Editing Muddy Waters (section)

==Career==
===Early career, 1930s–1948===
In the early 1930s, he accompanied [[Big Joe Williams]] on tours of the Delta, playing harmonica. Williams recounted to Blewett Thomas that he eventually dropped Muddy "because he was takin' away my women [fans]".

In August 1941,<ref name="PBS" /> [[Alan Lomax]] went to [[Stovall, Mississippi]], on behalf of the Library of Congress to record various [[country blues]] musicians. "He brought his stuff down and recorded me right in my house," Muddy told ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine, "and when he played back the first song I sounded just like anybody's records. Man, you don't know how I felt that Saturday afternoon when I heard that voice and it was my own voice. Later on he sent me two copies of the pressing and a check for twenty bucks, and I carried that record up to the corner and put it on the jukebox. Just played it and played it and said, 'I can do it, I can do it'."<ref name="Palmer" /> Lomax came back in July 1942 to record him again. Both sessions were eventually released by [[Testament Records (USA)|Testament Records]] as ''Down on Stovall's Plantation''.{{sfn|Gordon|2002|p=196}} The complete recordings were reissued by Chess Records on CD as ''Muddy Waters: The Complete Plantation Recordings. The Historic 1941–42 Library of Congress Field Recordings'' in 1993 and remastered in 1997.

In 1943, he headed to Chicago with the hope of becoming a full-time professional musician. He recalled arriving in Chicago as the single most momentous event in his life.{{sfn|Palmer|1982|p=13}} He lived with a relative for a short period while driving a truck and working in a factory by day and performing at night.{{sfn|Palmer|1982|p=14}} [[Big Bill Broonzy]], then one of the leading bluesmen in Chicago, had Muddy open his shows in the rowdy clubs where Broonzy played. This gave him the opportunity to play in front of a large audience.{{sfn|O'Neal|Van Singel|2002|pp=172–173}} In 1944, he bought his first electric guitar and then formed his first electric combo. He felt obliged to electrify his sound in Chicago because, he said, "When I went into the clubs, the first thing I wanted was an amplifier. Couldn't nobody hear you with an acoustic." His sound reflected the optimism of postwar African Americans. [[Willie Dixon]] said that "There was quite a few people around singing the blues but most of them was singing all sad blues. Muddy was giving his blues a little pep."{{sfn|Szatmary|2014|p=8}}

In 1946, he recorded some songs for [[Mayo Williams]] at [[Columbia Records]], with an old-fashioned combo consisting of clarinet, saxophone and piano; they were released a year later with Ivan Ballen's Philadelphia-based 20th Century label, billed as James "Sweet Lucy" Carter and his Orchestra – Muddy Waters' name was not mentioned on the label.<ref name="clemson">{{cite web|title=Ebony, Chicago, Southern, and Harlem: The Mayo Williams Indies|url=http://campber.people.clemson.edu/ebony.html|access-date=June 25, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090622191207/http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~campber/ebony.html|archive-date=June 22, 2009}}</ref> Later that year, he began recording for [[Aristocrat Records]], a newly formed label run by the brothers [[Leonard Chess|Leonard]] and [[Phil Chess]]. In 1947, he played guitar with [[Sunnyland Slim]] on piano on the cuts "Gypsy Woman" and "Little Anna Mae". These were also shelved, but in 1948, "I Can't Be Satisfied" and "I Feel Like Going Home" became hits, and his popularity in clubs began to take off.{{sfn|Palmer|1982|pp=159–160}} Soon after, Aristocrat changed its name to [[Chess Records]]. His signature tune "[[Rollin' Stone (Muddy Waters song)|Rollin' Stone]]" also became a hit that year.

=== Commercial success, 1948–1957 ===
Initially, the Chess brothers would not allow Muddy Waters to use his working band in the recording studio;{{sfn|Palmer|1982|p=163}} instead, they provided him with bass backing by [[Ernest "Big" Crawford]] or by musicians assembled specifically for the recording session, including [["Baby Face" Leroy Foster]] and [[Little Johnny Jones (pianist)|Johnny Jones]]. Gradually, Chess relented, and by September 1953 he was recording with one of the most acclaimed blues groups in history: [[Little Walter Jacobs]] on harmonica, [[Jimmy Rogers]] on guitar, [[Elgin Evans|Elga Edmonds]] (also known as Elgin Evans) on drums, [[Otis Spann]] on piano and sometimes, bassist and songwriter [[Willie Dixon]].{{Sfn|Palmer|1982|p=167}} The band recorded a number of blues songs which have become classics including "[[Hoochie Coochie Man]]", "[[I Just Want to Make Love to You]]", and "[[I'm Ready (Muddy Waters song)|I'm Ready]]".

