McKinley Morganfield known as Muddy Waters, was an American
bluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago
bluesBlues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
". He was a major inspiration for the
British bluesBritish blues is a form of music derived from American blues that originated in the late 1950s and which reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s, when it developed a distinctive and influential style dominated by electric guitar and made international stars of several proponents of...
explosion in the 1960s, Muddy was ranked #17 in
Rolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Early life
Although in his later years Muddy usually said that he was born in
Rolling Fork, MississippiRolling Fork is a city in Sharkey County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 2,486 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Sharkey County.-Geography:Rolling Fork is located at ....
in 1915, he was actually born at Jug's Corner in neighboring
Issaquena County-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 2,274 people, 726 households, and 509 families residing in the county. The population density was 5.15 people per square mile . There were 877 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile...
, Mississippi in 1913. Recent research has uncovered documentation showing that in the 1930s and 1940s he reported his birth year as 1913 on both his marriage license and musicians' union card. He did this to appear older for recording companies. A 1955 interview in the
Chicago DefenderThe Chicago Defender is a Chicago based newspaper founded in 1905 by an African American for primarily African American readers.In just three years from 1919–1922 the Defender also attracted the writing talents of Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks....
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, 1915. Muddy's gravestone lists his birth year as 1915.
His grandmother Della Grant raised him after his mother died shortly after his birth. His fondness for playing in mud earned him the nickname "Muddy" at an early age. He then changed it to "Muddy Water" and finally "Muddy Waters". The actual shack where Muddy Waters lived in his youth on Stovall Plantation is now located at the
Delta Blues MuseumThe Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale exists to collect, preserve, and provide public access to and awareness of the blues. Along with holdings of significant blues-related memorabilia, the museum also exhibits and collects art portraying the blues tradition, including works by sculptor Floyd...
at 1 Blues Alley in
Clarksdale, MississippiClarksdale is a city in Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 20,645 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Coahoma County....
. He started out on harmonica but by age seventeen he was playing the guitar at parties emulating two blues artists who were extremely popular in the south,
Son HouseEddie James "Son" House, Jr. was an American blues singer and guitarist. House pioneered an innovative style featuring strong, repetitive rhythms, often played with the aid of slide guitar, and his singing often incorporated elements of southern gospel and spiritual music...
and Robert Johnson. "His thick heavy voice, the dark coloration of his tone and his firm, almost solid, personality were all clearly derived from House," wrote music critic
Peter GuralnickPeter Guralnick is an American music critic, writer on music, and historian of US American popular music, who is also active as an author and screenwriter. He has been married for over 45 years to Alexandra...
in Feel Like Going Home, "but the embellishments which he added, the imaginative
slide techniqueSlide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
and more agile rhythms, were closer to Johnson."
On November 20, 1932 Muddy married Mabel Berry; Robert Nighthawk played guitar at the wedding, and the party reportedly got so wild the floor fell in. Mabel left Muddy three years later when Muddy's first child was born; the child's mother was Leola Spain, sixteen 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 Muddy 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 1940, Muddy moved to Chicago for the first time. He played with Silas Green a year later, and then returned to Mississippi. In the early part of the decade he ran a juke joint, complete with gambling, moonshine and a jukebox; he also performed music there himself. In the summer of 1941
Alan LomaxAlan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
went to Stovall, Mississippi, on behalf of the Library of Congress to record various
country bluesCountry blues is a general term that refers to all the acoustic, mainly guitar-driven forms of the blues. It often incorporated elements of rural gospel, ragtime, hillbilly, and dixieland jazz...
musicians. "He brought his stuff down and recorded me right in my house," Muddy recalled in
Rolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, "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.'" Lomax came back in July 1942 to record Muddy again. Both sessions were eventually released as Down On Stovall's Plantation on the Testament label.
In 1943, Muddy headed back 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 BroonzyBig Bill Broonzy was a prolific American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s when he played country blues to mostly black audiences. Through the ‘30s and ‘40s he successfully navigated a transition in style to a more urban blues sound popular with white audiences...
, one of the leading bluesmen in Chicago at the time, helped Muddy break into the very competitive market by allowing him to open for his shows in the rowdy clubs. In 1945, Muddy's 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
ColumbiaColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
but they were not released at the time. Later that year he began recording for
Aristocrat RecordsAristocrat Records, sometimes referred to The Aristocrat of Records, was founded in April 1947 by Charles and Evelyn Aron, together with their partners Fred and Mildred Brount and Art Spiegel. By September Leonard Chess had invested in the young record company. Over time, Leonard bought the others...
, a newly-formed label run by two brothers,
LeonardLeonard Chess was a record company executive and the founder of Chess Records. He was influential in the development of electric blues.- Early life :...
and
Phil ChessPhilip Chess is an American record producer and company executive, the co-founder of Chess Records.He was born Fiszel Czyż in a Jewish community in Częstochowa, Poland. He and his brother Lejzor, sister Malka and mother followed their father to Chicago in 1928...
. In 1947, he played guitar with
Sunnyland SlimAlbert "Sunnyland Slim" Luandrew was an American blues pianist, who was born in the Mississippi Delta, and later moved to Chicago, Illinois, to contribute to that city's post-war scene as a center for blues music...
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 RecordsChess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
and Muddy's signature tune "
Rollin' Stone"Rollin' Stone" is a blues song recorded by Muddy Waters in 1950. It is Waters' interpretation of "Catfish Blues", a traditional blues that dates back to 1920s Mississippi...
" also became a smash hit.
