Muddy Waters

Muddy Waters (real name McKinley Morganfield) was born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi in 1915 and was raised by his grandparents. Muddy was singing with his own band at the age of 15, and later took up guitar.

In 1941 he recorded for the Lomax Brothers' Library of Congress recordings, and two years later headed north to Chicago. After the war he began playing electric guitar and recorded for Columbia before signing with Chess, for whom he recorded many many blues tracks throughout the 50s and 60s.

Muddy recorded many songs which became blues standards including; Got My Mojo Working, Hoochie Coochie Man and I Just Want To Make Love To You. His visits to Britain in the early 1960s proved a formative influence on Alexis Korner, The Rolling Stones and all the others involved in the British blues boom.

In 1969 he recorded Fathers and Sons with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield and Donald 'Duck' Dunn, and in 1972 recorded a London Sessions album with Rory Gallagher, Stevie Winwood and Mitch Mitchell (amongst others).