Muddy Waters + Big Bill Morganfield

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Muddy Waters transformed the soul of the rural South into the sound of the city, electrifying the blues at a pivotal point in the early postwar period. His recorded legacy, particularly the wealth of sides he cut in the Fifties, is one of the great musical treasures of this century. Above all others, it was Waters who linked the country blues of his native Mississippi Delta with the urban blues that were born in Chicago.

 

He was born McKinley Morganfield in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, in 1915. At the age of three he was sent to live with his grandmother, on the Stovall Plantation north of Clarksdale, after his mother died. There he acquired the nickname “Muddy” for his penchant for playing in nearby creeks and puddles. Waters began playing harmonica at the age of seven and took up guitar at seventeen. He picked cotton on the plantation for fifty cents a day and played music as part of a trio at fish fries and house parties on weekends.  In May 1943, Waters made the move from the rural plantation to the big city, heading north to Chicago by train.

 

Waters’ approach to the blues underwent a dramatic metamorphosis after moving to Chicago, where he befriended and played with such estimable figures as Big Bill Broonzy and John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson. Waters switched from acoustic to electric guitar in order to be heard over the din of patrons at the clubs he played on Chicago’s South Side. After a few false starts, Waters’ recording career began in earnest soon after pianist Sunnyland Slim introduced him to Leonard Chess, co-owner of the Aristocrat label (later Chess Records). Working at the famed Chess Studios on South Michigan Avenue, Waters cut many of the greatest recordings in the blues canon. He developed a fruitful team approach to record-making with producer Leonard Chess, bassist/songwriter Willie Dixon, and various musical associates.

Rock’n’Roll Hall Of Fame

•→Interview by Alan Lomax: McKinley Morganfield a.k.a. Muddy Waters

                ◊     ‘All Aboard’   ⇒

Mean old Frisco takes my breath away . . .

well I’ve been howling I’ve been trusting

and now I’m lookin’ for the day.

Wake a man feel good – got me hold let me down . . .

cos I’ve been howling – I’ve been trustin’ 

and now I’m gettin’ pushed around.

Can you show me how the train goes round the bend . . .

and I’ve howling oh so long and now i’m looking for the end.

Wake a man feel good – got me hold let me down . . .

cos I’ve been howling – i’ve been trustin 

and now I’m gettin’ pushed around

Can you show me how the train goes round the bend . . .

and I’ve howling oh so long and now I’m looking for the end.

∴

⇐ ‘Forty days and forty nights
 

Since my baby left this town

Sun shinin’ all day long
 but the rain keep comin’ down

She’s my life – I need her so


Why she left I just don’t know

 

Forty days and forty nights


Since I set right down and cried

Keep rainin’ all the time 
but the river’s runnin’ dry

Lord help me it just ain’t right


I love that girl with all-a my might

 

Forty days and forty nights – 
Since my baby broke my heart

Searchin’ for her in a while
 – Like a blind man in the dark

Love can make a poor man rich
  or break his heart – I don’t know which

 

Forty days and forty nights 
- Like a ship out on the sea

Prayin’ for her each night
 that she would come back-a home to me

Life is love and love is right
 – I hope she come back home tonight

◊ → ‘My Home Is In The Delta‘ ⇓  [1963]

Well my home’s in the delta, way out on that farmer’s road.
Now you know I’m living in Chicago,and people, I sure do hate to go.

Now you know I’m leaving here in the morning, won’t be back no more.
Well I know my little baby, this girl don’t know what a-shape I’m in.
You know I haven’t had no lovin’ – Boy you know, in God knows when.
Now you know I just been sittin’ here thinkin’
Wondering where in the world she been.
Look out.

Well I feel like cryin’ – But you know, the tears won’t come down.
I feel like cryin’ – But you know the tears won’t come down.

Ah, you know I got a funny feelin’ I’m gonna have to leave your town.
Hmmmmmmm, hmmmmmmmm . . . Have mercy… Hmmmmmmmm, hmmmmmmmm

Ah, you know I just been sittin’ here thinkin’
Wondering where in the world she been.

•→‘You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone’ ⇔ [lyrics]

  ◊  ‘You Can’t Lose What You Ain’t Never Had’  ⇓

Had a sweet little girl, I lose my baby, boy ain’t that bad . . .

You can’t spend what you ain’t got,


Can’t lose some little girl you ain’t never had

Had money in the bank, but I got busted, people ain’t that bad . . .

You can’t spend what you ain’t got, 


Can’t lose some little girl you ain’t never had

 

Had a sweet little home, but it got burned down, people ain’t that bad

Out of my own fault, people ain’t that bad

You can’t spend what you ain’t got, 


Can’t lose some blues you ain’t never had.

