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Muddy Waters music biography continued...

Mississippi on April 4, 1913, Muddy (nicknamed because he fished and played regularly in a muddy creek. as a child) began playing guitar when he was 17. In the early 1940s, he joined a group that included the singer Big Joe Williams that played around town, but his small southern town was not big enough to hold him and in 1943, he packed his harmonica and guitar and headed north on a train to Chicago. There, he met Big Bill Broonzy and Sunnyland Slim, and begin recording classics of modern blues: "Rollin' Stone," "I Can't Be Satisfied," "I Feel Like Going Home," "Got My Mojo Working," "Mannish Boy," and "Hoochie Coochie Man." Most of Waters' early recordings featured him on electric guitar, Big Crawford or writer/producer Willie Dixon on bass, and occasionally Little Walter on harmonica. By 1951 he was supported by a complete band with Otis Spann on piano, Little Walter on harmonica, Jimmie Rodgers on second guitar, and Elgin Evans on drums. During his peak years as a record seller, most of Waters' sales were confined primarily to the Mississippi Delta, the New Orleans area, and Chicago. But his reputation and music were internationally known, as the attendance at concerts on his 1958 English tour revealed. The Rolling Stones even named themselves after his song "Rollin' Stone," solidifying Muddy's status as an iconic figure in music.



During the '50s, many of the top Chicago bluesmen passed through Waters' band, including Walter Horton, Junior Wells, Jimmie Rodgers, James Cotton, and Buddy Guy. In addition, Waters was helpful in the early stages of both Howlin' Wolf's and Chuck Berry's careers. After the mid-'50s Waters never had another Top 10 R&B single, but he continued to record and perform, and his music was even popular with rock listeners. He last performed publicly at a June 1982 Eric Clapton show. Waters died of a heart attack on April 30, 1983. In 1987 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, Waters was ranked #17 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.