McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters,  was an American blues musician. He is considered "the Father of Chicago blues". He is also the actual father of blues musician Big Bill Morganfield. Muddy Waters is considered to be one of the greatest bluesmen of all time, and in 2004 he was ranked #17 in Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Life
Muddy Waters was born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. He liked playing in a creek near his home so his sister gave him the nickname "Muddy Waters". His mother died and he grew up at his grandmothers home in Clarksdale. He learned to play the harp and played together with other musicans in juke joints and for parties. While he was working as tractor driver at the Stovall plantation he was recorded by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress. Two songs (Country Blues/I Be's Troubled) were put on a record for documentary reasons. The first release of these recordings was 1993 by MCA Records. (The Complete Plantation Recordings)

1943 Waters went, like a lot of other musicans from the Mississippi delta, north to Chicago. He worked in a papermill and played and got a reputation as musican. To be louder than the visitors of the crowded clubs he changed the acoustic guitar for an electric guitar. Until 1948 he recorded for some minor labels amongst others with Sunnyland Slim, a pianist. Sunnyland Slim took him along as he recorded for Aristocrat Records. There he had the chance to record two sides(Gypsy Woman/Little Annie Mae). They were not successful but he had the chance to record again. He recorded I Can't Be Satisfied and I Feel Like Going Home, which were successful in the Chicago area. With his own band he recorded now and had success. Hits from the beginning of the 1950s were Louisiana Blues (1951), Long Distance Call (1951), Still A Fool (1951) and She Moves Me (1952).

The 1950s were commercially and artistically successful. He became the "King of the Chicago Blues". A lot of musicians who played in his band later were stars of the blues scene themself. (Otis Spann, Little Walter, Junior Wells, Big Walter Horton, James Cotton...). Willie Dixon, who played the bass and produced for Chess Records, wrote a lot of his hits from this time.(I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man (1954), Just Make Love To Me (1954), Mannish Boy (1955), Trouble No More (1956) ) Muddy Waters  also played outside the USA. 1958 he played some concerts in Great Britain with Chris Barber. 1960 he played at the Newport Jazz Festival, the first time it was possible for a white audience to hear him.

As a recording artist the 1960s were not good. But the white audience even in Europe discovered him. A band from London was named after one of his songs. (The Rolling Stones). His importance for young musicans was documented in the album "Fathers and Sons" where Muddy Waters, the father, played together with his sons Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield and Donald "Duck" Dunn, all of them white. In the 1970s he tightend his reputation as live act. He played great festivals like the Montreux Jazz Festival. But also his albums were acclaimed, so the album "Hard again". This album was produced by the guitarist Johnny Winter.

On April 30, 1983 Muddy Waters died in his sleep from Heart Failure, at his home in Westmont, Illinois.

Influence
Unlike T-Bone Walker, who also used an electric guitar, Waters  used riffs consisting of only few accords. This was model for later guitarist. A lot of his songs was covered by other great musicians. The music was used in movies (especially in longtime fan Martin Scorsese's movies, including The Color of Money, Casino and Goodfellas). Even commercials used them.

Selected discography

Selected albums
Muddy Waters released about thirty albums during his career, including compilation albums. 
  The following lists most of the albums released during his career and the more recent and available compilations released after his death.
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width:40px;"| Year
! style="width:470px;"| Title
! Label
|-
| 1958
| The Best of Muddy Waters
| Chess
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1960
| Muddy Waters sings Big Bill Broonzy
| Chess
|-
| At Newport 1960
| Chess
|-
| 1964
| Folk Singer
| Chess
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1966
| The Real Folk Blues
| Chess
|-
| Down on Stovall's Plantation: His First Recordings
| Testament
|-
| 1967
| More Real Folk Blues
| Chess
|-
| 1968
| Electric Mud
| Cadet Concept
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1969
| After the Rain
| Cadet Concept
|-
| Fathers and Sons
| Chess
|-
| Sail On
| Chess
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1971
| They Call Me Muddy Waters
| Chess
|-
| Live (at Mr. Kelley's)
| Chess
|-
| 1972
| The London Muddy Waters Sessions
| Chess
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1973
| ''Can't Get No Grindin| Chess
|-
| "Unk" in Funk
| Chess
|-
| 1975
| The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album
| Chess
|-
| 1977
| Hard Again
| Blue Sky
|-
| 1978
| I'm Ready
| Blue Sky
|-
| 1979
| Muddy "Mississippi" Waters - Live
| Blue Sky
|-
| 1981
| King Bee
| Blue Sky
|-
| 1989
| The Chess Box
| MCA/Chess
|-
| 1993
| The Complete Plantation Recordings
| MCA/Chess
|-
| 1994
| One More Mile
| MCA/Chess
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2000
| Rollin' Stone: The Golden Anniversary Collection (Chess Masters 1947–1952)
| MCA/Chess
|-
| The Lost Tapes
| Blind Pig
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2001
| Muddy Waters 1941–1946
| Document
|-
| The Anthology (1947–1972)
| MCA/Chess
|-
| 2004
| Hoochie Coochie Man: Complete Chess Masters, Vol. 2: 1952–1958
| Hip-O Select/Chess
|-
| 2006
| The Definitive Collection
| Geffen/Chess
|-
| 2007
| Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down (Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter, & James Cotton)
| Epic/Legacy
|-
| 2009
| Authorized Bootleg: Live at the Fillmore Auditorium November 4–6, 1966
| Geffen/Chess
|}

Selected singles
Muddy Waters released approximately sixty singles (120 "sides") during his career, sixteen of which made the charts. The chart position is the highest in the Billboard Rhythm and Blues charts.

Members of Muddy Waters Band/Musicans during recordings

Awards and recognitions
Grammy Awards

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed four songs of Muddy Waters of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.

The Blues Foundation Awards

InductionsU.S. Postage Stamp'''

Other websites 
 Official Website
 Muddy Waters entry at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

References

1913 births
1983 deaths
Deaths from heart failure
Blues guitarists
Singers from Mississippi
Musicians from Mississippi
Singers from Chicago
Musicians from Chicago
American guitarists
Chicago blues musicians