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Muddy Waters

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Muddy Waters

McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 – April 30, 1983), known by his stage name Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician. He is often considered the "father of modern Chicago blues". Muddy Waters grew up on Stovall Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi and by age seventeen was playing the guitar at parties, emulating local blues artists Son House and Robert Johnson. He was recorded by Alan Lomax there for the Library of Congress in 1941. In 1943, he headed to Chicago with the hope of becoming a full-time professional musician, eventually recording, in 1946, for first Columbia and then Aristocrat Records, a newly formed label run by brothers Leonard and Phil Chess. In the early 1950s, Muddy and his band, Little Walter Jacobs on harmonica, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Elgin Evans on drums and Otis Spann on piano, recorded a series of blues classics, some with bassist/songwriter Willie Dixon, including "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "I'm Ready". In 1958, Muddy headed to England, helping to lay the foundations of the subsequent blues boom there, and in 1960 performed at the Newport Jazz Festival, recorded and released as his first live album, At Newport 1960. Muddy's influence is tremendous, not just on blues and rhythm and blues but on rock 'n' roll, hard rock, folk, jazz, and country; his use of amplification is often cited as the link between Delta blues and rock 'n' roll.

Links To Peel[]

Peel was a fan of Muddy Waters from his teens [1]. On his BFBS show of 10 April 1997 (BFBS), after playing 'Long Distance Call' by the musician, he described how he bought one of his first Blues LP by the artist:

"Possibly the first blues LP I bought: certainly, I bought it when I was in the army meself and took it back home when I was on leave one weekend and played it to my mum. My mother, a woman of extraordinary judgement and taste, thought it was one of the best things she'd ever heard, and she was quite right."

Certainly Muddy Waters was a major influence on the blues artists who were strongly featured on Peel's programmes of the late 1960s. Among those whose cover versions of Muddy's material appear in show playlists are the Jeff Beck Group, Canned Heat, the John Dummer Blues Band, Davey Graham, Jo-Ann Kelly. the Rolling Stones and Ten Years After.

On 08 February 2000, Peel mentioned that his children seemed to be developing similar musical tastes (for Muddy Waters and Culture), for which he was gratified. Peel also personally influenced one artist by introducing him to the music of Muddy Waters; he mentioned on 06 July 2004 that, while living in San Bernardino in California in the Sixties, he played a Muddy Waters track to visiting guitarist Buddy Reed, setting him on the path of a career playing the Blues.

Peelenium[]

Shows Played[]

Muddy_Waters_-_She's_All_Right

Muddy Waters - She's All Right

'She's Alright', a Peelenium 1952

1968
1972
  • 04 April 1972: Gone To Main Street (LP - Back In The Good Old Days) Syndicate
  • 02 June 1972: Louisiana Blues (4xLP – Genesis: The Beginnings Of Rock) Chess
1975
  • 12 June 1975: Louisiana Blues (LP - Sail On) Chess
  • 23 June 1975: Burying Ground Blues (JP: " A previously unissued..", then tape cut)
1976
1977
1978
1979
1981
1982
1983
1986
1987
1988
1990
1991
1994
1995
1997
1998
1999
2000
2002
2003
2004
Others

Covered[]

(The list below was compiled only from the Cover Versions page of this site and includes later versions of songs earlier covered by Muddy Waters. Please add more information if known.)

Artist | Track | First Known Play

See Also[]

External Links[]

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