Muddy Waters,McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 – April 30, 1983) blues singer-songwriter

Muddy Waters

Muddy Waters, nato McKinley Morganfield (Rolling Fork, 4 aprile 1913 – Westmont, 30 aprile 1983), è stato un cantautore e chitarrista statunitense, generalmente considerato "il padre del blues di Chicago". È anche il padre dei musicisti blues Big Bill Morganfield e Mud Morganfield.
Considerato uno dei più grandi bluesmen di tutti i tempi nonché uno degli artisti blues più influenti del ventesimo secolo, Muddy Waters è stato ispirazione per l'esplosione della musica beat britannica degli anni sessanta e punto di riferimento per gruppi come Rolling Stones e Yardbirds.
Muddy Waters è stato posizionato al 49º posto nella lista dei 100 migliori chitarristi di tutti i tempi stilata dalla rivista Rolling Stone.
La sua vita e quella della casa discografica Chess sono state raccontata nel film del 2008 Cadillac Records.

Biografia

Venne soprannominato fin da bambino Muddy Waters ("acque fangose") dalla nonna per via della sua abitudine di sguazzare nel fango in riva al Mississippi. Suo padre, Ollie Morganfield, era un contadino e un musicista; sua madre, Berta Jones, morì quando Muddy Waters aveva appena tre anni, lasciando ben dieci figli. In seguito alla morte della madre, Muddy seguì la nonna a Clarksdale. Qui, all'età di nove anni iniziò a suonare l'armonica e a sedici la chitarra.
Nonostante guadagnasse qualche centesimo suonando a feste e pic-nic nei dintorni di Clarksdale, lavorava, come la maggior parte dei neri del Sud, come raccoglitore nei campi di cotone dei bianchi. Son Slims, violinista e chitarrista, fu uno dei suoi primi maestri e con lui nel 1942 fece la sua prima registrazione per l'esperto in folklore Alan Lomax. Per un certo periodo gestì un juke joint, una sorta di locale improvvisato dove si praticava il gioco d'azzardo e si poteva ascoltare la musica di un jukebox, o lo stesso Muddy che si esibiva dal vivo.
Le sue prime registrazioni non vennero pubblicate (uscirono solo decenni dopo), e Muddy Waters decise di andare a cercar fortuna a Chicago, dove il blues stava ormai dilagando. Arrivato nella maggiore città dell'Illinois, lavorava di giorno come autista e di sera suonava nei bar e in piccoli club. Fece così conoscenza con Sonny Boy Williamson e Tampa Red. Trovò presto un contratto con la casa discografica blues Chess, con la quale in seguito avrebbero firmato bluesmen come Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf e Chuck Berry.

Il Successo

Inizialmente, i fratelli Leonard e Phil Chess – fondatori dell'omonima casa discografica – non permisero a Muddy di farsi accompagnare dalla propria band nelle registrazioni in studio; difatti, nei primi dischi pubblicati per la Chess Records, è Ernest "Big" Crawford al contrabbasso ad accompagnare Waters alla chitarra elettrica. Dopo qualche anno, Chess cambiò idea, e nel settembre del 1953 registrò per la prima volta Muddy Waters e l'intera band. Quest'ultima rimane una delle formazioni più acclamate e influenti della storia del blues: Little Walter all'armonica, Jimmie Rogers alla chitarra, Elga Edmonds (noto anche come Elgin Evans) alla batteria e Otis Spann al piano. La band, durante tutti gli anni cinquanta, registrò una serie di classici passati alla storia del genere, con l'aiuto del bassista/cantautore Willie Dixon, che per loro compose classici come Hoochie Coochie Man (Numero 8 nella classifica dei singoli R&B più venduti), I Just Want to Make Love to You (Numero 4), e I'm Ready. Secondo il critico di Rolling Stone Robert Palmer, queste tre canzoni rimangono il cavallo di battaglia della band. Muddy Waters, insieme all'armonicista Little Walter e al bluesman/band leader Howlin' Wolf, regnò su tutta la scena blues di Chicago dei primi anni cinquanta; la sua band fu riconosciuta da molti come la migliore del periodo. Mentre Little Walter, sebbene nel 1952 iniziò una carriera solista, continuò a collaborare con Waters per tutto il decennio; Muddy sviluppò invece, nei confronti di Howlin' Wolf, una sorta di rispettosa rivalità. Altri successi della band di Muddy Waters furono Mannish Boy e Sugar Sweet nel 1955, seguite dalle hit Trouble No More, Forty Days & Forty Nights e Don't Go No Farther nel 1956.
Nel 1958, Muddy Waters si esibì in Inghilterra, e fece scalpore grazie al suo sound elettrico, potente e folgorante. La popolazione inglese, abituata al folk/blues di Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee e Big Bill Broonzy, rimase profondamente colpita da Waters e dalla sua band; la loro esibizione alimentò in loro il rispetto per un genere come il blues. Al Jazz Festival di Newport del 1960, Muddy Waters tenne una storica performance che fu registrata e pubblicata in un LP dal titolo At Newport 1960.
Dopo il grande successo riscosso in patria dalla sua ultima grande hit, I'm Ready del 1956, per la maggior parte della restante carriera Muddy Waters registrò soprattutto album, come Brass and the Blues o Electric Mud. Nel 1967 collaborò con Bo Diddley, Little Walter e Howlin' Wolf, registrando con loro alcuni album. Nel 1972 tornò in Inghilterra, e registrò le London Muddy Waters Session con Rory Gallagher, Steve Winwood, Rick Grech e Mitch Mitchell.