Commercial success
Initially, the Chess brothers would not allow Muddy to use his own musicians 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"Baby Face" Leroy Foster was an American blues singer, drummer and guitarist, active in Chicago from the mid 1940s until the late 1950s...
and
Johnny JonesLittle Johnny Jones was an American Chicago blues pianist and singer, best known for his work with Tampa Red, Muddy Waters and Elmore James.-Life and career:Jones was born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1924...
. 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 RogersJimmy Rogers was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters' band of the 1950s.-Career:...
on guitar; Elga Edmonds (a.k.a. Elgin Evans) on drums;
Otis SpannOtis Spann was an American blues musician, who many consider the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist.-Career:Born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, Spann became known for his distinct piano style....
on piano. The band recorded a series of blues classics during the early 1950s, some with the help of bassist/songwriter
Willie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
, including "
Hoochie Coochie Man"Hoochie Coochie Man" is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first performed by Muddy Waters in 1954 . The song was a major hit upon its release, reaching #8 on Billboard magazine's Black Singles chart...
" (Number 8 on the R&B charts), "
I Just Want to Make Love to YouIn 1961, Etta James recorded the song for her debut album At Last!. Her rendition also served as the b-side to her hit "At Last." In 1996, Etta James' version became popular in the UK after featuring in a Diet Coke ad campaign. As a result, the single was re-released there...
" (Number 4), and "
I'm Ready"I'm Ready" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1954. It was a hit, spending nine weeks on the Billboard R&B chart where it reached #4...
". These three were "the most macho songs in his repertoire," wrote
Robert PalmerRobert Franklin Palmer Jr. was a 20th century American writer, musicologist, clarinetist, saxophonist, and blues producer...
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."
Muddy, along with his former harmonica player Little Walter Jacobs and recent southern transplant
Howlin' WolfChester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
, 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 Muddy's band in 1952, appearing on most of Muddy's classic recordings throughout the 1950s, Muddy developed a long-running, generally good-natured rivalry with Wolf. The success of Muddy's 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"Juke" is a harmonica instrumental recorded by then 22-year-old Chicago bluesman Little Walter Jacobs in 1952. Although Little Walter had been recording sporadically for small Chicago labels over the previous five years, and had appeared on Muddy Waters' records for the Chess label since 1950, 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 Muddy's band, Otis Spann enjoyed a solo career and many releases under his own name beginning in the mid-1950s.
England and low profile
Muddy 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 TerrySaunders Terrell, better known as Sonny Terry was a blind American Piedmont blues musician. He was widely known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers, and imitations of trains and fox hunts.-Career:Terry was born in Greensboro, Georgia...
&
Brownie McGheeWalter Brown McGhee was a Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaborations with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.-Life and career:...
and
Big Bill BroonzyBig Bill Broonzy was a prolific American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s when he played country blues to mostly black audiences. Through the ‘30s and ‘40s he successfully navigated a transition in style to a more urban blues sound popular with white audiences...
) with his loud, amplified electric guitar and thunderous beat. His performance at the 1960
Newport Jazz FestivalThe Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
, recorded and released as his first live album,
At Newport 1960At Newport 1960 is a live album by Muddy Waters recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival. Waters was backed by a band including Otis Spann, James Cotton, and Pat Hare. In 2003, the album was ranked number 348 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time...
, helped turn on a whole new generation to Muddy's sound. He expressed dismay when he realized that members of
his own raceThe term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
were turning their backs on the genre while a
whiteWhite people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
audience had shown increasing respect for the blues.
However, for the better part of twenty years (since his last big hit in 1956, "I'm Ready") Muddy was put on the back shelf by the Chess label and recorded albums with various "popular" themes: Brass And The Blues,
Electric MudElectric Mud is a studio album by Muddy Waters. Released in 1968, it is a concept album which imagines Muddy Waters as a psychedelic musician...
, etc. In 1967, he joined forces with
Bo DiddleyEllas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
, Little Walter and Howlin' Wolf to record the
Super BluesSuper Blues is a 1967 studio album by a blues supergroup consisting of Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, and Little Walter. The album was released in both mono and stereo formats by Checker Records in June 1967...
and The Super Super Blues Band pair of albums of Chess blues standards. In 1972 he went back to England to record The London Muddy Waters Sessions with
Rory GallagherWilliam Rory Gallagher, ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995, was an Irish blues-rock multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and bandleader. Born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, Ireland, and raised in Cork, Gallagher recorded solo albums throughout the 1970s and 1980s, after forming the band Taste...
,
Steve WinwoodStephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...
, Rick Grech and
Mitch MitchellJohn Ronald "Mitch" Mitchell was an English drummer, best known for his work in The Jimi Hendrix Experience.-Early life and the Jimi Hendrix Experience:...
— 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."
Muddy's sound was basically
Delta bluesThe Delta blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, a region of the United States that stretches from Memphis, Tennessee in the north to Vicksburg, Mississippi in the south, Helena, Arkansas in the west to the Yazoo River on the east. The...
electrified, but his use of microtones, in both his vocals and slide playing, made it extremely difficult to duplicate and follow correctly. "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's long-time wife Geneva died of cancer on March 15, 1973. A devastated Muddy 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, IllinoisWestmont is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. Westmont is a community of six square miles in area, with a 2007 population of 26,211...
. Another teenage daughter turned up while on tour in New Orleans; Big Bill Morganfield was introduced to his Dad after a gig in Florida. Florida was also where Muddy met his future wife, the 19-year-old Marva Jean Brooks whom he nicknamed "Sunshine".
