Muddy Waters in early '50s Chess promo pictureMcKinley Morganfield a/k/a “Muddy Waters” was the "Father of Chicago Blues", but as his song said,"My Home is in the Delta". I was knocked out when I first listened to "The best of Muddy Waters" on Chess. I'd gotten the name McKinley Morganfield off of a Rolling Stones(who took their name from Muddy's song) LP, and went looking for the original.

Born in Rolling Fork, Muddy grew up on the Delta. When he was a young man he worked as a tractor driver on the Stovall plantation where the sounds of the Delta Blues as played by Son House and the influences of Robert Johnson molded him. During this period Muddy played around in a string band with fiddler Son Sims.In 1941-42 Alan Lomax recorded Muddy with the Son Sims Quartet as well as Muddy playing solo. The solo recordings of “Country Blues” is Muddy’s version of Son House’s “Walking Blues”.

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Reworked as “I Feel Like Going Home”it became Muddy’s first hit in 1948 on the Chess subsidiary, Aristocrat along with a new version of “I Be’s Troubled” (“I Can’t Be Satisfied”) . Both show the style Muddy would later take to a new level and transform into the modern Chicago Blues. I used to think that Big Crawford’s bass was what drove “I Can’t Be Satisfied” until I listened to the earlier recordings(available as The Complete Plantation Recordings on Chess/MCA. They are also available on the import First Recording Sessions 1941-1946 (DOCD-5146). The Chess/MCA versions sound better, but the Document CD has more tunes and even has “Rollin’ and Tumblin” parts 1 &2 from 1950 with Baby Face Leroy Foster and Little Walter! Muddy had moved to Chicago during the war and recorded “Mean Red Spider” in 1946, but it wasn’t until 1948 that things started coming together as Leonard Chess and Muddy created “The Chicago Sound” .

Between 1951 and 1953 the sound on record evolved with Jimmy Rogers on guitar and Otis Spann on piano joining Little Walter in the lineup to make up what might have been THE Chicago Blues band. The sound had evolved in the clubs of the South Side into something new . Check out “I Just Want to Make Love to You”! Muddy’s bottleneck is gone.Walter’s harp is heavily amplified and does a call and response with Otis’ piano while Jimmy Rogers lays back and keeps it going. The harp solo is cool and mean. Part of this is also due to Willie Dixon’s songwriting.

In the second half of the ‘50s Muddy’s band was the center of the Chicago Blues scene. James Cotton, Jr.Wells, Buddy Guy, Luther Allison,Luther Tucker,Walter Horton,Pat Hare,Sam Lay are just some of the players who played with Muddy. The sound had changed to an ensemble, with the bottleneck either missing or very far back,The lead instrument was harmonca and piano.Muddy was a singer, not a player.As the ‘50s turned into the too hip ‘60s, Muddy’s audience shifted from the bars of the South Side to the Coffee House/Concert circuit. Blues was no longer hip in Black America, it had been discovered by young English groups like the Stones , and Yardbirds who brought it back here in the “English Invasion” of ‘64.Young white Americans like Paul Butterfield,Johnny Winters,and John Hammond were absorbing the sound, while blacks considered "Hoochie Coochie Man" 'slave muic' or 'country'.

On record, there were attempts to capitalize on the new audience, with albums like Folk Singer , “Muddy and Brass” and eventually Electric Mud; a Pschedelic nightmare whose best part was a series of pictures of Muddy getting his hair processed. Oddly enough, Marshall Chess has said that this was Muddy's best selling LP ( before the revival of the '60s, Chicago Blues records were primarily sold as singles, so this is misleading). Muddy’s band always delivered, but the records were weak and you might go to see him and never hear ANY slide. In 1976 Muddy changed labels.After years with Chess he moved to Blue Sky and got Johnny Winter to produce him. It was just what he needed. Johnny knew where Muddy came from and knew what he could do. The album Hard Again won him a grammy and was commercially sucessful. Muddy was back! Playing and singing like only he could. Unlike many bluesmen, Muddy was a professional's professional. His word was his bond, appearance was important, and his players were never "sloppy drunk" on the gig. When you went to see Muddy Waters, you got your money's worth. He always offered encouragement to the young white musicians who sought him out. Muddy "adopted" Eric Clapton and Eric was best man at his wedding. Muddy remained active until his death April 30,1983.Ain't that a Man!

To learn more about Muddy Waters, check out Robert Gordon's excellent bio, Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters, which has been used as the basis for a great PBS "American Masters" documentary.