When Waters was just 3 years old, his mother, Bertha Jones, died, and he was subsequently sent to Clarksdale to live with his maternal grandmother, Delia Jones. Muddy Waters Kirk West/Getty Images. It could have been from the colour of his skin, or because he played in the mud. [39][bettersourceneeded] In 1968, at the instigation of Marshall Chess, he 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. A DVD version of this performance was then released in the year 2012. Williams recounted to Blewett Thomas that he eventually dropped Muddy "because he was takin' away my women [fans]". Personal Life: Muddy Waters was married three times: to Mabel Berry (19321935), Geneva Morganfield (19401973), and Marva Jean Brooks (19791983). [58] He was taken from his Westmont home, which he lived in for the last decade of his life, to Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, Illinois,[59] where he was pronounced dead. Muddy Waters is quoted as saying; "I made Chess Records, and they made me." In the early days and through the glory days of Chicago Blues, the 1950s, Chess Records paid their recording artists in Cadillacs. Muddy Waters died in his sleep from heart failure, at his home in Westmont, Illinois, on April 30, 1983, from cancer-related complications. Between 1972 to 1980, he received six Grammys under the category Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording for They Call Me Muddy Waters, The London Muddy Waters Session, The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album, Hard Again, I'm Ready, and Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live.. Omissions? Even when fellow blues legend Buddy Guy wanted to visit the ailing musician towards the end of his life, Waters told Guy: Dont come out here, Im doing all right, just keep the damn blues alive. While Waters never talked about his illness (he would pass away from lung cancer in 1983), he consistently told his daughter, Mercy, yall gotta keep the blues alive., Now he knew I couldnt sing, so I wasnt sure until recently how exactly I was supposed to do that, jokes Morganfield. He didnt say, Keep my music alive. He said, Keep the blues alive. So, it was important to him to keep the blues on the forefront. On April 30, 1983, just over three weeks after his 70th birthday, McKinley Morganfield, better known as Muddy Waters, the father of Chicago blues, died of cardiorespiratory arrest and carcinoma of the lungs. 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. B. Lenoir. Muddy Waters' longtime partner, Geneva Wade, died of cancer on March 15, 1973. There he began playing clubs and bars on the citys South and West sides while earning a living working in a paper mill and later driving a truck. In 1946, Waters recorded some songs for Columbia Records. To establish trust, Lomax asked for some water and, to Waters' astonishment, shared it from the same cup from which he'd been drinking. Della Grant made sure young Muddy attended church every Sunday. His repertoire, much of which he composed, included lyrics that were mournful (Blow Wind Blow, Trouble No More), boastful (Got My Mojo Working, Im Your Hoochie Coochie Man, and Mannish Boy), and frankly sensual (the unusual 15-bar blues Rock Me). Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Although blues was in decline in the United States, British audiences were hungry for its gritty authenticity. After Muddy Waters' death, a decades-long court battle ensued between his heirs and Scott Cameron, his manager at the time of his demise. He recorded his first live blues album titled At Newport 1960 at the Newport Jazz Festival. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. His popularity grew with the passing years and by 1953 he was recording with one of the most celebrated blues groups in history with Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Little Walter Jacobs on harmonica, Otis Spann on piano and Elga Edmonds on drums. [32] 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. The next morning we were in the headlines of the paper, 'Screaming Guitar and Howling Piano'. Although T-Bone Walker had used an electric guitar as early as the 1930s, Waters' use of the instrument through a cranked, distorting amplifier coupled with his signature, Son House-inspired licks transformed the instrument from mere accompaniment to the voice of Chicago Blues. It would take six years for Waters to master the instrument, much to the annoyance of his grandmother, who would send him out of the house when the racket became unbearable. Muddy Water (Japanese: Muddy River) is a damage-dealing Water-type move introduced in Generation III. In 1982, Waters stopped performing due to his declining health. The Londoner is one of the most prominent guitarists inspired by Muddy Waters. "[41], Nonetheless, six months later he recorded a follow-up album, After the Rain, which had a similar sound and featured many of the same musicians. Muddy was recorded by Alan Lomax and John Work, two musicologists working for Fisk University and the Library of Congress to study the folk traditions in rural communities. Bringing the country blues of the Delta with him, Waters made a practical decision that would revolutionize music. Waters first attempted to move to St. Louis, but he found the big city too cold and impersonal. 