On November 25, 1976, Muddy Waters performed at
The BandThe Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
's farewell concert at Winterland in San Francisco. The concert was released as both a record and a film,
The Last WaltzThe Last Waltz was a concert by the rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco...
, featuring a performance of "
Mannish Boy"Mannish Boy" is a blues standard first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1955. It is an arrangement of Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man"...
" with
Paul ButterfieldPaul Butterfield was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival...
on harmonica.
In 1977
Johnny WinterJohn Dawson "Johnny" Winter III is an American blues guitarist, singer, and producer. Best known for his late 1960s and 1970s high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances, Winter also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters...
convinced his label, Blue Sky, to sign Muddy, the beginning of a fruitful partnership. His "comeback" LP,
Hard AgainHard Again is a 1977 Chicago-style electric blues album by Muddy Waters. It was recorded by its producer, Johnny Winter, in a rough, bare-bones style...
, was recorded in just two days and was a return to the original Chicago sound he had created 25 years earlier, thanks to Winter's production. Former sideman
James CottonJames Cotton is an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who has performed and recorded with many of the great blues artists of his time as well as with his own band.-Career:...
contributed harmonica on the
Grammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning album and a brief but well-received tour followed.
The Muddy Waters Blues Band at the time included guitarists
Sammy LawhornSammy David Lawhorn was an American Chicago blues guitarist. He is best known for his membership of Muddy Waters band, although his guitar work accompanied many other blues musicians including Otis Spann, Willie Cobbs, Eddie Boyd, Roy Brown, Big Mama Thornton, John Lee Hooker, James Cotton, and...
,
Bob MargolinBob Margolin is an American electric blues guitarist. His nickname is "Steady Rollin'".-Biography:Bob Margolin was born and raised in Brookline...
and Luther Johnson, pianist
Pinetop PerkinsJoseph William Perkins , known by the stage name Pinetop Perkins, was an American blues musician, specializing in piano music...
, harmonica player
Jerry PortnoyJerry Portnoy is an American harmonica blues musician, who has toured with Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton.-Biography:Portnoy grew up in Chicago's Maxwell Street neighborhood where his family owned a store...
, bassist Calvin "Fuzz" Jones and drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith. On "Hard Again", Winter played guitar in addition to producing; Muddy asked
James CottonJames Cotton is an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who has performed and recorded with many of the great blues artists of his time as well as with his own band.-Career:...
to play harp on the session, and Cotton brought his own bassist Charles Calmese. According to Margolin's liner notes, Muddy did not play guitar during these sessions. The album covers a broad spectrum of styles, from the opening of "Mannish Boy", with shouts and hollers throughout, to the old-style Delta blues of "I Can't Be Satisfied", with a National Steel solo by Winter, to Cotton's screeching intro to "The Blues Had a Baby", to the moaning closer "Little Girl". Its live feel harks back to the Chess Records days, and it evokes a feeling of intimacy and cooperative musicianship. The expanded reissue includes one bonus track, a remake of the 1950s single "Walking Through the Park". The other outtakes from the album sessions appear on
King BeeKing Bee is the final release by blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters. Released in 1981, it is third in a series of records done for the label Blue Sky Records under producer/guitarist Johnny Winter. Recorded in three days some of the band members, namely Winters and guitarist Bob Margolin,...
. Margolin's notes state that the reissued album was remastered but that remixing was not considered to be necessary. Hard Again was the first studio collaboration between Muddy and Winter, who produced his final four albums, the others being
I'm ReadyI'm Ready is a 1978 album by Chicago blues veteran Muddy Waters. The second of Waters' Johnny Winter-produced albums for the Blue Sky Records label, I'm Ready was issued one year after he found renewed commercial and critical success with Hard Again. The album earned Waters a Grammy Award in 1978...
, King Bee, and
Muddy "Mississippi" Waters - LiveMuddy "Mississippi" Waters - Live is a live album by Muddy Waters. The recording was awarded the Grammy for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording in 1979.-Track listing:All tracks composed by McKinley Morganfield; except where indicated...
, for Blue Sky, a
Columbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
subsidiary.
In 1978 Winter recruited two of Muddy's cohorts from the early '50s,
Big Walter HortonWalter Horton, better known as Big Walter Horton or Walter "Shakey" Horton, was an American blues harmonica player. A quiet, unassuming and essentially shy man, Horton is remembered as one of the premier harmonica players in the history of blues...
and
Jimmy RogersJimmy Rogers was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters' band of the 1950s.-Career:...
, and brought in the rest of his touring band at the time (harmonica player
Jerry PortnoyJerry Portnoy is an American harmonica blues musician, who has toured with Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton.-Biography:Portnoy grew up in Chicago's Maxwell Street neighborhood where his family owned a store...
, guitarist
Luther "Guitar Junior" JohnsonLuther Johnson is an American Chicago blues singer and guitarist, who performs under the name Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson....
, and bassist
Calvin JonesCalvin James Jones, Sr. was an American trombonist, bassist, pianist, bandleader, composer and educator. Born in Chicago, Illinois, raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Jones moved to Washington, D.C. in the 1970s where he remained until his death from a heart attack in October 2004...
) to record I'm Ready which came close to the critical and commercial success of Hard Again.
The comeback continued in 1979 with the lauded LP Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live. "Muddy was loose for this one," wrote Jas Obrecht in
Guitar PlayerGuitar Player is a popular magazine for guitarists founded in 1967. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print since the late 1960s and during the 1980s, under editor Tom Wheeler, the publication was...