Morte

Muddy Waters morì nel sonno il 30 aprile 1983 nella sua casa di Westmont, poche settimane dopo il suo 70º compleanno. Al suo funerale, una folla di musicisti blues e fan rese omaggio a una delle forme d'arte più genuine.
Due anni dopo la sua morte, la città di Chicago onorò il suo ricordo rinominando una parte della 43rd Street in "Honorary Muddy Waters Drive", laddove un tempo egli aveva abitato.
A proposito della morte di Muddy Waters, B.B. King dichiarò a Guitar World: «Dovranno passare anni e anni prima che la maggior parte della gente comprenda quanto è stato grandioso per la storia della musica americana».

Influenza

Muddy Waters ebbe una profonda influenza su molti generi musicali: blues, rhythm blues, rock 'n' roll, hard rock, folk, jazz e country. Aiutò inoltre Chuck Berry ad ottenere il suo primo contratto, presentandolo a Chess.
Il suo tour del 1958 in Inghilterra, portò la popolazione a conoscere il moderno blues urbano, e le sue esibizioni furono le uniche a godere di un'amplificazione, creando un sound elettrico mai udito prima; l'impatto fu talmente devastante che un critico, trovando la band troppo rumorosa, si chiuse in bagno per scrivere la propria recensione. Il suo uso dell'amplificazione fu descritto come l'anello mancante tra il Delta Blues e il Rock 'n' Roll.
La rivista Rolling Stone prese il proprio nome dall'omonimo brano di Waters del 1950, così come il gruppo dei Rolling Stones, che fu profondamente influenzato dalla musica di Muddy. Jimi Hendrix disse di lui che fu il primo chitarrista che lo impressionò da bambino, «un effetto così forte da spaventarmi» . I Cream reinterpretarono Rollin' and Tumblin' nel loro album di debutto, Fresh Cream del 1966, siccome Eric Clapton era grande fan di Muddy, e la sua musica ebbe grande influenza su di lui. La canzone fu reinterpretata anche dai Canned Heat e adattata da Bob Dylan nell'album Modern Times. Il testo di una delle canzoni più celebri dei Led Zeppelin, Whole Lotta Love, si basa su quello della celebre hit di Muddy Waters, You Need Love, composta da Willie Dixon. Quest'ultimo compose alcune delle canzoni più celebri di Waters, come I Just Want to Make Love to You (che divenne grande hit radiofonica di Etta James, e fu ripresa dai Foghat), Hoochie Coochie Man, che fu reinterpretata con successo dalla Allman Brothers Band, e I'm Ready. Nel 1993 Paul Rodgers, pubblicò un album tributo a Waters, dal titolo Muddy Waters Blues, a cui presero parte artisti celebri come Gary Moore, Brian May e Jeff Beck.
Angus Young, del gruppo rock AC/DC, dichiarò l'influenza che Muddy Waters ebbe su di lui; la canzone degli AC/DC You Shook Me All Night Long è infatti ispirata a You Shook Me, brano che fu ripreso anche dai Led Zeppelin nel loro album di debutto.
Varie canzoni di Muddy Waters, sono incluse nella colonna sonora di alcuni film di Martin Scorsese, grande fan del musicista.
Muddy Waters è inoltre citato nella canzone Come Together dei Beatles, e nella canzone Cleaning Windows di Van Morrison.
Altre citazioni a Muddy Waters si possono trovare in differenti media, come film, cartoni animati o show televisivi.

Premi e onorificenze

Grammy Awards

Anno	Categoria	Titolo	Genere	Etichetta	Esito
1972	Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording	They Call Me Muddy Waters	Folk	MCA/Chess	Vinto
1973	Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording (including traditional blues)	The London Muddy Waters Session	Folk	MCA/Chess	Vinto
1975	Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording	The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album	Folk	MCA/Chess	Vinto
1978	Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording	Hard Again	Folk	Blue Sky	Vinto
1979	Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording	I'm Ready	Folk	Blue Sky	Vinto
1980	Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording	Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live	Folk	Blue Sky	Vinto

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Alcune sue canzoni sono state inserite nella Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, come brani significativi per la nascita del rock and roll:

