Muddy Waters |
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 Muddy Waters at the opening of Peaches Records & Tapes in Rockville, Maryland |
Background information |
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Birth name |
McKinley Morganfield |
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Born |
April 4, 1913(1913-04-04) Issaquena County, Mississippi, United States |
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Died |
April 30, 1983(1983-04-30) (aged 70) Westmont, Illinois, United States |
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Genres |
Blues, Chicago blues, country blues, electric blues |
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Occupations |
Singer, songwriter, guitarist, bandleader |
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Instruments |
Vocals, guitar, harmonica. |
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Muddy is known today as the "Father of Modern Chicago Blues". His influence has spread across many genres of music including classic rock and many modern pop/rock bands.
McKinley Morganfield was born on April 4, 1913 in Issaquena County, Mississippi. In 1945 McKinley's uncle gave him his first electric guitar which would help him be heard above the loud crowds that he was used to play for in the rowdy southern clubs and bars.
This is one os Muddy Water's most well known single that he recorded in the late 1950's. "Champagne and Reefer"
Initially, the Chess brothers would not allow Muddy to use his own guitar in the recording studio; instead he was provided with a backing bass by Ernest "Big" Crawford, or by musicians assembled specifically for the recording session, including "Baby Face" Leroy Foster and Johnny Jones. Gradually Chess relented, and by September 1953 he was recording with one of the most acclaimed blues groups in history: Little Walter Jacobs on harmonica; Jimmy Rogers on guitar; Elga Edmonds (a.k.a. Elgin Evans) on drums; Otis Spann on piano. The band recorded a series of blues classics during the early 1950s, some with the help of bassist/songwriter Willie Dixon, including "Hoochie Coochie Man" (Number 8 on the R&B charts), "I Just Want to Make Love to You" (Number 4), and "I'm Ready". These three were "the most macho songs in his repertoire," wrote Robert Palmer in Rolling Stone. "Muddy would never have composed anything so unsubtle. But they gave him a succession of showstoppers and an image, which were important for a bluesman trying to break out of the grind of local gigs into national prominence."[citation needed]
Muddy, along with his former harmonica player Little Walter Jacobs and recent southern transplant Howlin' Wolf, 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" 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.
Sources- youtube.com
The muddy waters official website
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