, "and the result is the next best thing to being ringside at one of his foot-thumping, head-nodding, downhome blues shows." On the album, Muddy is accompanied by his touring band, augmented by Johnny Winter on guitar. The set list contains most of his biggest hits, and the album has an energetic feel. King Bee the following year concluded Waters' reign at Blue Sky, and these last four LPs turned out to be his biggest-selling albums ever. King Bee was the last album Muddy Waters recorded. Coming last in a trio of studio outings produced by Johnny Winter, it is also a mixed bag. During the sessions for King Bee, Muddy, his manager and his band were involved in a dispute over money. According to the liner notes by Bob Margolin, the conflict arose from Muddy's health being on the wane and consequently playing fewer engagements. The bandmembers wanted more money for each of the fewer gigs they did play in order to make ends meet. Ultimately a split occurred and the entire band quit. Because of the tensions in the studio preceding the split, Winter felt the sessions had not produced enough solid material to yield an entire album. He subsequently filled out King Bee with outtakes from earlier Blue Sky sessions and the cover photograph was by
David Michael Kennedy David Michael Kennedy is a fine art photographer living and working in New Mexico, USA. His career spans more than 35 years and includes an 18-year stint in New York City where he was known as a specialist in photography for the advertising and music industries...
. For the listener, King Bee is a leaner and meaner record. Less of the good-time exuberance present on the previous two outings is present here. The title track, "Mean Old Frisco", "Sad Sad Day", and "I Feel Like Going Home", are all blues with ensemble work. The Sony Legacy issue features completely remastered sound and Margolin's notes, and also hosts two bonus tracks from the King Bee sessions that Winter did not see fit to release the first time.
In 1981, Muddy Waters was invited to perform at ChicagoFest, the city's top outdoor music festival. He was joined onstage by
Johnny WinterJohn Dawson "Johnny" Winter III is an American blues guitarist, singer, and producer. Best known for his late 1960s and 1970s high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances, Winter also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters...
— 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 by
Shout! FactoryShout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...
.
In 1982, declining health dramatically curtailed Muddy's performance schedule. Muddy Waters' last public performance took place when he sat in with
Eric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
's band at a Clapton concert in Florida in autumn of 1982.
Death
On April 30, 1983 Muddy Waters died in his sleep from heart failure, at his home in
Westmont, IllinoisWestmont is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. Westmont is a community of six square miles in area, with a 2007 population of 26,211...
. At his funeral at Restvale Cemetery in
Alsip, IllinoisAlsip is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,725 at the 2000 census. It is a suburb of Chicago.Alsip was settled in the 1830s by German and Dutch farmers. The village is named after Frank Alsip, the owner of a brickyard that opened there in 1885...
, 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. HammondJohn Paul Hammond is an American blues singer and guitarist. The son of record producer John H. Hammond, he is sometimes referred to as "John Hammond, Jr.".-Background:...
, told
Guitar WorldGuitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
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 Waters' death, fellow blues musician B.B. King (who was hugely influenced by Waters) told Guitar World, "It's going to be years and years before most people realize how greatly he contributed to American music".
Attesting to the historic place of Muddy Waters in the development of the blues in Mississippi, a
Mississippi Blues TrailThe Mississippi Blues Trail, created by the Mississippi Blues Commission, is a project to place interpretive markers at the most notable historical sites related to the growth of the blues throughout the state of Mississippi. The trail extends from the border of Louisiana in southern Mississippi...
marker has been placed in
Clarksdale, MississippiClarksdale is a city in Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 20,645 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Coahoma County....
by the Mississippi Blues Commission designating the site of Muddy Waters' cabin to commemorate his importance.
Influence
His influence is tremendous, over a variety of
music genreA music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music...
s: blues,
rhythm and bluesRhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, rock 'n' roll,
hard rockHard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
,
folkFolk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
,
jazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, and
countryCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
. He also helped
Chuck BerryCharles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
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 BarberDonald Christopher 'Chris' Barber is best known as a jazz trombonist. As well as scoring a UK top twenty trad jazz hit he helped the careers of many musicians, notably the blues singer Ottilie Patterson, who was at one time his wife, and vocalist/banjoist Lonnie Donegan, whose appearances with...
's
trad jazzTrad jazz - short for "traditional jazz" - refers to the Dixieland and Ragtime jazz styles of the early 20th century in contrast to any more modern style....
group. (One critic retreated to the toilets to write his review because he found the band so loud).
The Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
named themselves after his 1950 song "
Rollin' Stone"Rollin' Stone" is a blues song recorded by Muddy Waters in 1950. It is Waters' interpretation of "Catfish Blues", a traditional blues that dates back to 1920s Mississippi...
", (also known as "Catfish Blues", which
Jimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
covered as well). 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".
CreamCream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
covered "
Rollin' and Tumblin'"Rollin' and Tumblin" is a blues song that has been recorded hundreds of times by various artists. Considered as a traditional, it has been recorded with different lyrics and titles...
" on their 1966 debut album
Fresh CreamFresh Cream is the debut studio album by British supergroup Cream. It was the first LP release of producer Robert Stigwood's new "Independent" Reaction Records label, released in the United Kingdom as both a mono and stereo version on 9 December 1966, the same time as the single release of "I Feel...
, as
Eric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
was a big fan of Muddy Waters when he was growing up, and his music influenced Clapton's music career. The song was also covered by
Canned HeatCanned Heat is a blues-rock/boogie rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The group has been noted for its own interpretations of blues material as well as for efforts to promote the interest in this type of music and its original artists...
at the legendary
Monterey Pop FestivalThe Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California...
and later adapted by
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
on the album
Modern TimesModern Times is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 32nd studio album, released by Columbia Records in August 2006. The album was Dylan's third straight to be met with nearly universal praise from fans and critics...