Anno	Titolo
1950	Rollin' Stone
1954	Hoochie Coochie Man
1955	Mannish Boy
1957	Got My Mojo Working

Blues Music Awards

Anno	Categoria	Titolo	Esito
1994	Reissue Album of the Year	The Complete Plantation Recordings	Vinto
1995	Reissue Album of the Year	One More Mile	Vinto
2000	Traditional Blues Album of the Year	The Lost Tapes of Muddy Waters	Vinto
2002	Historical Blues Album of the Year	Fathers and Sons	Vinto
2006	Historical Album of the Year	Hoochie Coochie Man: Complete Chess Recordings, Volume 2, 1952–1958	Vinto

Onorificenze

Muddy Waters è stato inserito nel 1980 nella Blues Foundation Hall of Fame, nel 1987 nella Rock and Roll Hall of Fame e al diciassettesimo posto nella lista dei 100 migliori artisti secondo Rolling Stone. Nel 1992 ha vinto il Grammy Award alla carriera. Nel 1994, gli è stato dedicato il francobollo da 29 centesimi.

Anno	Titolo
1980	Blues Foundation Hall of Fame
1987	Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
1992	Grammy Award alla carriera

U.S. Postage Stamp

Anno	Stamp	USA	Note
1994	29 cents Commemorative stamp	U.S. Postal Service	Foto

Discografia

Album in studio

• 1960 - Muddy Waters Sings Big Bill Broonzy
• 1964 - Folk Singer
• 1966 - Brass and the Blues
• 1968 - Electric Mud
• 1969 - After the Rain
• 1969 - Fathers and Sons
• 1972 - The London Muddy Waters Sessions
• 1973 - Can't Get No Grindin'
• 1974 - "Unk" in Funk
• 1975 - The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album
• 1977 - Hard Again
• 1978 - I'm Ready
• 1981 - King Bee
• 1983 - Muddy & The Wolf
• 1990 - Muddy Waters [Sonny Lester Collection - LCR 9015]
• 1995 - Muddy Waters [Black Label Inc. BLCD 2010]
• 1997 - Paris, 1972
• 1997 - Goin' Back
• 1999 - A Tribute to Muddy Waters King of The Blues
• 1999 - Hoochie Coochie Man
• 2001 - Hoochie Coochie Man [1964,1982,1985,1996 - Sonny Lester Collection]

Collaborazioni

• 1961 - Broken Soul Blues (con Memphis Slim)
• 1964 - The Blues of Otis Spann (con Otis Spann)
• 1965 - The Blues Never Die! (con Otis Spann)
• 1966 - Big Mama Thornton with the Muddy Waters Blues Band – 1966 (con Big Mama Thornton)
• 1966 - Live at the Cafe au Go-Go (con John Lee Hooker)
• 1967 - Blues Is Where It's At (con Otis Spann)
• 1967 - Super Blues (con Bo Diddley & Little Walter)
• 1968 - The Super Super Blues Band (con Bo Diddley & Howlin' Wolf)
• 1968 - The Bottom of the Blues (con Otis Spann)
• 1968 - George Smith & the Chicago Blues Band — A Tribute to Little Walter (con George "Harmonica" Smith)
• 1969 - Luther "Georgia Boy Snake" Johnson with the Muddy Waters Blues Band (con Luther "Snake Boy" Johnson)
• 1969 - Come On Home (con Luther "Snake Boy" Johnson)
• 1974 - London Revisited (con Howlin' Wolf)
• 1997 - Live the Life (con Otis Spann)
• 2007 - Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down (con James Cotton & Johnny Winter)

Note

1. ^ The History of Rock Music. Muddy Waters: biography, discography, reviews, links
2. ^ Muddy Waters | Biography | AllMusic
3. ^ (EN) Derek Trucks, Muddy Waters, Rolling Stone. URL consultato il 17 novembre 2012.
4. ^ (EN) Mark Deming, Artist Biography, Allmusic. URL consultato il 23 ottobre 2014.
5. ^ (EN) Bruce Eder, Artist Biography, Allmusic. URL consultato il 23 ottobre 2014.
6. ^ John McMillian, Beatles vs Stones, Editori Laterza, pagina 112
7. ^ Fabio Genovesi, "Un ritmo pieno di fango", La lettura Corriere della Sera, Domenica 29 marzo 2015
8. ^ 29 cents Commemorative stamp, Muddy Waters. URL consultato il 18 luglio 2009.

Bibliografia

• Massimo Cotto (a cura di), Enciclopedia del Blues e della musica nera, Arcana Editrice, Milano 1994, ISBN 9788879660389
• Robert Gordon, "Hoochie Coochie Man - La Vita e i Tempi di Muddy Waters", trad. italiana di Claudio Mapelli, Arcana Editrice, Milano 2005, ISBN 88-7966-319-4
• Sandra B. Tooze, Muddy Waters: The Mojo Man, 1997, ISBN 1-55022-296-1
• Muddy Waters, Muddy Waters: Deep Blues, 1995, ISBN 0-7935-0955-6

Statua di Muddy Waters al Delta Blues Museum di Clarksdale

Emmett D. Smith - Opera propria

In the small town of Clarksdale, Mississippi lies the Delta Blues Museum. It's a rickety old warehouse-style building full of artifacts related to the blues and its artists. This photo is a statue of Muddy Waters ( McKinley Morganfield ) inside a replica of the cabin where he grew up.

McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913  – April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago blues", and an important figure on the post-war blues scene.
Muddy Waters grew up on Stovall Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi, and by age 17 was playing the guitar and the harmonica, emulating the local blues artists Son House and Robert Johnson. He was recorded in Mississippi by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1941. In 1943, he moved to Chicago to become a full-time professional musician. In 1946, he recorded his first records for Columbia Records and then for Aristocrat Records, a newly formed label run by the brothers Leonard and Phil Chess.
In the early 1950s, Muddy Waters and his band—Little Walter Jacobs on harmonica, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Elga Edmonds (also known as Elgin Evans) on drums and Otis Spann on piano—recorded several blues classics, some with the bassist and songwriter Willie Dixon. These songs included "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "I'm Ready". In 1958, he traveled to England, laying the foundations of the resurgence of interest in the blues there. His performance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960 was recorded and released as his first live album, At Newport 1960.
Muddy Waters' influence is incalculable, on blues as well as other American idioms—such as Rock and roll and Rock music.

Early life

Muddy Waters' birthplace and date are not conclusively known. He stated that he was born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, in 1915, but other evidence suggests that he was born in Jug's Corner, in neighboring Issaquena County, in 1913. In the 1930s and 1940s, before his rise to fame, the year of his birth was reported as 1913 on his marriage license, recording notes, and musicians' union card. A 1955 interview in the Chicago Defender is the earliest in which he stated 1915 as the year of his birth, and he continued to say this 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. His gravestone gives his birth year as 1915.
His grandmother, Della Grant, raised him after his mother died shortly after his birth. Grant gave him the nickname "Muddy" at an early age because he loved to play in the muddy water of nearby Deer Creek. "Waters" was added years later, as he began to play harmonica and perform locally in his early teens. The remains of the cabin on Stovall Plantation where he lived in his youth are now at the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi.
He had his first introduction to music in church: "I used to belong to church. I was a good Baptist, singing in the church. So I got all of my good moaning and trembling going on for me right out of church," he recalled. By the time he was 17, he had purchased his first guitar. "I sold the last horse that we had. Made about fifteen dollars for him, gave my grandmother seven dollars and fifty cents, I kept seven-fifty and paid about two-fifty for that guitar. It was a Stella. The people ordered them from Sears-Roebuck in Chicago." He started playing his songs in joints near his hometown, mostly on a plantation owned by Colonel William Howard Stovall.

Career

Early career, 1941–1948

In August 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," Muddy recalled for Rolling Stone magazine, "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 him again. Both sessions were eventually released by Testament Records as Down on Stovall's Plantation. The complete recordings were reissued by Chess Records on CD as Muddy Waters: The Complete Plantation Recordings. The Historic 1941–42 Library of Congress Field Recordings in 1993 and remastered in 1997.
In 1943, Muddy Waters headed to Chicago with the hope of becoming a full-time professional musician. He later recalled arriving in Chicago as the single most momentous event in his life. 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 bluesmen in Chicago, had Muddy Waters open his shows in the rowdy clubs where Broonzy played. This gave Muddy Waters the opportunity to play in front of a large audience. In 1944, he bought his first electric guitar and then formed his first electric combo. He felt obliged to electrify his sound in Chicago because, he said, "When I went into the clubs, the first thing I wanted was an amplifier. Couldn't nobody hear you with an acoustic." His sound reflected the optimism of postwar African Americans. Willie Dixon said that "There was quite a few people around singing the blues but most of them was singing all sad blues. Muddy was giving his blues a little pep." 
Three years later, in 1946, he recorded some songs for Mayo Williams at Columbia Records, with an old-fashioned combo consisting of clarinet, saxophone and piano; they were released a year later with Ivan Ballen's Philadelphia-based 20th Century label, billed as James "Sweet Lucy" Carter and his Orchestra - Muddy Waters' name was not mentioned on the label. Later that year, he began recording for Aristocrat Records, a newly formed label run by the 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 hits, and his popularity in clubs began to take off. Soon after, Aristocrat changed its name to Chess Records. Muddy Waters's signature tune "Rollin' Stone" also became a hit that year.

