Muddy Waters (1913–1983) was an American blues artist who is considered a pioneer of the electric Chicago blues and a major influence on the development of blues and rock music.[1][2] He popularized several early Delta blues songs, such as "Rollin' and Tumblin'", "Walkin' Blues", and "Baby, Please Don't Go", and recorded songs that went on to become blues standards, including "Hoochie Coochie Man", "Mannish Boy", and "Got My Mojo Working".[3] During his recording career from 1941 to 1981, he recorded primarily for two record companies, Aristocrat/Chess and Blue Sky; they issued 62 singles and 13 studio albums (as with most postwar blues musicians, his recordings were released as two-song singles until the 1960s, when the focus shifted to long-playing albums).[4][5]
| Muddy Waters discography | |
|---|---|
 Muddy Waters with James Cotton in Ontario Place, Toronto (1978) | |
| Studio albums | 13 |
| Live albums | 9+ |
| Compilation albums | 25+ |
| Singles | 62 |
| Singles as accompanist | 20 |
| Albums as accompanist | 17 |
While he was living in Mississippi, Waters was recorded by Alan Lomax in 1941 for a U.S. Library of Congress folk music project.[6] Two songs were released on a 78 rpm record, "Country Blues" and "I Be's Troubled".[7] After moving to Chicago, he recorded for Leonard Chess and Aristocrat issued Waters's first single in 1947.[8] In 1950, Chess bought out his label partners and formed Chess Records.[9] From 1950 to 1958, Chess issued 15 singles that reached the top 10 of Billboard magazine's R&B chart.[10] Among the many albums the label released are the influential early compilation The Best of Muddy Waters (1958) and the live At Newport 1960.[11]
After Chess went out of business in 1975,[12] Waters recorded several successful albums for Blue Sky. Produced by blues rock singer and guitarist Johnny Winter,[13] Hard Again (1977), I'm Ready (1978), and Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live (1978) won Grammy Awards for "Best Ethnic or Traditional Recordings".[14] As a sideman, Waters also contributed to recordings by Little Walter, Junior Wells, Otis Spann, and others.[4] After Waters's death in 1983, a large number of compilation and live albums have been issued by various record companies,[15][16] often with significant overlap and duplication.[17] The double disc The Anthology: 1947–1972 (2001) is ranked at number 483 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2020 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[18]
Singles
Muddy Waters's first 78 rpm record in 1941 listed him using his birth name, McKinley Morganfield. The late 1940s–mid-1950s record releases by Aristocrat Records and Chess Records sometimes used "Muddy Waters and His Guitar" as well as Muddy Waters. From the late 1950s on, he is identified as Muddy Waters.[19]
| Title A-side / B-side | Year | Label | Chart peak U.S. R&B | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Country Blues" / "I Be's Troubled" | 1941 | Library of Congress AAFS 18 | — | [7] |
| "Gypsy Woman" / "Little Anna Mae" | 1947 | Aristocrat 1302 | — | [7] |
| "I Can't Be Satisfied" / "(I Feel Like)Going Home" | 1948 | Aristocrat 1305 | 11 | [7][10] |
| "Train Fare Home" / "Sittin' Here and Drinkin' (Whiskey Blues)" | 1948 | Aristocrat 1306 | — | [20] |
| "You're Gonna Miss Me (When I'm Dead and Gone)" / "Mean Red Spider" | 1948 | Aristocrat 1307 | — | [20] |
| "Streamline Woman" / "Muddy Jumps One" (instrumental) | 1948 | Aristocrat 1310 | — | [20] |