. One of
Led ZeppelinLed Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
's biggest hits, "
Whole Lotta Love"Whole Lotta Love" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It is featured as the opening track on the band's second album, Led Zeppelin II, and was released in the United States and Japan as a single. The US release became their first hit single, it was certified Gold on 13 April 1970, when it...
", is lyrically based upon the Muddy Waters hit "You Need Love", written by
Willie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
. Dixon wrote some of Muddy Waters' most famous songs, including "
I Just Want to Make Love to YouIn 1961, Etta James recorded the song for her debut album At Last!. Her rendition also served as the b-side to her hit "At Last." In 1996, Etta James' version became popular in the UK after featuring in a Diet Coke ad campaign. As a result, the single was re-released there...
" (a big radio hit for
Etta JamesEtta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
, as well as the 1970s rock band
FoghatFoghat are a British rock band that had their peak success in the mid- to late-1970s. Their style can be described as "blues-rock," or boogie-rock dominated by electric and electric slide guitar. The band has achieved five gold records...
), "
Hoochie Coochie Man"Hoochie Coochie Man" is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first performed by Muddy Waters in 1954 . The song was a major hit upon its release, reaching #8 on Billboard magazine's Black Singles chart...
", which
The Allman Brothers BandThe Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
famously covered, and "I'm Ready", which was covered by
Humble PieHumble Pie was a rock band from England, finding success both in the UK and the US. They are remembered for songs such as "Black Coffee" "30 Days in the Hole", "I Don't Need No Doctor", and "Natural Born Bugie"...
. In 1993,
Paul RodgersPaul Bernard Rodgers is an English rock singer-songwriter, best known for his success in the 1970s as a member of Free and Bad Company. After stints in two less successful bands in the 1980s and early 1990s, The Firm and The Law, he became a solo artist. He has recently toured and recorded with...
released the album Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters, on which he covered a number of Muddy Waters songs, including "Louisiana Blues", "Rollin' Stone", "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "I'm Ready" (among others) in collaboration with a number of famous guitarists such as
Brian MayBrian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
and
Jeff BeckGeoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
.
Angus YoungAngus McKinnon Young is a Scottish-born Australian musician, and the lead guitarist, songwriter, and co-founder of the rock and roll band AC/DC. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with other members of AC/DC in 2003 and is known for his energetic performances,...
of the rock group
AC/DCAC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
has cited Muddy Waters as one of his influences. The song title "
You Shook Me All Night Long"You Shook Me All Night Long" is one of AC/DC's signature songs from their most successful album, Back in Black. The song also reappeared on their later album Who Made Who. It is one of the band's top 40 singles, reaching number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in 1980...
" came from lyrics of the Muddy Waters song "
You Shook Me"You Shook Me" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and J. B. Lenoir. Earl Hooker first recorded it as an instrumental which was then overdubbed with vocals by Muddy Waters in 1962....
", written by
Willie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
and
J. B. LenoirJ. B. Lenoir /ləˈnɔːr/ was an African American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter, active in the 1950s and 1960s Chicago blues scene....
.
Earl HookerEarl Hooker was an American Chicago blues guitarist, perhaps best known for his slide guitar playing. Considered a "musician's musician", Hooker performed with blues artists such as Sonny Boy Williamson II, Junior Wells, and John Lee Hooker as well as fronting his own bands...
first recorded it as an instrumental which was then overdubbed with vocals by Muddy Waters in 1962. Led Zeppelin also covered this song on their debut album
Led ZeppelinLed Zeppelin is the debut album of the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was recorded in October 1968 at Olympic Studios in London and released on Atlantic Records on 12 January 1969 in the United States and 31 March 1969 in the United Kingdom. The album featured integral contributions from each...
.
Muddy Waters' songs have been featured in long-time fan's
Martin ScorseseMartin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's movies, including
The Color of MoneyThe Color of Money is a 1986 film directed by Martin Scorsese from a screenplay by Richard Price, based on the 1984 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis....
,
GoodfellasGoodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...
and
CasinoCasino is a 1995 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese...
. Muddy Waters' 1970s recording of his mid-'50s hit "Mannish Boy" (a.k.a. "
I'm A Man"I'm a Man" is a song written and recorded by Bo Diddley in 1955. A moderately slow blues with a stop-time figure, it was inspired by an earlier blues song and became a #1 R&B chart hit. "I'm a Man" has been acknowledged by Rolling Stone magazine and has been recorded by a variety of artists,...
") was used in Goodfellas and the hit film
Risky BusinessRisky Business is a 1983 American teen comedy-drama film written by Paul Brickman in his directorial debut. It stars Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay. The hit film launched Cruise to stardom.-Plot:...
, and also features in the
rockumentaryThe term rockumentary is a neologism denoting a documentary about rock music or its musicians. The term was used by Bill Drake in the 1969 History of Rock & Roll radio broadcast, and by Rob Reiner in the 1984 mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap....
The Last WaltzThe Last Waltz was a concert by the rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco...
.
In 1969,
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
released Abbey Road the opening song
Come Together"Come Together" is a song by The Beatles written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on The Beatles' September 1969 album Abbey Road....
referenced Muddy Waters. "He roller coaster, he got Muddy Waters"
Screenwriter David Simon has written an unproduced teleplay about Muddy Waters' life.