Commercial success, 1948–1957

Initially, the Chess brothers would not allow Muddy 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 (also known as 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 the bassist and songwriter Willie Dixon, including "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You", and "I'm Ready".
Along with his former harmonica player Little Walter Jacobs and recent southern transplant Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters reigned over the early 1950s Chicago blues scene, his band becoming a proving ground for some of the city's best blues talent. Little Walter continued a collaborative relationship long after he left Muddy Waters's band in 1952, appearing on most of the band's classic recordings in the 1950s. Muddy Waters developed a long-running, generally good-natured rivalry with Wolf. The success of his ensemble paved the way for others in his group to make 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.
During the mid-1950s, Muddy Waters' singles were frequently on Billboard magazine's various Rhythm & Blues charts including "Sugar Sweet" in 1955 and "Trouble No More", "Forty Days and Forty Nights", and "Don't Go No Farther" in 1956. 1956 also saw the release of one of his best-known numbers, "Got My Mojo Working", although it did not appear on the charts. However, by the late 1950s, his singles success had come to an end, with only "Close to You" reaching the chart in 1958. Also in 1958, Chess released Muddy Waters' first compilation album, The Best of Muddy Waters, which collected twelve of his singles up to 1956.

Performances and crossover, 1958–1970

Muddy toured England with Spann in 1958, where they were backed by local Dixieland-style or "trad jazz" musicians, including members of Chris Barber's band. At the time, English audiences had only been exposed to acoustic folk blues, as performed by artists such as Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, and Big Bill Broonzy. Both the musicians and audiences were unprepared for Muddy Waters' performance, which included his electric slide guitar playing. He recalled:

They thought I was a Big Bill Broonzy [but] I wasn't. I had my amplifier and Spann and I was going to do a Chicago thing. We opened up in Leeds, England. I was definitely too loud for them. The next morning we were in the headlines of the paper, 'Screaming Guitar and Howling Piano'.

Although his performances alienated the old guard, some younger musicians, including Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies from Barber's band, were inspired to go in the more modern, electric blues direction. Korner and Davies' own groups included musicians who would later form the Rolling Stones (named after Muddy's 1950 hit "Rollin' Stone"), Cream, and the original Fleetwood Mac.
In the 1960s, Muddy Waters' performances continued to introduce a new generation to Chicago blues. At the Newport Jazz Festival, he recorded one of the first live blues albums, At Newport 1960, and his performance of "Got My Mojo Working" was nominated for a Grammy award. In September 1963, in Chess' attempt to connect with folk music audiences, Muddy Waters recorded Folk Singer, which replaced his trademark electric guitar sound with an acoustic band, including a then-unknown Buddy Guy on acoustic guitar. Folk Singer was not a commercial success, but it was lauded by critics, and in 2003 Rolling Stone magazine placed it at number 280 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In October 1963, Muddy Waters participated in the first of several annual European tours, organized as the American Folk Blues Festival, during which he also performed more acoustic-oriented numbers.
In 1967, he re-recorded several blues standards with Bo Diddley, Little Walter, and Howlin' Wolf, which were marketed as Super Blues and The Super Super Blues Band albums in Chess' attempt to reach a rock audience. In 1968, at the instigation of Marshall Chess, Muddy Waters recorded Electric Mud, an album intended to revive his career by backing him with Rotary Connection, a psychedelic soul band that Chess had put together. The album proved controversial; although it reached number 127 on the Billboard 200 album chart, it was scorned by many critics, and eventually disowned by Muddy himself:

That Electric Mud record I did, that one was dogshit. But when it first came out, it started selling like wild, and then they started sending them back. They said, "This can't be Muddy Waters with all this shit going on – all this wow-wow and fuzztone.

Nonetheless, six months later Muddy Waters recorded a follow-up album, After the Rain, which had a similar sound and featured many of the same musicians.
Later in 1969, Muddy Waters recorded and released the album Fathers and Sons, which featured a return to his classic Chicago blues sound. Fathers and Sons had an all-star backing band that included Michael Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield, longtime fans whose desire to play with him was the impetus for the album. It was the most successful album of Muddy Waters' career, reaching number 70 on the Billboard 200.^{[citation needed]}

