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Muddy Waters
His name was McKinley Morganfield and he was born on July 4, 1915. Called the “Father of Chicago Blues” he was one of the most important and inspiring artists of the 20th century.
He began his adventure with music by playing the harmonica but soon switched to the guitar for good. His masters at that time were famous bluesmen – Son House and Robert Johnson.
He made his first recordings in 1941 for registration for the Library of American Congress. However, the most crucial stage of his career began with his move to Chicago. For good then he got involved with the electric guitar, which became the determinant of his sound. The band also has a place for the harmonica and rhythm section. Soon, when thanks to concerts he gained considerable publicity. He signed a contract with the well-known Chess label.
The artist’s popularity began to grow thanks to songs from 1948 – “I Can’t Be Satisfied” and “I Feel Like Going Home.” At that time, Muddy create one of his distinctive pieces – “Rollin’ Stone.” In the following years, Waters recorded with one of the best blues bands in history: Little Walter Jacob (harmonica), Jimmy Rogers (guitar), Elga Edmonds (drums) and Otis Spann (keyboards). The band recorded a whole group of blues classics in the early 1950s, also thanks to the support of bass player and songwriter Williams Dixon. The most important of them is “Hoochie Coochie Man,” “I Just Wanna Make Love To You” and “I’m Ready.”
The years of greatest glory lasted until around 1956 when most of the musicians from the most famous line-up were no longer in the band. They left the group to start solo careers. In 1958, Muddy Waters won the hearts of fans in Great Britain, whom he moved with the sound of his electric blues. His show at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960 went down in history, which became the inspiration for the next generation of rock musicians. Return to increased studio and concert activity took place in 1976. A year later, the excellent album “Hard Again” was released, followed by several other very successful releases.
Muddy Waters died in 1983, but he inspired and still inspires blues, rock, folk, and jazz artists. We cannot overestimate his influence on music. The Rolling Stones takes the name of the band from one of his songs. Waters helped sign Chuck Berry’s first contract. The famous “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin is based on his hit “You Need Love.” These are just a few examples of how vital his activities are to all popular music.