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. Muddy Waters was born as McKinley Morganfield on 4 April 1913 (his birth year is stated to be 1915 in some sources) in the city of Rolling Fork in Mississippi. [34] In September 1963, in Chess' attempt to connect with folk music audiences, he recorded Folk Singer, which replaced his trademark electric guitar sound with an acoustic band, including a then-unknown Buddy Guy on acoustic guitar. He is buried next to his wife, Geneva. The Delta farmlands were rife with the blues, which were part of most social gatherings. Muddy Waters/Wife. He was the guy who had food on the stove when I came home from college. Even as Morganfield reflects on her fathers prolific career and how his music continues to be discovered by new audiences each day, she leaves us with this: The best of Muddy Waters isnt something you can find on an album; the best of Muddy Waters was the man.. Worship was a refuge for Stovall's sharecroppers, and services were lively and filled with song. 19321935Geneva Morganfieldm. "[T]his music continues to speak to something universal," Obama said. 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 the city, the young boy's world opened up. A major influence on a variety of rock musiciansmost notably the Rolling Stones (who took their name from his song Rollin Stone and made a pilgrimage to Chess to record)Waters was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. In August 1941, on a field recording expedition sponsored by the Library of Congress and Fisk University, Alan Lomax and John Work set up portable equipment in Waters' house to record Muddy and other local musicians, including fiddler Henry "Son" Simms. According to Gordon, virtually nothing is known of Berta Grant. "She used to let us go over there all the time, and I played it night and day." ", "List of honorary Chicago street designations", "Massive Muddy Waters Mural To Be Dedicated in Chicago", "Mississippi Blues Commission Blues Trail", "Muddy Waters' Kenwood Home Clears Major Hurdle Toward Chicago Landmark Status", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Muddy_Waters&oldid=1152355024, This page was last edited on 29 April 2023, at 18:51. Thurman. The last court date was held on July 10, 2018,[60] and, as of 2023, the disputed arrangement remained unchanged.[61]. Although some purists were turned off by Waters' wild, amplified Chicago blues,others were paying careful attention. 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. No records of either her birth or death exist, and she died shortly after giving birth to McKinley. In August 1941,[7] Alan Lomax went to Stovall, Mississippi, on behalf of the Library of Congress to record various country blues musicians. Later in 1972, he flew to England to record the album The London Muddy Waters Sessions. I think he said once that, The blues had a baby and they named it rocknroll, but he was just this really humble guy, says Morganfield. Birth City: Issaquena County. Muddy Waters, byname of McKinley Morganfield, (born April 4, 1913?, near Rolling Fork, Mississippi, U.S.died April 30, 1983, Westmont, Illinois), dynamic American blues guitarist and singer who played a major role in creating the post-World War II electric blues. Toward the end of his career, Waters concentrated on singing and played guitar only occasionally. During the 1960s, the American artists career experienced a revival as his works gained appreciation from a new generation of music lovers. It started out as a name his grandmother nicknamed him, Morganfield says. His funeral was held on May 4, 1983. 19321935Geneva Morganfieldm. Although "Electric Mud" initially sold well, it was panned by critics. 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 had many kids, including sons Big Bill Morganfield, Larry Mud Morganfield, and Joseph Joe Morganfield. Stomping around in the dirty Delta water was one of the few pleasures for a child growing up on a plantation. ", According to "Deep Blues" by Robert Palmer, Muddy Waters was amazed at what he heard when Alan Lomax played his recording back to him. King told Guitar World magazine, "It's going to be years and years before most people realize how greatly he contributed to American music." When he began his musical career he adopted Muddy Waters as his legal . "Hoochie Coochie Man", was covered by Allman Brothers Band, Humble Pie, Steppenwolf, Supertramp and Fear. What about Muddy Water? Ollie Morganfield Embodying the struggles of Black Americans in the early 20th century, the blues has evolved from a music of the oppressed to a genre enjoyed across lines of race, wealth, and nationality. How many illegitimate children did Muddy Waters have? Angus Young, of the rock group AC/DC, has cited Muddy as one of his influences. What was the name of Muddy Waters second wife? When did Waters move to . He later tied the knot with Marva Jean Brooks, his second wife, in the year 1979. In 1952, Little Walter left when his single "Juke" became a hit, although he continued a collaborative relationship long after he left, appearing on most of the band's classic recordings in the 1950s. Blues singer, songwriter and musician Muddy Waters was born McKinley Morganfield on April 4, 1913 in Issaquena County, Mississippi. Upon discovering that the other farm hands were getting 25 cents for the same job, Waters went to overseer T.O. Birth date: April 4, 1915. I first heard him as a little boy . [citation needed], In 1981 ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons went to visit the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale with The Blues magazine founder Jim O'Neal. This was followed by the release of the singles "Sugar Sweet", "Trouble No More", "Don't Go No Farther", "Got My Mojo Working" and "Forty Days and Forty Nights". He eagerly absorbed the classic Delta blues styles of Robert Johnson, Son House, and others while developing a style of his own. Gender: Male. 