| "Little Geneva" / "Canary Bird" | 1948 | Aristocrat 1311 | — | [20] |
| "Screamin' and Cryin'" / "Where's My Woman Been" | 1949 | Aristocrat 406 | — | [20] |
| "Rollin' and Tumblin'" Part 1 / "Rollin' and Tumblin'" Part 2 | 1950 | Aristocrat 412 | — | [21] |
| "Rollin' Stone" / "Walkin' Blues" | 1950 | Chess 1426 | — | [21] |
| "You're Gonna Need My Help I Said (Gonna Need My Help)" / "Sad Letter Blues" | 1950 | Chess 1434 | — | [21] |
| "Louisiana Blues" / "Evan's Shuffle" (instrumental) ("Ebony Shuffle") | 1950 | Chess 1441 | 10 | [10][21] |
| "Long Distance Call" / "Too Young Too Know" | 1951 | Chess 1452 | 8 | [10][21] |
| "Honey Bee" / "Appealing Blues (Hello Little Girl)" | 1951 | Chess 1468 | 10 | [10][21] |
| "Still a Fool" / "My Fault" | 1951 | Chess 1480 | 9 | [10][21] |
| "She Moves Me" / "Early Morning Blues (Before Daybreak)" | 1952 | Chess 1490 | 10 | [10][21] |
| "All Night Long" / "Country Boy" | 1952 | Chess 1509 | — | [21] |
| "Please Have Mercy" / "Looking for My Baby" (a.k.a. "I Can't Be Satisfied") | 1952 | Chess 1514 | — | [21] |
| "Standing Around Crying" / "Gone to Main Street" | 1952 | Chess 1526 | — | [21] |
| "She's All Right" / "Sad, Sad Day" | 1952 | Chess 1537 | — | [21] |
| "Turn the Lamp Down Low (Baby Please Don't Go)" / "Who's Gonna Be Your Sweet Man" | 1953 | Chess 1542 | — | [22] |
| "Mad Love (I Want You to Love Me)" / "Blow Wind Blow" | 1953 | Chess 1550 | 6 | [10][22] |
| "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" / "She's So Pretty" | 1954 | Chess 1560 | 3 | [10][22] |
| "Just Make Love to Me (I Just Want to Make Love to You)" / "Oh Yeah" | 1954 | Chess 1571 | 4 | [10][22] |
| "I'm Ready" / "I Don't Know Why" | 1954 | Chess 1579 | 4 | [10][22] |
| "I'm a Natural Born Lover" / "Loving Man" | 1954 | Chess 1585 | — | [22] |
| "I Want to Be Loved" / "My Eyes (Keep Me in Trouble)" | 1955 | Chess 1596 | — | [22] |
| "Manish Boy (Mannish Boy)" / "Young Fashioned Ways (Old Fashioned Ways)" | 1955 | Chess 1602 | 5[a] | [10][22] |
| "Sugar Sweet (I Can't Call Her Sugar)" | 1955 | Chess 1612 | 11 | [10][22] |
| "Trouble No More" | 1955 | Chess 1612 | 7 | [10][22] |
| "Forty Days and Forty Nights" / "All Aboard" | 1956 | Chess 1620 | 7 | [10][24] |
| "Don't Go No Farther" / "Diamonds at Your Feet" | 1956 | Chess 1630 | 9 | [10][24] |
| "Just to Be with You" / "I Got to Find My Baby" | 1956 | Chess 1644 | — | [24] |
| "Got My Mojo Working" / "Rock Me" | 1956 | Chess 1652 | — | [24] |
| "Good News" / "Come Home Baby (I Wish You Would)" | 1957 | Chess 1667 | — | [24] |
| "I Live the Life I Love (I Love the Life I Live)" / "Evil" | 1957 | Chess 1680 | — | [24] |
| "I Won't Go On" / "She's Got It" | 1958 | Chess 1692 | — | [24] |
| "Close to You" / "She's Nineteen Years Old" | 1958 | Chess 1704 | 9 | [10][24] |
| "Walking Thru the Park (Walking in the Park)" / "Mean Mistreater" | 1958 | Chess 1718 | — | [24] |
| "Clouds in My Heart" / "Ooh Wee" | 1958 | Chess 1724 | — | [24] |
| "Take the Bitter with the Sweet" / "She's Into Something" | 1959 | Chess 1733 | — | [24] |
| "Recipe for Love" / "Tell Me Baby" | 1959 | Chess 1739 | — | [25] |
| "I Feel So Good" / "When I Get to Thinking" | 1959 | Chess 1748 | — | [25] |
| "Read Way Back" / "I'm Your Doctor" | 1960 | Chess 1752 | — | [25] |
| "Look What You've Done" / "Love Affair" | 1960 | Chess 1758 | — | [25] |
| "Tiger in Your Tank" / "Meanest Woman" | 1960 | Chess 1765 | — | [25] |