The 2006
Family GuyFamily Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
episode "
Saving Private Brian"Saving Private Brian" is the fourth episode of season five of Family Guy. The episode originally broadcast on November 5, 2006. The episode follows Stewie and Brian after they unintentionally join the United States Army, and end up leaving to serve in Iraq, only to return home when the war ends...
" includes a parody of Muddy Waters trying to pass a kidney stone; his screams of pain form a call and response with the Chicago blues band in his bathroom.
In 2008, Jeffrey Wright portrayed Muddy in the biopic
Cadillac RecordsCadillac Records is a 2008 musical biopic written and directed by Darnell Martin. The film explores the musical era from the early 1940s to the late 1960s, chronicling the life of the influential Chicago-based record-company executive Leonard Chess, and the musicians who recorded for Chess...
, a film about the rise and fall of Chess Records and the lives of its recording artists. A second 2008 film about
Leonard ChessLeonard Chess was a record company executive and the founder of Chess Records. He was influential in the development of electric blues.- Early life :...
and Chess Records,
Who Do You LoveWho Do You Love? is a 2008 film named after the Bo Diddley song "Who Do You Love?". It is also known by its working title of Chess. It is a biopic of the record producer Leonard Chess and was directed by Jerry Zaks and written by Peter Martin Wortmann and Robert Conte. Leonard Chess was played by...
, also covers Muddy's time at Chess Records.
In the
2009 filmThe year 2009 saw the release of many films. Seven made the top 50 list of highest-grossing films, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that as of this year, their Best Picture category would consist of ten nominees, rather than five .- Highest-grossing films :Please note...
The Boat that RockedThe Boat That Rocked is a 2009 British comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis, with pirate radio in the United Kingdom during the 1960s as its setting. The film has an ensemble cast featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, and Kenneth Branagh...
about
pirate radioPirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
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.Doogie Howser, M.D. is an American television comedy-drama starring Neil Patrick Harris as a 16-year-old doctor who also faces the problems of being a normal teenager. Created by Steven Bochco and David E. Kelley, ABC aired the show from 1989 to 1993 for four seasons totaling 97 episodes.-Plot:Dr....
showed an episode called "Doogie Sings the Blues" with the main character, Blind Otis Lemon based on Muddy Waters, with references of 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".
Grammy Awards
| Muddy Waters Grammy Award History |
| Year |
Category |
Title |
Genre |
Label |
Result |
| 1971 The 13th Grammy Awards were held on 16 March 1971, and was the first time the ceremonies were broadcast on television by ABC. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1970...
|
Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording The Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording was awarded from 1960 to 1986. During this time the award had several minor name changes:*From 1960 to 1961 the award was known as Best Performance - Folk...
|
They Call Me Muddy Waters |
folkFolk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
|
MCAMCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
/ChessChess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
|
winner |
| 1972 The 14th Grammy Awards were held March 15, 1972, and were broadcast live on television in the United States by ABC; the following year, they would move the telecasts to CBS, where they remain to this date...
|
Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording |
The London Muddy Waters Session |
folk |
MCA/Chess |
winner |
| 1975 The 17th Grammy Awards were presented March 1, 1975, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1974.- Award winners :*Record of the Year...
|
Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording |
The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album |
folk |
MCA/Chess |
winner |
| 1977 The 19th Grammy Awards were held on February 19, 1977, and were broadcast live on American television . They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1976.-Award winners:*Record of the Year...
|
Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording |
Hard Again Hard Again is a 1977 Chicago-style electric blues album by Muddy Waters. It was recorded by its producer, Johnny Winter, in a rough, bare-bones style...
|
folk |
Blue Sky |
winner |
| 1978 The 20th Grammy Awards were held February 23, 1978, and were broadcast live on American television. They were hosted by folk music legend John Denver, and recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1977.- Award winners :*Record of the Year...
|
Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording |
I'm Ready |
folk |
Blue Sky |
winner |
| 1979 The 21st Grammy Awards were held in 1979, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1978.- Award winners :*Record of the Year**Phil Ramone & Billy Joel for "Just the Way You Are"...
|
Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording |
Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live |
folk |
Blue Sky |
winner |
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The
Rock and Roll Hall of FameThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
listed four songs of Muddy Waters of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.
| Year Recorded |
Title |
| 1950 |
Rollin' Stone "Rollin' Stone" is a blues song recorded by Muddy Waters in 1950. It is Waters' interpretation of "Catfish Blues", a traditional blues that dates back to 1920s Mississippi...
|
| 1954 |
Hoochie Coochie Man "Hoochie Coochie Man" is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first performed by Muddy Waters in 1954 . The song was a major hit upon its release, reaching #8 on Billboard magazine's Black Singles chart...
|
| 1955 |
Mannish Boy "Mannish Boy" is a blues standard first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1955. It is an arrangement of Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man"...
|
| 1957 |
Got My Mojo Working "Got My Mojo Working" is a 1956 song written by Preston Foster and first recorded by Ann Cole, but popularized by Muddy Waters in 1957. Waters' rendition of the song was featured on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time at #359 and was inducted in the Grammy Hall of...
