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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 popular bluesmen – Son House and Robert Johnson.
He made his first recordings in 1941 for the purposes of registration for the Library of American Congress. However, the most important 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, one of Muddy’s distinctive pieces was created – “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 are “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 great album “Hard Again” was released, followed by several other very successful releases.
Muddy Waters died in 1983. His influence on music cannot be overestimated. He inspired and inspires blues, rock, folk and jazz artists. The name of the song was taken from Rolling Stones, Waters helped sign Chuck Berry’s first contract, and the famous “Whole Lotta Love” Led Zeppelin is based on his hit “You Need Love”. These are just a few examples of how important his activities are to all popular music.
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