His band became a proving ground for some of the city's best blues talent,<ref name="allmusic-waters-bio">{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/muddy-waters-mn0000608701/biography|title=Muddy Waters {{!}} Biography & History|author=Mark Deming|website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=July 2, 2019}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=April 2021}} with members of the ensemble going on to successful careers of their own. In 1952, Little Walter left when his single "[[Juke (song)|Juke]]" became a hit, although he continued working with Muddy long after he left the band, appearing on most of the Muddy's classic recordings in the 1950s. In 1954, [[Howlin' Wolf]] moved to Chicago with money that he earned through the success of the singles he recorded at [[Sun Records]] which Chess released, and the legendary rivalry with Muddy began. The rivalry was, in part, stoked by Willie Dixon providing songs to both artists, with Wolf suspecting that Muddy was getting Dixon's best songs.<ref name="musicradar-life-times-wolf">{{Cite web|title=The life and times of Howlin' Wolf |url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/the-life-and-times-of-howlin-wolf-254631|author=Ed Mitchell|date=June 10, 2010|access-date=July 2, 2019}}</ref> In 1955, Jimmy Rogers left to work exclusively with his own band which had been a sideline until that time.

In the mid-1950s, his singles were frequently on [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'']] magazine's various [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|Rhythm & Blues charts]]{{sfn|Whitburn|1988|p=435}}<ref name=pc4>{{Gilliland |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19750/m1/ |title=Show 4 – The Tribal Drum: The Rise of Rhythm and Blues. [Part 2] |publisher=Digital.library.unt.edu|accessdate=January 6, 2015}}</ref> including "Sugar Sweet" in 1955 and "[[Trouble No More (song)|Trouble No More]]", "[[Forty Days and Forty Nights]]", and "Don't Go No Farther" in 1956.{{sfn|Dahl|1996|p=}} 1956 also saw the release of one of his best-known numbers, "[[Got My Mojo Working]]", although it did not appear on the charts.{{sfn|Whitburn|1988|p=435}} However, by the late 1950s, his singles success had come to an end, with only "Close to You" reaching the chart in 1958.{{sfn|Whitburn|1988|p=435}}  Also in 1958, Chess released his first compilation album, ''[[The Best of Muddy Waters]]'', which collected twelve of his singles up to 1956.{{sfn|Gordon|2002|pp=163–164}}

=== Performances and crossover, 1958–1970 ===
Muddy toured England with Spann in 1958 where they were backed by local [[Dixieland]]-style or "[[trad jazz]]" musicians, including [[Chris Barber]] and members of his band.{{sfn|Gordon|2002|pp=157–159}} At the time, English audiences had only been exposed to acoustic folk blues, as performed by artists such as [[Sonny Terry]], [[Brownie McGhee]], and [[Big Bill Broonzy]].{{sfn|Gordon|2002|pp=157–159}}  Both the musicians and audiences were unprepared for his performance, which included electric [[slide guitar]] playing.{{sfn|Gordon|2002|pp=157–159}}  He recalled:

{{blockquote|They thought I was a Big Bill Broonzy [but] I wasn't. I had my amplifier and Spann and I was going to do a Chicago thing. We opened up in Leeds, England. I was definitely too loud for them. The next morning we were in the headlines of the paper, 'Screaming Guitar and Howling Piano'.{{sfn|Gordon|2002|pp=157–159}}}}

Although his performances alienated the old guard, some younger musicians, including [[Alexis Korner]] and [[Cyril Davies]] from Barber's band, were inspired to go in the more modern, electric blues direction.{{sfn|Eder|1996|p=377}} Korner and Davies' own groups included musicians who would later form [[the Rolling Stones]] (named after Waters's 1950 hit "Rollin' Stone"), [[Cream (band)|Cream]], and the original [[Fleetwood Mac]].{{sfn|Eder|1996|p=377}}

In the 1960s, his performances continued to introduce a new generation to Chicago blues.{{sfn|Gordon|2002|p=167}}  At the [[Newport Jazz Festival]], he recorded one of the first live blues albums, ''[[At Newport 1960]]'', and his performance of "Got My Mojo Working" was nominated for a [[Grammy award]].{{sfn|Gordon|2002|p=169}} In September 1963, in Chess' attempt to connect with [[folk music]] audiences, he recorded ''[[Folk Singer (album)|Folk Singer]]'', which replaced his trademark electric guitar sound with an acoustic band, including a then-unknown [[Buddy Guy]] on acoustic guitar.{{sfn|Gordon|2002|p=183}} ''Folk Singer'' was not a commercial success, but it was lauded by critic [[Joe Kane]], and in 2003 ''[[Rolling Stone (magazine)|Rolling Stone]]'' magazine placed it at number 280 on its list of the [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|500 greatest albums of all time]].<ref>{{cite news
|date=December 11, 2003|title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|newspaper=[[Rolling Stone]]|issue=937|pages=83–178|publisher=Straight Arrow|issn=0035-791X|oclc=1787396}}</ref> In October 1963, Waters participated in the first of several annual European tours, organized as the [[American Folk Blues Festival]], during which he also performed more acoustic-oriented numbers.{{sfn|Gordon|2002|pp=184–185}}