| "Got My Mojo Working Part 1 (live)" / "Woman Wanted" | 1960 | Chess 1774 | — | [25] |
| "Messin' with the Man" / "Lonesome Bedroom Blues" | 1961 | Chess 1796 | — | [25] |
| "Going Home" / "Tough Times" | 1962 | Chess 1819 | — | [25] |
| "You Shook Me" / "Muddy Waters Twist" | 1962 | Chess 1827 | — | [25] |
| "You Need Love" / "Little Brown Bird" | 1962 | Chess 1839 | — | [26][27] |
| "Five Long Years" / "Twenty Four Hours" | 1963 | Chess 1862 | — | [26] |
| "The Same Thing" / "You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had" | 1964 | Chess 1865 | — | [26] |
| "My John the Conquer Root" / "Short Dress Woman" | 1964 | Chess 1914 | — | [28] |
| "Put Me in Your Lay Away" / "Still a Fool" | 1964 | Chess 1921 | — | [28] |
| "My Dog Can't Bark" / "I Got a Rich Man's Woman" | 1965 | Chess 1937 | — | [28] |
| "Corine, Corina" / "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" | 1966 | Chess 1973 | — | [28] |
| "Birdnest on the Ground" / "When the Eagle Flies" | 1967 | Chess 2018 | — | [29] |
| "Going Home" / "I Feel So Good" (remake) | 1969 | Chess 2085 | — | [30] |
| "Making Friends" / "Two Steps Forward" | 1971 | Chess 2107 | — | [31] |
| "The Blues Had a Baby and They Named It Rock and Roll (No. 2)" / "Mannish Boy" (remake, 12-inch single) | 1977 | Blue Sky MUDT 1 | — | [32] |
| "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" (remake) / "Mannish Boy" (edited remake, 12-inch single) | 1977 | Blue Sky MUD 1 | — | [32] |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart | ||||
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Chart peak U.S. 200 | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Muddy Waters Sings "Big Bill" | — | [33] | |
| Folk Singer |
| — | [33] |
| Muddy, Brass & the Blues |
| — | [33] |
| Electric Mud |
| 127[b] | [33][35] |
| After the Rain |
| — | [33] |
| Fathers and Sons |
| 70 | [33][35] |
| The London Muddy Waters Sessions |
| — | [36] |
| Can't Get No Grindin' |
| — | [36] |
| "Unk" in Funk |
| — | [36] |
| The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album |
| — | [36] |
| Hard Again | 143 | [35][38] | |
| I'm Ready |
| 157 | [35][39] |
| King Bee |
| 192 | [35] |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart | |||
Selected live albums
Since Waters's death in 1983, a large number of live albums have been released by a variety of record companies.[16] According to biographer Robert Gordon, "much of it comes from the latter years and the recordings tend to blend."[40] However, some were well-received and appeared on Billboard's Blues albums chart.[35]
| Title | Album details | Chart peak U.S. Blues | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| At Newport 1960 | — | [33] | |
| Fathers and Sons |
| —[d] | [33] |
| Live at Mr. Kelly's |
| — | [36][41] |
| Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live | — | [43][42] | |
| Collaboration[g] | — | [40] | |
| Hoochie Coochie Man |
| — | [40] |
| The Lost Tapes |
| — | [45][46] |
| Live at the Fillmore Auditorium – San Francisco Nov 04–06 1966 |
| 8 | [35] |
| Live at the Checkerboard Lounge, Chicago 1981 |
| 15 | [35] |
| Hoochie Coochie Man: Live at the Rising Sun Celebrity Jazz Club |
| 5 | [35][43] |
| Live at Rockpalast |
| 7 | [35] |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart | |||
Selected compilation albums
