#348 - Muddy Waters - Muddy Waters at Newport 1960 (1960)
MUSIC HISTORY COMPILED BY ADAM BERNARD:
MUDDY WATERS BIO
McKinley Morganfield, aka Muddy Waters was born in Mississippi in 1913 or 1915 (depending on who you ask), and was raised by his grandmother after his mother died shortly after giving birth to him. His grandmother gave him the nickname due to his love of playing in a nearby muddy creek (the addition of Waters was years later). He got his first guitar at the age of 17, and started going on tours with Big Joe Williams in the 1930s around the Mississippi River delta, but was eventually dropped because Williams said “he was takin’ away my women [fans]”. He moved to Chicago in the 1940s with aspirations of becoming a full-time musician, and got a break, opening for Chicago bluesman Big Bill Broonzy. Muddy got his first electric guitar in the mid 1940s and wanted one because when he went to 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 (who is recognized as the most influential person in shaping the post–World War II sound of the Chicago blues) 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." Muddy began recording for Aristocrat Records (they would later change their name to become the legendary Chess Records) in 1946. He spent the 1940s and 1950s recording many singles (Rollin’ Stone, Sugar Sweet, Mannish Boy, Trouble No More, Forty Days and Forty Nights to name a few), and they frequently made Billboard’s Rhythm and Blues charts throughout the decade. He didn’t have his first album release until 1960’s “Muddy Waters Sings Big Bill”, which was released just a month before they recorded a performance for today’s release...
BACKGROUND – AT NEWPORT 1960
This is a recording of Waters performance at the Newport Jazz Festival on 7/3/1960 in Rhode Island. This was his first live release. He was supported by his longtime backup band (usually billed as “Hoochie Coochie Boys”) and played a mix of popular tunes and new stuff. The lineup includes Otis Spann on piano and vocals (considered to be the leading post WWII Chicago blues pianist), Pat Hare on guitar (who was one of the first to use distortion on purpose, combined with his power chord driven music of the early 1950s is considered a forefather of heavy metal), James Cotton on harmonica, Andrew Stevens on bass, and Francis Clay on drums (cited by the late Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts as one of his influences).
This recording almost didn’t happen. The day before this was recorded, performances by Ray Charles and singing group Lambert, Hendricks and Ross were met with unruly crowds. About 300 drunken revelers made a commotion during Charles' performance. The riots became so out of control that the National Guard was called in at midnight to calm the crowd. The Sunday performance was almost cancelled by the city council, but concert promoter George Wein convinced them when he said that the United States Information Agency (USIA) planned to film the festival to teach American culture in other countries. The backup band played for John Lee Hooker’s set before doing Muddy’s set.
It is considered by some as the first live blues album and an influence on the emerging white blues scenes (that we’ve talked about on Yardbirds episodes) in both the United States and United Kingdom. It ranks as one of the most culturally and musically significant moments of the 20th century, and influenced musicians like Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin among many others.