Resurgence and later career, 1971–1982

In 1971, a show at Mister Kelly's, an upmarket Chicago nightclub, was recorded and released, signalling both Muddy's return to form and the completion of his transfer to white audiences.
In 1972, he won his first Grammy Award, for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording for They Call Me Muddy Waters, a 1971 album of old, but previously unreleased recordings.
Later in 1972, he flew to England to record the album The London Muddy Waters Sessions. The album was a follow-up to the previous year's The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions. Both albums were the brainchild of Chess Records producer Norman Dayron, and were intended to showcase Chicago blues musicians playing with the younger British rock musicians whom they had inspired. Muddy Waters brought with him two American musicians, harmonica player Carey Bell and guitarist Sammy Lawhorn. The British and Irish musicians who played on the album included Rory Gallagher, Steve Winwood, Rick Grech, and Mitch Mitchell. Muddy Waters was dissatisfied by the results, due to the British musicians' more rock-oriented sound. "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." He stated, "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." Nevertheless, the album won another Grammy, again for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording.
He won another Grammy for his last LP on Chess Records: The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album, recorded in 1975 with his new guitarist Bob Margolin, Pinetop Perkins, Paul Butterfield, and Levon Helm and Garth Hudson of the Band. In November 1976 he appeared as a featured special guest at The Band's Last Waltz farewell concert, and in the subsequent 1978 feature film documentary of the event.
From 1977 to 1981, blues musician Johnny Winter, who had idolized Muddy Waters since childhood, produced four albums of his, all on the Blue Sky Records label: the studio albums Hard Again (1977), I'm Ready (1978) and King Bee (1981), and the live album Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live (1979). The albums were critical and commercial successes, with all but King Bee winning a Grammy. Hard Again has been especially praised by critics, who have tended to describe it as Muddy Waters' comeback album.
In 1981, Muddy Waters was invited to perform at ChicagoFest, the city's top outdoor music festival. He was joined onstage by Johnny Winter and Buddy Miles, and played classics like "Mannish Boy", "Trouble No More", and "Mojo Working" to a new generation of fans. The performance was made available on DVD in 2009 by Shout! Factory. On November 22, he performed live with three members of British rock band the Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards & Ronnie Wood) at the Checkerboard Lounge, a blues club in Bronzeville, on the South Side of Chicago, which was established in 1972 by Buddy Guy and L.C. Thurman. A DVD version of the performance was released in 2012.
In 1982, declining health dramatically stopped his performance schedule. His last public performance took place when he sat in with Eric Clapton's band at a concert in Florida in the summer of 1982.

Personal life

Muddy Waters and his longtime wife, Geneva Wade (a first cousin of R. L. Burnside) were married in Lexington, Mississippi, in 1940. She died of cancer on March 15, 1973. Gaining custody of two of his children, Rosalind and Renee, he moved them into his home, eventually buying a new house in Westmont, Illinois. Years later, he travelled to Florida and met his future wife, 19-year-old Marva Jean Brooks, whom he nicknamed "Sunshine". Eric Clapton served as best man at their wedding in 1979.
His sons, Larry "Mud" Morganfield and Big Bill Morganfield, are also blues singers and musicians. In 2017, his younger son, Joseph "Mojo" Morganfield, began publicly performing the blues, occasionally with his brothers.

Death

Muddy Waters died in his sleep from heart failure, at his home in Westmont, Illinois, on April 30, 1983, from cancer-related complications. He was transported from his Westmont home, which he lived in for the last decade of his life, to Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, Illinois. There he was pronounced dead at the age of 70. The funeral service was held on May 4, 1983. Throngs of blues musicians and fans attended his funeral at Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois. Muddy Waters is buried next to his wife, Geneva.
After his death, a lengthy legal battle ensued between Muddy Waters' heirs and Scott Cameron, his former manager. In 2010, Muddy Waters' heir was petitioning for the courts to appoint Mercy Morganfield, his daughter, as administrator and distribute remaining assets, which mainly consists of copyrights to his music. The petition to reopen the estate was successful. In May 2018, the heirs' lawyer sought to hold Scott Cameron's wife in contempt for diverting royalty income. However, the heirs asked for that citation not to be pursued. The next court date was set for July 10, 2018.

Legacy

Two years after his death, the city of Chicago paid tribute to Muddy Waters by designating the one-block section between 900 and 1000 East 43rd Street near his former home on the south side "Honorary Muddy Waters Drive". In 2017, a ten stories-mural commissioned as a part of the Chicago Blues Festival and designed by Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra was painted on the side of the building at 17 North State Street, at the corner of State and Washington Streets. The Chicago suburb of Westmont, where Muddy Waters lived the last decade of his life, named a section of Cass Avenue near his home "Honorary Muddy Waters Way".In 2008 a Mississippi Blues Trail marker has been placed in Clarksdale, Mississippi, by the Mississippi Blues Commission designating the site of Muddy Waters' cabin.

