Blues as an art form gave Blacks a medium to manifest their feelings. Feelings
ranging from humorous to silly to depressed. Fortunately for a entire genre of music, the
only way for Mckinley Morganfield to express himself was through song. Morganfield
better known as Muddy Waters became a legendary blues vocalistguitarist. When the
Blues industry saw commercial success many of its artists also saw rising fame. Muddy
Waters enjoyed success in the industry up until and even after his death in 1983.
Morganfield was born April 4, 1915 to Ollie Morganfield and Bertha Jones. He
was born in Rollingfork, Mississippi. Near their two room shack in Rollingfork there was
a creek, Deer Creek. As a youngster he used to play in the creek and get all dirty and
muddy. It was at this point when his sisters gave him the nickname 'Muddy Waters'.
Bertha died when he was about three. After her death he had to move in with his
grandmother in Clarksdale. Raised in Clarksdale, he also went to school there. He went
to school until he was old enough to work in the fields.
Much like all of the other field laborers Muddy Waters hollered in the fields to pass
time or just to get things off of your chest. Waters would also teach himself to play
instruments. When he was fifteen he knew how to play the harmonica and he would later
teach himself the guitar. The young Waters followed in his fathers musician footsteps. He
was part of a band at fifteen, with Scott Bowhandle on guitar and Sonny Simms playing
the violin. They would play some Saturday nights in downtown Clarksdale and others he
would sell fried fish on nights. And other nights he would watch the greats like Son
House, Robert Johnson and Charlie Patton were great musical influences on Waters. The
main influence on Waters was Son House, although Waters style of play was more similar
Muddy Waters was first recognized b
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