Muddy Waters's original two-song singles recorded for Chess were later released on various "Best of" and anthology albums.[47] Over the years, many were repackaged with new titles and re-sequenced,[48] with the earlier versions going out-of-print.[49] In the 1990s, Chess's successor, MCA Records, began releasing compilations, sometimes focusing on different periods during Waters's career as well as broader overviews.[47] Around the same time, Charly Records also released a number of albums of Chess recordings, including the nine CD set The Complete Muddy Waters 1947–1967 (1992).[37] After years of litigation, MCA was able to stop Charly from using Chess material without authorization.[50]
| Title | Album details | Chart peak U.S. Blues | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Best of Muddy Waters | — | [33] | |
| The Real Folk Blues |
| — | [33] |
| More Real Folk Blues |
| — | [33] |
| They Call Me Muddy Waters |
| — | [33] |
| McKinley Morganfield A.K.A. Muddy Waters |
| — | [36] |
| Rolling Stone |
| — | [36] |
| Rare and Unissued |
| — | [36] |
| Trouble No More: Singles 1955–1959 | — | [36] | |
| The Chess Box |
| — | [51] |
| Blues Sky | — | [44] | |
| The Complete Plantation Recordings |
| — | [44] |
| One More Mile |
| — | [52] |
| His Best: 1947 to 1955 |
| — | [53] |
| His Best: 1956 to 1964 |
| — | [54] |
| King of the Electric Blues |
| — | [55] |
| The Best of Muddy Waters: The Millennium Collection |
| 15 | [35] |
| Rollin' Stone: The Golden Anniversary Collection |
| — | [56] |
| The Anthology (1947–1972) |
| — | [57] |
| Winning Combinations (split release with John Lee Hooker) |
| 8 | [35] |
| Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: Muddy Waters |
| 4 | [35] |
| Hoochie Coochie Man: The Complete Chess Masters, Volume 2, 1952–1958 |
| — | [58] |
| The Definitive Collection |
| 14 | [35] |
| The Father of Chicago Blues |
| 1 | [35] |
| Playlist: The Very Best of Muddy Waters |
| — | [59] |
| You Shook Me: The Chess Masters, Vol. 3, 1958 to 1963 |
| — | [60] |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart | |||
As accompanist
Singles
| Title A-side / B-side | Year | Listed artist | Label | Chart peak U.S. R&B | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Johnson Machine Gun" / "Fly Right, Little Girl" | 1948 | Sunnyland Slim | Aristocrat 1301 | — | [7] |
| "She Ain’t Nowhere" / "My Baby, My Baby" | 1948 | Sunnyland Slim | Aristocrat 1304 | — | [7] |
| "Florida Hurricane" / "So Nice and Kind" | 1948 | St. Louis Jimmy | Aristocrat 7001 | — | [20] |
| "Blue Baby" / "I Want My Baby" | 1948 | Sunnyland Slim | Tempo Tone 1396 | — | [20] |
| "Locked Out Boogie" / "Shady Grove Blues" | 1948 | Leroy Foster | Aristocrat 1234 | — | [20] |
| "Big Town Playboy" / "Shelby County Blues" | 1949 | Little Johnny (Jones) | Aristocrat 405 | — | [20] |
| "Bad Acting Woman" / "Muskadine Blues (Take a Walk with Me)" | 1950 | Baby Face Leroy & Little Walter | Regal 3296 | — | [21] |
| "I Just Keep Loving Her" / "Moonshine Blues" | 1950 | Baby Face Leroy & Little Walter | Parkway 502 | — | [21] |
| "Boll Weevil" / "Red Headed Woman" | 1950 | Baby Face Leroy & Little Walter | Parkway 104 | — | [21] |
| "Rollin' and Tumblin'" Part 1 / "Rollin' and Tumblin'" Part 2 | 1950 | Baby Face Leroy & Little Walter | Parkway 501 | — | [21] |
| "Going Away Baby" / "Today, Today Blues" | 1950 | Jimmy Rogers | Chess 1442 | — | [21] |
| "Juke" / "Can’t Hold Out Much Longer" | 1952 | Little Walter | Checker 758 | — | [21] |
| "The Last Time" / "Out on the Road" | 1952 | Jimmy Rogers | Chess 1519 | — | [21] |
