In 1943 a man arrived in Chicago with little money in his pocket, unaware that he would change the course of the blues forever. His only conviction was to achieve fame through what he loved the most: music.
At 27, Muddy Waters had already been playing blues at country parties, as well as on the streets of Clarksdale, Mississippi, for nearly thirteen years. Those who listened to him in his musical beginnings, some testimonies assure it, never imagined that in the future those chords would move the entire world.
His name was McKinley Morganfield. He was born on April 4, 1915 in Rolling Forks, a small city in the state of Mississippi. After his mother passed away, his father left him in the care of his grandmother, with whom he lived his entire childhood. He owes her nickname to her, since he loved to play and get dirty in the mud, and her grandmother once decided to scold him by calling him: "muddy waters", which in Spanish means: 'muddy water'.
"At a very young age he dropped out of school and began working on the Clarksdale cotton plantations, very close to where he lived."
He learned to play the harmonica at the age of nine, soon after he was instructed on the guitar with the help of his neighbor -Eddie "Son" House-, and it did not take long for him to exploit his talent showing it to his companions in the plantations, to receive his recognition and boost his career from there.
Muddy Waters' Band
The fame he gained in Mississippi unfortunately didn't reach Chicago, so when he decided to move there, Muddy had to work in a paper mill and play at small workers' parties; which helped him because that way he was able to buy his first electric guitar.
After auditioning for Chess Records, he finally got the chance to go into a studio. In 1948 he recorded "I Can't Be Satisfied" and "Feel Like Going Home". The album sold out within hours, and his career as a blues musician took off.
By 1951, Muddy Waters formed a band with Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Fred Below on drums, Willie Dixon on bass, Little Walter on harmonica, and Otis Spann on piano. Throughout the rest of the 1940s, the band recorded blues classics such as "Long Distance Call", "I'm Your Hootchie Cootchie Man", "Rollin' Stone", "Got My Mojo Working", "Mannish Boy », among others.
"Ten years after arriving in the city, Muddy Waters became 'the king of Chicago.' The Best of Muddy Waters, a collection that made him known throughout the world.
Two concerts meant the next step in the career of Muddy Waters. The first was in England, when the band rocked audiences with their energetic, city music. The second was at the Newport Folk Festival, in Rhode Island, USA, the day Muddy Waters proved to be the doyen of electric blues.
His fame was never satisfied because along with Johnny Winter, Muddy Waters won the Grammy Award for the album Hard Again in 1977. In the middle of the decade he played for President Jimmy Carter, in 1980 he entered the Hall of Fame and seven years later the Hall of Fame. Rock'n Roll Hall of Fame, recognition that he could not see in life because on April 30, 1983 he died in the state of Illinois.
The great influence that Muddy Waters had on music was soon reflected in bands like The Rolling Stones —whose name was inspired by two of their songs "Mannish Boy" and "Rollin' Stone"— or The Animals, and musicians like Eric Clapton , Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and many more.
In addition to influencing music, an American magazine also bears the name of one of his songs, and Martin Scorsese dedicated a chapter to it in his 2003 television series The Blues, in which he recounts the history of this musical genre.
Muddy Waters' legacy in music is undeniable. It was the most important bridge between the native Mississippi country blues and the sophisticated urban sound of the city of Chicago. His dream came true, he managed to bring his music to the whole world, without thinking that it would change him completely.
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