Muddy Waters (1915–83) is the vital link between the pre-war Delta blues and the post-war Chicago blues. Born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, he grew up on Stovall’s Plantation near Clarksdale and became steeped in the slide-guitar blues of Son House and Robert Johnson. In 1941, he was recorded by archivist Alan Lomax, playing ‘Country Blues’ and ‘I’s Be Troubled’.

Two years later, Waters moved north to Chicago, following the general migration. While his voice still sounded as if it were coming from the cotton fields on his 1946 recordings, his amplified guitar (necessary if he were to be heard above his band) opened up a whole new dimension for his Delta licks. By 1948, when he had his first local hit with ‘I Can’t Be Satisfied’ (an updated version of ‘I’s Be Troubled’), his guitar playing had developed a trademark style, bringing a more aggressive quality to his single-note Delta riffs and slide technique.

Waters put together a prime band of musicians he could rely on – guitarist Jimmy Rogers, bassist Willie Dixon, pianist Otis Spann and harmonica player Little Walter – and built a powerful reputation in Chicago’s clubs and bars, helped by his own commanding presence. During the mid-1950s, Waters recorded a series of songs that would become anthems of Chicago blues: ‘I Just Want To Make Love To You’, ‘Got My Mojo Working’, ‘I’m Ready’ and ‘(I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man’. The last two used a variation on the call-and-response songs from the Delta plantations, with Waters filling in the spaces with moaning vocals or stinging guitar breaks.

By 1960, when he played the Newport Jazz Festival (released as At Newport, 1960), he was the leading Chicago bluesman. He took advantage of the British blues boom of the 1960s to broaden his audience, touring the UK and Europe and recording The London Muddy Waters Sessions (1971) with Rory Gallagher and Georgie Fame. During the 1970s, he toured with The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton and appeared in The Band’s The Last Waltz concert and film. His record career was revived in the late 1970s with a trio of Johnny Winter-produced albums: Hard Again (1977), I’m Ready (1978) and King Bee (1981). He died in his sleep from a heart attack in 1983.

Essential Recordings

1948
Solo: ‘I Can’t Be Satisfied’

1954
Solo: ‘(I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man’

1956
Solo: ‘Got My Mojo Working’

1960
Solo: At Newport 1960

Personalities | Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson | Hero of all Genres | Guitar Heroes