♦  ‘Blow Wind Blow’ ⇓  [1964]

Yeah when the sun rose this mornin’, I didn’t have my baby by my side
Well when the sun rose this mornin’, I didn’t have my woman by my side
Well I didn’t know where she was, she’s out with another guy

And don’t the sun look lonesome? She headed down the highway
Ya know the sun looks so lonesome, settin’ down behind the trees
Well don’t the heart look lonesome? When your baby find someone else

Well blow wind, blow wind, blow my baby back to me
Yeah, blow wind, blow wind, blow my baby back to me
Well you know if I don’t soon find my pine top, my heart’s gonna be in misery

Well goodbye bab-ay, I ain’t got no more to say
Yeah, goodbye, goodbye, I ain’t got no more to say
Well you know, I know you don’t love me, go ahead and have your way

♦  ‘Got My Mojo Working’   ⇓

Got my mojo working, but it just won’t work on you . . .
I wanna love you so bad till I don’t know what to do

I’m going down to Louisiana to get me a mojo hand . . .
I’m gonna have all you women right here at my command

Got my mojo working . . . Got my mojo working . . .
Got my mojo working, but it just won’t work on you
Play on!

Got my mojo working . . .  Got my mojo working . . .
Got my mojo working, but it – uh uh – just won’t work on you

♦  ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’ ⇓  (1981)

Baby, please don’t go – Baby, please don’t go
Baby, please don’t go, down to New Orleans – You know I love you so

Before I be your dog – Before I be your dog  . . .
I get you way’d out here, and let you walk alone

Turn your lamp down low – Turn your lamp down low  . . .
I beg you all night long, baby, please don’t go

You brought me way down here -You brought me way down here . . .
‘bout to Rolling Forks, you treat me like a dog

Baby, please don’t go – Baby, please don’t go
Baby, please don’t go, back the New Orleans – I beg you all night long

Before I be your dog – Before I be your dog  . . .
I get you way’d out here, and let you walk alone

You know your man down gone -You know your man down gone  . . .
To the country farm, with all the shackles on

¤  Big Bill Morganfield

Born in Chicago, Illinois, on June 19, 1956, Big Bill Morganfield is the son of McKinley Morganfield, better known as Muddy Waters. Big Bill Morganfield was raised by his grandmother in southern Florida and now resides in the Atlanta area.

A few years after his father died, Big Bill Morganfield learned the art of songwriting and playing the blues. His debut recording, Rising Son was recorded in the «windy city» and produced by Bob Margolin, Muddy Waters’ long time guitarist. Other former members of the Muddy Waters Blues Band also joined Big Bill Morganfield in the studio: Willie «Big Eyes» Smith, Paul Oscher, Pinetop Perkins, and Robert Stroger. Like his father, Big Bill Morganfield sings with a deep and hard, throaty voice.

◊  ‘Love You Right’ ⇓

Whoa! I wish I was a crawling king snake – about ten feet long

crawl – crawl right next to you, honey – which then take me home

I Love You Right . . .

 

If was a Witch Doctor – I’ll tell you just what I’d do

Pull out my magic potion  baby  [ . . . ?]

Let me love you right … Won´t you love me right!

 

Oh, I got a magic carpet – Got a crystal ball too

I can look into the future – I’ll tell you just what we’re gonna do

 

We’re gonna love each other right . . .

Oh, me – you – You, you and me, baby yeah

Loving each other right

◊  ‘When you lose someone you love’  ⇓  [«Bloodstains on the wall»_2017]

I had a sweet mother… but I lose my baby, ain’t that sad?

you know I had a sweet mother, but I lose her, ain’t that sad?

you know it’s the worst old feeling that I’ve ever had

Yeah, it hurt me

When you lose someone you love it’s hard to make it from day to day

You can find nothing that it’ll take your blues away

I lose my mother – people, ain’t that sad?

It hurts so bad, somebody give me something tor my pain!

. . . Called me to her bedside, she swings my head

she said, ‘Son I love you so.’

Called me to her bedside and I begin to cry

.   .   .

♦  ‘I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man’ ⇓

The gypsy woman told my mother before I was born
I got a boy child’s comin’ – He’s gonna be a son of a gun
He gonna make pretty women jump and shout
Then the world wanna know what this all about
But you know I’m him – Everybody knows I’m him
Well you know I’m the hoochie coochie man
And the whole world knows I’m him

I got a black cat bone – I got a mojo too
I got the Muddy Waters Shuffle – I’m gonna mess with you
I’m gonna make you girls lead me by my hand
Then the world will know the hoochie coochie man
But you know I’m him – Everybody knows I’m him
Oh you know I’m the hoochie coochie man – Everybody knows I’m him

On the seventh hour – On the seventh day – On the seventh month
The seven doctors say – He was born for good luck and that you’ll see
I got seven hundred dollars – Don’t you mess with me
But you know I’m him – Everybody knows I’m him
Well you know I’m the hoochie coochie man – Everybody knows I’m him

∇    ‘Lost Without Love’  ⇓

Just like a bird without its feathers, baby – You know I’m lost without your love …

Well I need your loving baby just like an angel needs heaven above.

Why don’t you listen to me baby? Let me try to understand …

We’re loving love with you baby, and you love another man

You know that I’m right.

I spent time in a cold jailhouse, and mama I had the blues so bad …

Yes I did

But the blues you gave me baby was the worst I ever had

Oh!