Influence

The British band The Rolling Stones named themselves after Muddy Waters' 1950 song "Rollin' Stone". Jimi Hendrix recalled that "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". The band Cream covered "Rollin' and Tumblin'" on their 1966 debut album, Fresh Cream. Eric Clapton 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 Heat at the Monterey Pop Festival and later adapted by Bob Dylan on his album Modern Times. One of Led Zeppelin's biggest hits, "Whole Lotta Love", is based on the Muddy Waters hit "You Need Love" (written by Willie Dixon). "Hoochie Coochie Man", was covered by Allman Brothers Band, Humble Pie, Steppenwolf, Supertramp and Fear). In 1993, Paul Rodgers 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", "(I'm your) Hoochie Coochie Man" and "I'm Ready" in collaboration with guitarists such as Gary Moore, Brian May and Jeff Beck. Angus Young, of the rock group AC/DC, has cited Muddy 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 Muddy Waters in 1962. Led Zeppelin also covered it on their debut album.In 1981 ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons went to visit the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale with The Blues magazine founder Jim O'Neal. The museum's director, Sid Graves, brought Gibbons to visit Muddy Waters original house, and encouraged him to pick up a piece of scrap lumber that was originally part of the roof. Gibbons eventually converted the wood into a guitar. Named, Muddywood, the instrument is now exhibited at the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale.
Following his death, fellow blues musician B.B. King told Guitar World magazine, "It's going to be years and years before most people realize how greatly he contributed to American music". John P. Hammond told Guitar World magazine, "Muddy was a master of just the right notes. It was profound guitar playing, deep and simple... more country blues transposed the electric guitar, the kind of playing that enhanced the lyrics, gave profundity to the words themselves.".
Muddy Waters' songs have been featured in long-time fan Martin Scorsese's movies, including The Color of Money, Goodfellas, and Casino. Muddy Waters' 1970s recording of his mid-'50s hit "Mannish Boy" was used in the films Goodfellas, Better Off Dead, Risky Business, and the rockumentary The Last Waltz. In 1988 "Mannish Boy" was also used in a Levi's 501 commercial and re-released in Europe as a single with "(I'm your) Hoochie Coochie Man" on the flip side.

Awards and recognition

Grammy Awards

Muddy Waters Grammy Award History
Year	Category	Title	Genre	Label	Result
1972	Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording	They Call Me Muddy Waters	folk	MCA/Chess	winner
1973	Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording	The London Muddy Waters Session	folk	MCA/Chess	winner
1975	Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording	The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album	folk	MCA/Chess	winner
1978	Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording	Hard Again	folk	Blue Sky	winner
1979	Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording	I'm Ready	folk	Blue Sky	winner
1980	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 Fame listed four songs of Muddy Waters among the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.

Year recorded	Title
1950	"Rollin' Stone"
1954	"Hoochie Coochie Man"
1955	"Mannish Boy"
1957	"Got My Mojo Working"

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
1987	Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
1992	Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award

U.S. Postage Stamp

Year	Stamp	USA	Note
1994	29-cent commemorative stamp	U.S. Postal Service	Photo

Discography

Studio albums

• Muddy Waters Sings Big Bill Broonzy (1960)
• Folk Singer (1964)
• Brass and the Blues (1966)
• Electric Mud (1968)
• After the Rain (1969)
• Fathers and Sons (1969)
• The London Muddy Waters Sessions (1972)
• Can't Get No Grindin' (1973)
• "Unk" in Funk (1974)
• The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album (1975)
• Hard Again (1977)
• I'm Ready (1978)
• King Bee (1981)

 Blues artist Muddy Waters at the opening of Peaches Records & Tapes in Rockville, MD

 c. 1975

Muddy Waters with James Cotton, 1971

Jean-Luc Ourlin - originally posted to Flickr as Muddy Waters

Muddy Waters at Ontario Place, Toronto, June 1978 (with James Cotton)

The cemetery plot of Muddy Waters, under his real name, McKinley Morganfield, in Restvale Cemetery, Westmont, Illinois

 

 

Muddy Waters - Hoochie Coochie Man (1970) - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO4A6xx65WU

Lyrics

The gypsy woman told my mother
Before I was born
I got a boy-child's comin'
He's gonna be a son-of-a-gun
He's gonna make pretty women's
Jump and shout
Then the world gonna know
What this all about

Don't you know I'm here
Everybody knows I'm here
Well, you know I'm the hoochie-coochie man
Everybody knows I'm here

I got a black cat bone
I got a mojo too
I got John the Conqueror
I'm gonna mess with you
I'm gonna make you girls
Lead me by my hand
Then the world'll know
The hoochie-coochie man

Don't you know I'm here
Everybody knows I'm here
Well, you know I'm the hoochie-coochie man
Everybody knows I'm here

On the seventh hour
On the seventh day
On the seventh mont
The seventh doctor say
"He was born for good luck
And that you see
I got seven hundred dollars
And don't you mess with me

But you know I'm here
Everybody knows I'm here
Well, you know I'm the hoochie-coochie man
Everybody knows I'm here

Songwriters: Willie Dixon

I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man lyrics © BMG Rights Management

Artist: Muddy Waters

Songwriter(s): Willie Dixon

Released: 1954

Recorded: Chicago, January 7, 1954

Genres: Chicago Blues, Blues

 

 

Muddy Waters I Just Want To Make Love To You - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnlvHP1AXPo

Lyrics

I don't want you to be no slave
I don't want you to wake all day
I don't want you to be true
I just want to make love to you

I don't want you to wash my clothes
I don't want you to keep our home
I don't want your money too
I just want to make love to you
Love to you
Love to you
Love to you

They tell about the way you
Switch and walk
Now I can see by the way you
Baby talk
Now I can know by the way you
Treat your man
That I could love you baby until' the
Cryin' shame

I don't want you to cook my bread
I don't want you to make my bed
I don't want you because I'm sad and blue
I just want to make love to you
Love to you
Love to you
Love to you

Artist: Muddy Waters

Genre: Chicago Blues

Muddy Waters - I'm Ready - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrKHz94rGpk

▶ 3:04

Aug 29, 2008 - Uploaded by SwindonByf

Muddy Waters - I'm Ready. SwindonByf. Loading... Unsubscribe from SwindonByf? Cancel Unsubscribe ...