|
The Blues Foundation Awards
| Muddy Waters: Blues Music Awards |
| Year |
Category |
Title |
Result |
| 1994 |
Reissue Album of the Year |
The Complete Plantation Recordings |
Winner |
| 1995 |
Reissue Album of the Year |
One More Mile |
Winner |
| 2000 |
Traditional Blues Album of the Year |
The Lost Tapes of Muddy Waters |
Winner |
| 2002 |
Historical Blues Album of the Year |
Fathers and Sons |
Winner |
| 2006 |
Historical Album of the Year |
Hoochie Coochie Man: Complete Chess Recordings, Volume 2, 1952–1958 |
Winner |
Inductions
| Year Inducted |
Title |
| 1980 |
Blues Foundation Hall of Fame The Blues Hall of Fame is a listing of people who have significantly contributed to blues music. Started in 1980 by the Blues Foundation, it honors those who have performed, recorded, or documented blues.-1980:*Big Bill Broonzy*Willie Dixon*John Lee Hooker...
|
| 1987 |
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
|
| 1992 |
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to "performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording."...
|
U.S. Postage Stamp
Charting and notable singles
Muddy Waters released approximately sixty singles (120 "sides") during his career, sixteen of which made the charts. These were issued on
Chess RecordsChess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
, except for his 1941 recordings for the
Library of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
and his 1947 – early 1950 singles, which were issued on
Aristocrat RecordsAristocrat Records, sometimes referred to The Aristocrat of Records, was founded in April 1947 by Charles and Evelyn Aron, together with their partners Fred and Mildred Brount and Art Spiegel. By September Leonard Chess had invested in the young record company. Over time, Leonard bought the others...
. The chart information is the peak position the single reached on the Billboard R&B chart.
| Year |
Title |
Chart no. |
| 1941 |
"Country Blues" |
— |
| "I Be's Troubled" |
— |
| 1948 |
"(I Feel Like) Going Home" |
11 |
| "I Can't Be Satisfied" |
— |
| 1950 |
"Rollin' and Tumblin' "Rollin' and Tumblin" is a blues song that has been recorded hundreds of times by various artists. Considered as a traditional, it has been recorded with different lyrics and titles...
" |
— |
| "Rollin' Stone "Rollin' Stone" is a blues song recorded by Muddy Waters in 1950. It is Waters' interpretation of "Catfish Blues", a traditional blues that dates back to 1920s Mississippi...
" |
— |
| "Walkin' Blues "Walkin' Blues" is a song that was written by blues musician Robert Johnson in 1936.It has been later recorded by many artists, including Cee Lo Green, Muddy Waters, Colin James, Paul Butterfield, Johnny Cash, Hot Tuna, The Grateful Dead, Rory Gallagher, R.L. Burnside, Eric Clapton, Hindu Love...
" |
— |
| "Louisiana Blues" |
10 |
| 1951 |
"Long Distance Call" |
8 |
| "Honey Bee" |
10 |
| "Still a Fool" |
9 |
| 1952 |
"She Moves Me" |
10 |
| "Standing Around Crying" |
— |
| 1953 |
"Turn the Lamp Down Low (Baby Please Don't Go)" |
— |
| "Blow Wind Blow" |
— |
| "Mad Love (I Want You to Love Me)" |
6 |
| 1954 |
"I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" |
3 |
| "Just Make Love to Me (I Just Want to Make Love to You In 1961, Etta James recorded the song for her debut album At Last!. Her rendition also served as the b-side to her hit "At Last." In 1996, Etta James' version became popular in the UK after featuring in a Diet Coke ad campaign. As a result, the single was re-released there...
)" |
4 |
| "I'm Ready "I'm Ready" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1954. It was a hit, spending nine weeks on the Billboard R&B chart where it reached #4...
" |
4 |
| 1955 |
"I Want to Be Loved" |
— |
| "Manish Boy" aka "Mannish Boy "Mannish Boy" is a blues standard first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1955. It is an arrangement of Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man"...
" |
5 |
| "Sugar Sweet" |
11 |
| 1956 |
"Trouble No More "Trouble No More" is an upbeat blues song first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1955. The song was a hit the following year, reaching #7 in the Billboard R&B chart...
" |
7 |
| "Forty Days and Forty Nights "Forty Days and Forty Nights" is a blues song recorded by Muddy Waters in 1956. Called "a big, bold record", it was a hit, spending six weeks in the Billboard R&B chart where it reached number seven...
" |
7 |
| "Don't Go No Farther" |
9 |
| "Just to Be with You" |
— |
| "Rock Me "Rock Me Baby" is a blues standard that has become one of the most recorded blues songs of all time. When B.B. King released "Rock Me Baby" in 1964, it became a Top 40 hit reaching #34 in the Billboard Hot 100. The song is based on earlier blues songs and has been interpreted and recorded by a...
" |
— |
| "Got My Mojo Working "Got My Mojo Working" is a 1956 song written by Preston Foster and first recorded by Ann Cole, but popularized by Muddy Waters in 1957. Waters' rendition of the song was featured on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time at #359 and was inducted in the Grammy Hall of...
" |
— |
| 1957 |
"I Live the Life I Love (I Love the Life I Live)" |
— |
| 1958 |
"She's Nineteen Years Old" |
— |
| "Close to You" |
9 |
| 1959 |
"I Feel So Good" |
— |
| 1962 |
"You Shook Me "You Shook Me" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and J. B. Lenoir. Earl Hooker first recorded it as an instrumental which was then overdubbed with vocals by Muddy Waters in 1962....
" |
— |
| "You Need Love" |
— |
| 1964 |
"The Same Thing" |
— |
| "You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had" |
— |
Muddy Waters also recorded several singles as a sideman with
Jimmy RogersJimmy Rogers was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters' band of the 1950s.-Career:...
,
Little WalterLittle Walter, born Marion Walter Jacobs , was an American blues harmonica player, whose revolutionary approach to his instrument has earned him comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix, for innovation and impact on succeeding generations...