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He was 21, a father, and recently separated from his wife when he met Muddy Waters' mother, Berta Grant, in the summer of 1912. He then went on to release the compilation album titled The Real Folk Blues in 1966. His last performance took place at a concert in the summer of 1982. Nevertheless, Waters still had his doubts about this strange white man. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed four songs of Muddy Waters among the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. "The lady that lived across the field from us had a phonograph when I was a little bitty boy," Waters told Robert Palmer, author of "Deep Blues." "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.". 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. He performed both on his own and in a band, occasionally earning a little money playing at house parties. I never did learn to play anything on it, and one of the older boys pulled it apart.". In the mid-1950s, Muddy Waters' singles were frequently on Billboard magazine's various Rhythm & Blues charts[27][28] including "Sugar Sweet" in 1955 and "Trouble No More", "Forty Days and Forty Nights", and "Don't Go No Farther" in 1956. [27] However, by the late 1950s, his singles success had come to an end, with only "Close to You" reaching the chart in 1958. 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. [5] He was recorded in Mississippi by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1941. Gaining custody of his three children, Joseph, Renee, and Rosalind, he moved them into his home, eventually buying a new house in Westmont, Illinois. [40] 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 Waters himself: That Electric Mud record I did, that one was dogshit. 3. Waters immediately took one copy to Will McComb's cafe and placed it on the jukebox. Shortly after, Waters released The Blues of Otis Spann with Spann. Gaining custody of his three children, Joseph, Renee, and Rosalind, he moved them into his home, eventually buying a new house in Westmont, Illinois. 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. In the early 1950s, Muddy Waters and his bandLittle Walter Jacobs on harmonica, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Elga Edmonds (also known as Elgin Evans) on drums and Otis Spann on pianorecorded several blues classics, some with the bassist and songwriter Willie Dixon. His father, Ollie Morganfield, was a farmer and a blues guitar player who separated from the family shortly after Waters was born. Two years after Waters death, Chicago honored him by assigning one one-block section near his former house as the "Honorary Muddy Waters Drive". The same year, he participated in the first annual European tour and performed additional acoustic-oriented numbers. Gaining custody of his three children, Joseph, Renee, and Rosalind, he moved them into his home, eventually buying a new house in Westmont, Illinois. Group 3Muddy Waters 1. [15]. In the pews of Stovall's church, Waters discovered the power of rhythm and melody. As a young man, he drove a tractor on the sharecropped plantation, and on weekends he operated the cabin in which he lived as a juke house, where visitors could party and imbibe moonshine whiskey made by Waters. Waters recalled in Robert Gordon's "Can't Be Satisfied." Explain that Muddy Waters recorded this song in 1941, when he was living on a Mississippi farm and working as a sharecropper. Quote Of The Day | Top 100 Quotes, See the events in life of Muddy Waters in Chronological Order. Jimi Hendrix recalled that "I first heard him as a little boy and it scared me to death". Tony Evans/timelapse Library Ltd./Getty Images, the blues is a uniquely American art form, Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters, ordered from the Sears and Roebuck catalog, Feel Like going Home: Portraits in Blues and Rock 'n' Roll. Upon returning to his Chicago home, Waters began coughing up blood. Marva Jean Brooksm. Yet, by 1956, blues sales were in rapid decline thanks largely to the advent of rock 'n' roll and artists such as Chuck Berry,whom Waters had referred to Chess Records just a year before. Muddy Waters' songs have been featured in Martin Scorseses films, including Goodfellas, The Color of Money, and Casino.. His influence was particularly notable on Led Zeppelin's first two albums, when Page and the band were crafting a much darker and more expansive form of rock than fans had ever heard. Waters was given the nickname "Muddy" as he loved playing in muddy water. However, Alan Lomax(pictured)was no revenue agent. Thats where you get to hear these phenomenal guitar skills that people talk about. Broonzy let him open his shows in clubs and gave him the chance to play in front of a large audience. [33] 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. Two years after his death, the city of Chicago paid tribute to him 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". Big Bill Morganfield, Larry "Mud" Morganfield, and Joseph "Joe" Morganfield were among the many children he had while he was alive. Add your answer: Earn + 20 pts. 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 state that year in interviews from that point onward. That next year, the musicians album titled The London Muddy Waters Sessions was released. As a young adult, he learned to make and sell whiskey himself, an activity to which the owners of Stovall turned a blind eye. When Waters was just 3 years old, his mother, Bertha Jones, died, and he was subsequently sent to Clarksdale to live with his maternal grandmother, Delia Jones. [56] Mojo died in 2020 at the age of 56.