 

 

Muddy Waters - Mannish Boy (Audio) - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSfqNEvykv0

Lyrics

Oh, yeah
Oh, yeah

Everything gonna be alright this mornin'
Now, when I was a young boy
At the age of five
My mother said I was gonna be
The greatest man alive
But now I'm a man
I'm age twenty-one
I want you to believe me, honey
We having lots of fun

I'm a man (yeah)
I spell M
A, child
N
That represent man
No B
O, child
Y
That spell mannish boy
I'm a man
I'm a full-grown man
I'm a man
I'm a rollin' stone
I'm a man
I'm a hoochie-coochie man

Sittin' on the outside
Just me and my mate
I'm made to move
Come up two hours late
Wasn't that a man?
I spell M
A, child
N
That represesnt man
No B
O, child
Y
That spell mannish boy
I'm a man
I'm a full-grown man
I'm a man
I'm a rolllin' stone
I'm a man
Full-grown man
Oh, well
Oh, well

Songwriters: Ellas McDaniel / McKinley Morganfield / Melvin London

Mannish Boy lyrics © BMG Rights Management

Artist: Muddy Waters

Released: June 1955

Recorded: Chicago, May 24, 1955

Genre: Chicago Blues

B-side: "Young Fashioned Ways"

 

 

Muddy Waters Rollin'Stone - Newport1960 - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5RwNit_HUw

Lyrics

Well, I wish I was a catfish,
Swimmin in a oh, deep, blue sea
I would have all you good lookin women,
Fishin, fishin after me
Sure 'nough, a-after me
Sure 'nough, a-after me
Oh 'nough, oh 'nough, sure 'nough

I went to my baby's house,
And I sit down oh, on her steps
She said, "C'mon in now, Muddy
You know, my husband just now left
Sure 'nough, he just now left
Sure 'nough, he just now left
Oh Lord, oh well, oh well

Well, my mother told my father,
Just before hmmm, I was born,
"I got a boy child's comin',
Gonna be, he gonna be a rollin' stone,
Sure 'nough, he's a rollin' stone
Sure 'nough, he's a rollin' stone"
Oh well he's a, oh well he's a, oh well he's a

Well, I feel, yes I feel,
Feel that I could lay down oh, time ain't long
I'm gonna catch the first thing smokin',
Back, back down the road I'm goin'
Back down the road I'm goin'
Back down the road I'm goin'
Sure 'nough back, sure 'nough back

Songwriters: Mc Kinley Morganfield

Rollin' Stone lyrics © BMG Rights Management US, LLC

Artist: Muddy Waters

Released: 1950

Recorded: Chicago, February 1950

Genre: Chicago Blues

Label: Chess

 

 

Muddy Waters - Got My Mojo Workin' - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hEYwk0bypY

Lyrics

Got my mojo working, but it just won't work on you
Got my mojo working, but it just won't work on you
I want to love you so bad, I don't know what to do

Going down to Louisiana to get me a mojo hand
Going down to Louisiana to get me a mojo hand
I'm gonna have all you women under my command

Got my mojo working
Got my mojo working
Got my mojo working
Got my mojo working
Got my mojo working, but it just won't work on you

I got a gypsy woman givin' me advice
I got a gypsy woman givin' me advice
I got a whole lottsa tricks keepin' her around

Songwriters: Preston Foster

Got My Mojo Working, Part Two lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Dare Music, Inc

Artist: Muddy Waters

Songwriter(s): Preston Foster

Recorded: 1956

Awards: Grammy Hall of Fame

Genres: Chicago Blues, Blues

 

 

Muddy Waters - Sugar Sweet - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN0k_Kh6nTU

Lyrics

I want to tell about my baby, speak of her with pride
She go out of the way to make me satisfied
She's my baby, she's my baby, well, that's true
Well, I can't call her sugar, sugar never was so sweet

Well, I ain't no surprised, she serve me in the bed
She manicure my nails, scratch dandruff from my head
She's my baby, she's my baby, what a treat
Well, I can't call her sugar, sugar never was so sweet

And if I say what I want, that's the way it gonna be
She fell over backwards, you know that pleases me
She's my baby, she's my baby, don't you see?
Well, I can't call her sugar, sugar never was so sweet

Songwriters: Mc Kinley Morganfield

Sugar Sweet lyrics © BMG Rights Management

Artist: Muddy Waters

Genre: Chicago Blues