Mississippi, by the

Mississippi Blues Commission designating the site of Muddy Waters' cabin

 

Influence

 

His influence is tremendous, over a variety of music genres: blues, rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll, hard rock, folk, jazz, and country. He also

helped Chuck Berry get his first record contract.

 

His 1958 tour of England marked possibly the first time amplified, modern urban blues was heard there, although on his first tour he was the only

one amplified. His backing was provided by Englishman Chris Barber's trad jazzgroup.

 

His use of amplification is cited as "the technological missing link between Delta Blues and Rock 'N' Roll."[7] This is underlined in a 1968 article in

Rolling Stone magazine: “There was a difference between Muddy’s instrumental work and that of House and Johnson, however, and the crucial

difference was the result of Waters’ use of the electric guitar on his Aristocrat sides; he had taken up the instrument shortly after moving to

Chicago in 1943.

 

The Rolling Stones named themselves after his 1950 song "Rollin' Stone" (also known as "Catfish Blues", which Jimi Hendrix covered as well). The

magazine Rolling Stone also took its name from the same song. Hendrix recalled "the first guitar player I was aware of was Muddy Waters. I first

heard him as a little boy and it scared me to death". Cream covered "Rollin' and Tumblin'" on their 1966 debut album Fresh Cream, as Eric Clapton

was a big fan of Waters when he was growing up, and his music influenced Clapton's music career. The song was also covered by Canned Heat at

the legendary Monterey Pop Festival and later adapted by Bob Dylan on the albumModern Times. One of Led Zeppelin's biggest hits, "Whole Lotta

Love", is lyrically based upon the Waters hit "You Need Love", written by Willie Dixon. Dixon wrote some of Waters' most famous songs, including

"I Just Want to Make Love to You" (a big radio hit for Etta James, as well as the 1970s rock band Foghat), "Hoochie Coochie Man", which The Allman

Brothers Band famously covered (the song was also covered by Humble Pie andSteppenwolf), "Trouble No More" and "I'm Ready". In 1993, Paul

Rodgers released the album Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters, on which he covered a number of Waters' songs, including "Louisiana

Blues", "Rollin' Stone", "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "I'm Ready" (among others) in collaboration with a number of famous guitarists including Gary

Moore, Brian May and Jeff Beck.

 

Angus Young of the rock group AC/DC has cited Waters as one of his influences. The AC/DC song title "You Shook Me All Night Long" came from

lyrics of the Muddy Waters song "You Shook Me", written by Willie Dixon and J. B. Lenoir. Earl Hooker first recorded it as an instrumental, which

was then overdubbed with vocals by Waters in 1962. Led Zeppelin also covered it on their debut album.

 

Waters' songs have been featured in long-time fan Martin Scorsese's movies, including The Color of Money, Goodfellas and Casino. Waters' 1970s

recording of his mid-'50s hit "Mannish Boy" (a.k.a. "I'm A Man") was used inGoodfellas, Better Off Dead, and the hit film Risky Business, and also

features in the rockumentary The Last Waltz.

 

The song "Come Together" by The Beatles references Waters: "He roller coaster/he got Muddy Waters."

 

Van Morrison lyrics include "Muddy Waters singin', "I'm a Rolling Stone" from his 1982 song "Cleaning Windows", on the album Beautiful Vision.

 

American Stoner Metal band Bongzilla covered Water's song Champagne and Reefer on their album Amerijuanican.

 

In 2008, Jeffrey Wright portrayed Waters in the biopic Cadillac Records, a film about the rise and fall of Chess Records and the lives of its recording

artists. A second 2008 film about Leonard Chess and Chess Records, Who Do You Love, also covers Waters' time at Chess Records.

 

In the 2009 film The Boat that Rocked (retitled Pirate Radio in the U.S) about pirate radio in the UK, the cryptic message that late-night DJ Bob

gives to Carl to give to Carl's mother is: "Muddy Waters Rocks."

 

In 1990, the television show Doogie Howser, M.D. featured an episode called "Doogie Sings the Blues" with the main character, Blind Otis Lemon,

based on Waters, with references to his influence on the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, along with the performance of "Got My Mojo Working" by

Blind Otis Lemon. He is also referred to as the original "Hoochie Coochie Man".

 

Waters' son Larry "Mud" Morganfield is a professional blues singer and musician.

 

 

 

 

 

The Forum post is edited by bninna Aug 12 '15
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