[57]. [24] 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". Tours of clubs in the South and Midwest in the 1940s and 50s gave way after 1958 to concert tours of the United States and Europe, including frequent dates at jazz, folk, and blues festivals. Mabel Berrym. what did he soon have Muddy Waters/Parents Personal life. Muddy Waters - Got My Mojo Workin'. On November 22, he performed live with three members of British rock band the Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and 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. The singer and guitarist was pronounced dead at Chicago's Good . Page loves Waters so much that some allege that Zeppelin's 'You Shook Me . But when it first came out, it started selling like wild, and then they started sending them back. The British and Irish musicians who played on the album included Rory Gallagher, Steve Winwood, Rick Grech, and Mitch Mitchell. He was so deeply engrossed in a marriage with the blues, thats pretty much how he thought of himself. When Wolf was a child his grandfather would tell him stories of wolves in Mississippi. Fulton to ask for a raise. [45] 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. "Oh I started out young. He was a 26-year-old ethnomusicologist on a mission from the Library of Congress to document the vanishing folk music of the American South. Muddy was dissatisfied by the results, due to the British musicians' more rock-oriented sound. The song was more successful, reaching number nine in the Billboard R&B chart. "[44] Nevertheless, the album won another Grammy, again for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording. Waters was a lifelong womanizer who met his last wife, Marva Jean Brooks, when she was 19 and he was over 60. Life as a sharecropper on a plantation in the early 20th century was barely a step above slavery. The list of these. In 1993, Paul Rodgers released the album titled Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters in order to honor the late musician. Shortly after the historic performance, Waters, a long-time sufferer of hypertension, collapsed. Although Rolling Fork was and remains a small town the population, according to the 2010 census, was just over 2,000 it was, nonetheless, a metropolis compared to a rural bend in the road like Jug's Corner. Personal life. He also played guitar on the cuts "Little Anna Mae" and "Gypsy Woman". Spouse/Ex-: Geneva Morganfield (m. ?1973), Mabel Berry (m. 19321935), Marva Jean Brooks (m. 19791983), U.S. State: Mississippi, African-American From Mississippi, Quotes By Muddy Waters | "I must've been five. Postal Service. I say about four thanks for asking everyone Who are some famous Chicago Blues singers? Show Image 2, Muddy Waters and Son Sims, Stoval, Mississippi 1941. [26] 1955 saw the departure of Jimmy Rogers, who quit to work exclusively with his own band, which had been a sideline until that time. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. The Historic 194142 Library of Congress Field Recordings in 1993 and remastered in 1997. From an early age, Muddy Waters knew he was meant for life beyond Stovall Plantation. While Muddy tried to be the best family man that he could be, most sources say that he always had women and several children born outside of his marriages. ", After some informal lessons, Waters finally bought his first guitar at 17. The museum's director, Sid Graves, brought Gibbons to visit Waters original house, and encouraged him to pick up a piece of scrap lumber that was originally part of the roof. In 1971, his album They Call Me Muddy Waters was released. He had at least six children, most illegitimate; mistresses and a daughter were lost to drugs. Birth State: Mississippi. She died of cancer in March 1973, leaving him a widower. Which "bottleneck" players did he listen to? Nearly nine years after Johnny Winters death, a battle for control of the legendary blues guitarists music is being fought in court with allegations of theft and greed flying, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Muddy-Waters, Mississippi Writers and Musicians - Biography of Muddy Waters, PBS - American Masters - Muddy Waters: Can't be Satisfied, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - Biography of Muddy Waters, AllMusic - Biography of McKinley Morganfield, Black History Now - Biography of Muddy Waters, United States History - Biography of Muddy Waters, Muddy Waters - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Battle for late Johnny Winter's music to play out in court, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (1987). 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The album was a follow-up to the previous year's The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions. Sometimes they'd want us to work Saturday, but they'd look for me, and I'd be gone, playin' in some little town or in some juke joint.". 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. Waters didnt perform in his home state of Mississippi for many years, since he had no patience for being told to enter venues via the back door, but when Mercy went to university there, he came back and performed a concert for her in Greenville. The late 1940s-mid-1950s record releases by Aristocrat Records and Chess Records sometimes used "Muddy Waters and His Guitar" as well as Muddy Waters. His popularity grew with the passing years and by 1953 he was recording with one of the most celebrated blues groups in history with Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Little Walter Jacobs on harmonica, Otis Spann on piano and Elga Edmonds on drums.