In 1967, he re-recorded several [[blues standards]] with [[Bo Diddley]], Little Walter, and Howlin' Wolf, which were marketed as ''[[Super Blues]]'' and ''The Super Super Blues Band'' albums in Chess' attempt to reach a rock audience.{{sfn|Gordon|2002|p=197}} ''The Super Super Blues Band'' united Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, who had a long-standing rivalry.<ref name="musicradar-life-times-wolf" /> It was, as Ken Chang wrote in his [[AllMusic]] review, flooded with "contentious studio banter [...] more entertaining than the otherwise unmemorable music from this stylistic train wreck".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-super-super-blues-band-mw0000313000|title=The Super Super Blues Band – Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|author=Ken Chang|access-date=July 2, 2019}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=April 2021}} In 1968, at the insistance of [[Marshall Chess]], he recorded ''[[Electric Mud]]'', an album intended to revive his career by backing him with [[Rotary Connection]], a [[psychedelic soul]] band that Chess had put together.{{sfn|Gordon|2002|pp=205–207}} The album proved controversial; although it reached number 127 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] album chart, it was scorned by many critics, and eventually disowned by Muddy himself:

{{blockquote|That ''Electric Mud'' record I did, that one was dogshit.  But when it first came out, it started selling like wild, and then they started sending them back.  They said, "This can't be Muddy Waters with all this shit going on – all this [[wah-wah pedal|wow-wow]] and [[distortion (music)|fuzztone]]."{{sfn|Gordon|2002|p=207}}}}

Nonetheless, six months later he recorded a follow-up album, ''[[After the Rain (Muddy Waters album)|After the Rain]]'', which had a similar sound and featured many of the same musicians.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/after-the-rain-mw0000867041|title=Muddy Waters: After the Rain – Album Review|last=Eder|first=Bruce|publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=September 12, 2017}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=April 2021}}

Later in 1969, he recorded and released the album ''[[Fathers and Sons (album)|Fathers and Sons]]'', where he returned to his classic Chicago sound. ''Fathers and Sons'' had an all-star backing band that included [[Mike Bloomfield|Michael Bloomfield]] and [[Paul Butterfield]], longtime fans whose desire to play with him was the impetus for the album.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Paige |first=Earl |date=August 16, 1969 |title=A Chess Album That May Set a Trend |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |page=46 |access-date=September 12, 2017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSkEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Fathers+and+Sons%22+Muddy+Waters&pg=RA1-PA46}}</ref> It was the most successful album of Muddy Waters' career, reaching number 70 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]].{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

===Resurgence and later career, 1971–1982===
[[File:Muddy Waters.jpg|thumb|Muddy Waters with [[James Cotton]], 1978]]
In 1971, Chess recorded a show at [[Mister Kelly's]], an upscale Chicago nightclub.  The album signaled Muddy's return to form and cemented his appeal with white audiences.

In 1972, he won his first [[Grammy Award]], for [[Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording|Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording]] for ''They Call Me Muddy Waters'', a 1971 album of old but previously unreleased recordings.

Later in 1972, he flew to England to record the album ''[[The London Muddy Waters Sessions]]''. The album was a follow-up to the previous year's ''[[The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions]]''. Both albums were the brainchild of Chess Records producer Norman Dayron, and were intended to showcase Chicago blues musicians playing with the younger British rock musicians whom they had inspired. He brought with him two American musicians, harmonica player Carey Bell and guitarist [[Sammy Lawhorn]]. The British and Irish musicians who played on the album included [[Rory Gallagher]], [[Steve Winwood]], [[Rick Grech]], and [[Mitch Mitchell]]. Muddy was dissatisfied by the results, due to the British musicians' more rock-oriented sound. "These boys are top musicians. They can play with me, put the book before 'em and play it, you know," he told Guralnick. "But that ain't what I need to sell my people. It ain't the Muddy Waters sound. An' if you change my sound, then you gonna change the whole man." He stated, "My blues look so simple, so easy to do, but it's not. They say my blues is the hardest blues in the world to play."{{sfn|Palmer|1982|p=103}} Nevertheless, the album won another Grammy, again for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording.