| "Left Me with a Broken Heart" / "Act Like You Love Me" | 1953 | Jimmy Rogers | Chess 1543 | — | [22] |
| "Chicago Bound" / "Sloppy Drunk" | 1954 | Jimmy Rogers | Chess 1574 | — | [22] |
| "'Bout the Break of Day (Early in the Morning)" / "Lord Lord (Lawdy Lawdy)" | 1954 | Junior Wells | States 139 | — | [22] |
| "So All Alone (Baby So Long)" (Prison Bars all Around Me) / [i] | 1954 | Junior Wells | States 143 | — | [22] |
| "Blues All Day Long (Blues Leave Me Alone)" / [i] | 1955 | Jimmy Rogers | Chess 1616 | — | [22] |
| "Don't Start Me to Talkin'" / "All My Love in Vain" | 1955 | Sonny Boy Williamson II | Checker 824 | — | [22] |
| "Key to the Highway" / "Rock Bottom" | 1958 | Little Walter | Checker 904 | — | [24] |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart | |||||
Albums
| Title | Album details (sortable by listed artist) | Chart peak U.S. Blues | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broken Soul Blues[j] |
| — | [25] |
| The Blues of Otis Spann[k] |
| — | [26][61] |
| The Blues Never Die! |
| — | [28][62] |
| Big Mama Thornton with the Muddy Waters Blues Band – 1966 |
| — | [28][63] |
| Live at Cafe Au Go Go |
| — | [64] |
| The Blues Is Where It's At |
| — | [29][65] |
| Super Blues |
| — | [66][67] |
| The Super Super Blues Band |
| — | [68][69] |
| The Bottom of the Blues |
| — | [68] |
| George Smith & the Chicago Blues Band: A Tribute to Little Walter[m] |
| — | [70][71] |
| Luther "Georgia Boy Snake" Johnson with the Muddy Waters Blues Band[n] |
| — | [73] |
| Come On Home[n] |
| — | [73] |
| Nothin' but the Blues |
| —[r] | [74][76] |
| The Last Waltz |
| — | [77][78] |
| Live the Life[s] |
| — | [79] |
| The Last Waltz (box set re-release) | — | [80][81] | |
| Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down |
| 3 | [35][82] |
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart | |||
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
References
- Chess (1989). Muddy Waters: Chess Box (Box set booklet). Muddy Waters. Chess/MCA Records. OCLC 154264537. CHD3-80002.
- Dahl, Bill (1996). "Muddy Waters". In Erlewine, Michael; Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Koda, Cub (eds.). All Music Guide to the Blues. San Francisco: Miller Freeman Books. ISBN 0-87930-424-3.
- Gordon, Robert (2002). Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters. Little, Brown. ISBN 0-316-32849-9.
- Herzhaft, Gerard (1992). "Muddy Waters, Blues Standards". Encyclopedia of the Blues. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 1-55728-252-8.
- Koda, Cub (1996). "Muddy Waters at Newport, The Best of Muddy Waters". In Erlewine, Michael; Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Koda, Cub (eds.). All Music Guide to the Blues. San Francisco: Miller Freeman Books. ISBN 0-87930-424-3.
- Mojo (2007). The Mojo Collection: 4th Edition. Edinburgh, Scotland: Canongate Books. ISBN 978-1-84767-643-6.
- Unterberger, Richie (1996). "One More Mile". In Erlewine, Michael; Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Koda, Cub (eds.). All Music Guide to the Blues. San Francisco: Miller Freeman Books. ISBN 0-87930-424-3.
- Whitburn, Joel (1988). "Muddy Waters". Top R&B Singles 1942–1988. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research. ISBN 0-89820-068-7.
- Wight, Phil; Rothwell, Fred (1991). "The Complete Muddy Waters Discography". Blues & Rhythm. No. 200.
External links
- Muddy Waters discography at Discogs
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