,
Junior WellsJunior Wells , born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., was an American Chicago blues vocalist, harmonica player, and recording artist...
,
Sonny Boy Williamson IIWillie "Sonny Boy" Williamson was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, from Mississippi. He is acknowledged as one of the most charismatic and influential blues musicians, with considerable prowess on the harmonica and highly creative songwriting skills...
,
Otis SpannOtis Spann was an American blues musician, who many consider the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist.-Career:Born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, Spann became known for his distinct piano style....
, and others.
Selected albums
Muddy Waters released about thirty albums during his career, including compilation albums. After his death in 1983, numerous compilation and live albums have been released by a number of record companies (allmusic lists over 200 compilations). The following lists most of the albums released during his career and the more recent and available compilations released after his death.
| Year |
Title |
Label |
| 1958 |
The Best of Muddy Waters The Best of Muddy Waters is a 1958 greatest hits album by Muddy Waters released by Chess Records in April 1958. With gaining popularity for 33 & 1/3 rpms Chess Records started releasing its first LPs in 1958. The Best of Muddy Waters was the third LP that Chess released...
|
Chess |
| 1960 |
Muddy Waters sings Big Bill Broonzy |
Chess |
| At Newport 1960 At Newport 1960 is a live album by Muddy Waters recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival. Waters was backed by a band including Otis Spann, James Cotton, and Pat Hare. In 2003, the album was ranked number 348 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time...
|
Chess |
| 1964 |
Folk Singer Folk Singer is a 1964 album by Muddy Waters. Waters plays acoustic guitar, backed by Willie Dixon on string bass, Clifton James on drums, and Buddy Guy on acoustic guitar...
|
Chess |
| 1966 |
The Real Folk Blues The Real Folk Blues is a series of blues compilation albums released between 1965 and 1967 by Chess Records, and distributed by MCA Records. Each album in the series highlighted the music of one major Chess artist, including John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Sonny Boy Williamson II...
|
Chess |
| Down on Stovall's Plantation: His First Recordings |
Testament |
| 1967 |
Muddy, Brass and the Blues |
Chess |
| More Real Folk Blues |
Chess |
| 1968 |
Electric Mud Electric Mud is a studio album by Muddy Waters. Released in 1968, it is a concept album which imagines Muddy Waters as a psychedelic musician...
|
Cadet Concept |
| 1969 |
After the Rain After the Rain is a 1969 album by Muddy Waters, a follow-up to the previous years' Electric Mud and sharing many of the musicians from that album...
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Cadet Concept |
| Fathers and Sons Fathers and Sons is an album by American blues musician Muddy Waters, originally released as a double LP by Chess Records in August 1969....
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Chess |
| Sail On |
Chess |
| 1971 |
They Call Me Muddy Waters |
Chess |
| Live (at Mr. Kelley's) |
Chess |
| 1972 |
The London Muddy Waters Sessions |
Chess |
| 1973 |
Can't Get No Grindin |
Chess |
| "Unk" in Funk |
Chess |
| 1975 |
The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album |
Chess |
| 1977 |
Hard Again Hard Again is a 1977 Chicago-style electric blues album by Muddy Waters. It was recorded by its producer, Johnny Winter, in a rough, bare-bones style...
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Blue Sky |
| 1978 |
I'm Ready I'm Ready is a 1978 album by Chicago blues veteran Muddy Waters. The second of Waters' Johnny Winter-produced albums for the Blue Sky Records label, I'm Ready was issued one year after he found renewed commercial and critical success with Hard Again. The album earned Waters a Grammy Award in 1978...
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Blue Sky |
| 1979 |
Muddy "Mississippi" Waters - Live Muddy "Mississippi" Waters - Live is a live album by Muddy Waters. The recording was awarded the Grammy for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording in 1979.-Track listing:All tracks composed by McKinley Morganfield; except where indicated...
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Blue Sky |
| 1981 |
King Bee King Bee is the final release by blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters. Released in 1981, it is third in a series of records done for the label Blue Sky Records under producer/guitarist Johnny Winter. Recorded in three days some of the band members, namely Winters and guitarist Bob Margolin,...
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Blue Sky |
| 1989 |
The Chess Box |
MCA/Chess |
| 1993 |
The Complete Plantation Recordings |
MCA/Chess |
| 1994 |
One More Mile |
MCA/Chess |
| 2000 |
Rollin' Stone: The Golden Anniversary Collection Rollin' Stone: The Golden Anniversary Collection is a compilation album collecting the first 50 master recordings of blues singer Muddy Waters for Chess Records...
(Chess Masters 1947–1952) |
MCA/Chess |
| The Lost Tapes |
Blind Pig |
| The Essential Collection The Essential Collection is a 20-song compilation of the music of Muddy Waters, spanning work from 1950 through to 1972. The album, released in 2000 by Universal Music Group's Spectrum Records, complements much of his original work with many songs that went on to become classics of the British...
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Universal/Spectrum |
| 2001 |
Muddy Waters 1941–1946 |
Document |
| The Anthology (1947–1972) |
MCA/Chess |
| 2004 |
Hoochie Coochie Man: Complete Chess Masters, Vol. 2: 1952–1958 |
Hip-O Select/Chess |
| 2006 |
The Definitive Collection |
Geffen/Chess |
| 2007 |
Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down (Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter, & James Cotton) |
Epic/Legacy |
| 2009 |
Authorized Bootleg: Live at the Fillmore Auditorium November 4–6, 1966 |
Geffen/Chess |
External links