He won another Grammy for his last LP on Chess, ''[[The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album]]'', recorded in 1975 with a new band, guitarist [[Bob Margolin]]; pianist [[Pinetop Perkins]] and [[Paul Butterfield]] on harmonica with [[Levon Helm]] and [[Garth Hudson]] of [[the Band]] on drums, organ, accordion and saxophone.<ref name="Grammy">{{cite web|last=Dahl|first=Bill|title=Muddy Waters|website=Blues Finland|url=http://www.blues-finland.com/english/muddy_waters_biography_3|year=2008}}</ref> In November 1976, he appeared as a featured special guest at the Band's [[Last Waltz]] farewell concert, and in the subsequent 1978 [[feature film]] documentary of the event.

He performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1972, 1974 and 1977. An album, CD, and streaming release featuring many of his best known songs from these performances was compiled in 2021 as ''Muddy Waters: The Montreux Years''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smotroff |first=Mark |date=2021-12-15 |title=Listening Report: Muddy Waters' The Montreux Years on Vinyl, CD, Streaming. - Audiophile Review |url=https://audiophilereview.com/audiophile/listening-report-muddy-waters-the-montreux-years-on-vinyl-cd-streaming/ |access-date=2023-05-14 |language=en-US}}</ref>  In 1974, his backing musicians in Montreux included Buddy Guy, Pinetop Perkins, [[Junior Wells]], and Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman. Wyman and Perkins also performed with him in 1977.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-19 |title=Album Review: Muddy Waters -- The Montreux Years |url=http://blog.musoscribe.com/index.php/2022/04/19/album-review-muddy-waters-the-montreux-years/ |access-date=2023-05-14 |website=Musoscribe: Bill Kopp's Music Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>

From 1977 to 1981, blues musician [[Johnny Winter]], who idolized Muddy since childhood and who had become a friend,{{sfn|O'Neal|Van Singel|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Jfa3AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA155 155]}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Slide Guitar: Know the Players, Play the Music |first1=Pete |last1=Madsen |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-4768-5322-2 |page=53 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_UhMAgAAQBAJ}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=_UhMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT53 Extract of page 53]</ref> produced four albums for him, all on the [[Blue Sky Records]] label: the studio albums ''[[Hard Again]]'' (1977), ''[[I'm Ready (Muddy Waters album)|I'm Ready]]'' (1978) and ''[[King Bee (album)|King Bee]]'' (1981), and the live album, ''[[Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live]]'' (1979). The albums were critical and commercial successes, with all but ''King Bee'' winning a Grammy. ''Hard Again'' has been especially praised by critics, who have tended to describe it as his comeback album.<ref name="AM">{{AllMusic |class=album|id=r123341|tab=review|label=Review: ''Hard Again'' by Muddy Waters|first=Daniel|last=Gioffre|access-date=February 6, 2011}}</ref><ref name="RS">{{cite magazine |last=Oppenheimer |first=Dan |date=March 24, 1977 |title=Album Review: ''Hard Again'' by Muddy Waters |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=February 6, 2011 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/hard-again-19770324}}</ref>

In 1981, he was invited to perform at [[Chicago Fest]], the city's top outdoor music festival. He was joined onstage by Johnny Winter and [[Buddy Miles]], and played classics like "Mannish Boy", "Trouble No More", and "Mojo Working" to a new generation of fans. [[Shout! Factory]] made the performances available on DVD in 2009. On November 22, he performed live with three members of [[the Rolling Stones]] ([[Mick Jagger]], [[Keith Richards]] and [[Ronnie Wood]]) at the [[Checkerboard Lounge]], a blues club in [[Bronzeville, Chicago|Bronzeville]], on the [[South Side, Chicago|South Side]] of [[Chicago]], which Buddy Guy and L.C. Thurman opened in 1972.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MH&s_site=miami&p_multi=MH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB3647D20AFAB35&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |title=Reviving the Classic R&B Sound : Miami Herald |date=February 20, 1986 |publisher=Nl.newsbank.com |access-date=May 28, 2014}}</ref><ref>Parnell, Sean, "The New Checkerboard Lounge", ''The Chicago Bar Project''</ref> A DVD of the performance, ''[[Live at the Checkerboard Lounge, Chicago 1981]]'', was released in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/checkerboard-lounge-live-chicago-1981-dvd-mw0002380039|title=Checkerboard Lounge: Live Chicago 1981 [DVD] – The Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=January 6, 2015}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=April 2021}}

In 1982, he cut way back on performing due to declining health. His last public performance took place when he sat in with [[Eric Clapton]]'s band at a concert in Florida in the summer of 1982.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/muddy-waters/biography|title=Muddy Waters|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=January 6, 2015}}</ref>