Who is Muddy Waters?
Born McKinley Morganfield in Issaquena County, Mississippi, on April 4, 1913, Muddy Waters was given his nickname because of his proclivity for playing in the puddles of the Mississippi River on which his town sat. He was raised by his maternal grandmother after his father abandoned his family and his mother passed away. Waters began with music on the harmonica at age 5, and began playing guitar at age 17, self-taught, and influenced by artists such as Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, and Son House. Though he worked as a sharecropper, his passion was in music and performing and he eventually joined the Silas Green Tent Show and began to travel.
How did his career begin?
After establishing his talent with traveling, Waters opened a small club where he performed daily. His music brought Alan Lomax to Mississippi to record him for the Library of Congress, which then brought greater attention to his talent, landing him a recording contract and encouraging him that could soon pursue his music full time. Waters moved to Chicago and opened for big time blues performer, Big Bill Broonzy, garnering a record deal with Chess Records in 1948. He soon released hits such as “I Can’t Be Satisfied,” “I Feel Like Going Home,” and “Rollin’ Stone.”
“There’s no way in the world I can feel the same blues the way I used to. When I play in Chicago, I’m playing up-to-date, not the blues I was born with”
– Muddy Waters
Delta Blues vs Chicago Blues?
These are some of the characteristics of the Delta Blues that Waters grew up under the influence of.
