Back by historical demand: Profiles in Blues
(Jimmy's Blues Spotlight)
Jimmy Sengenberger, Staff writer
Issue date: 2/9/09 Section: Arts and Culture
This Arts & Culture article was published in the January 26 issue of the Highlander.
They took America by storm. British rock groups like The Beetles thrust themselves ashore, forever shaking American popular culture and transforming it into that which we know today. One of these bands was the Rolling Stones, created in 1962. The band's name comes from a famous song of none other than one of American music's most influential blues musicians: A man by the name of McKinley Morganfield, or better known as, in classic blues tradition, Muddy Waters.
"I got a boy child's comin…he's gonna be a rollin stone," rings Waters' 1948 blues single "Rollin' Stone," from which the Rolling Stones' name stems.
A bare-bones blues star, Muddy Waters was born in Issaquena County, Mississippi, in 1913 and raised by his grandmother following his mother's death in 1918. Initially a blues harmonica aficionado, he was inspired by such guitarists as Robert Johnson, who was legendarily known to have sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads, to take on the guitar at the age of 17.
In the early 1940s, Muddy ran a juke joint, where folks could gamble, drink unlicensed alcohol and enjoy music from a jukebox, as well as live, with Muddy himself playing. The groundwork would soon be laid for his music career takeoff, when in 1941 and 1943 musicologist Alan Lomax sat down with Muddy for his very first recording session, for the Library of Congress. After that, he said, he kept playing and playing the recording in his juke joint, extremely excited at the professional sound.
Muddy was living a mediocre life when in 1943 he moved to Chicago in hopes of hitting the big time. In 1945, he received his first electric guitar, and in 1948, after several years of opening for shows in blues clubs, he finally struck gold for himself. "I Can't Be Satisfied" and "I Feel Like Going Home" suddenly found themselves at the tops of the blues charts, with "Rollin' Stone" carving out his first three hits.
They took America by storm. British rock groups like The Beetles thrust themselves ashore, forever shaking American popular culture and transforming it into that which we know today. One of these bands was the Rolling Stones, created in 1962. The band's name comes from a famous song of none other than one of American music's most influential blues musicians: A man by the name of McKinley Morganfield, or better known as, in classic blues tradition, Muddy Waters.
"I got a boy child's comin…he's gonna be a rollin stone," rings Waters' 1948 blues single "Rollin' Stone," from which the Rolling Stones' name stems.
A bare-bones blues star, Muddy Waters was born in Issaquena County, Mississippi, in 1913 and raised by his grandmother following his mother's death in 1918. Initially a blues harmonica aficionado, he was inspired by such guitarists as Robert Johnson, who was legendarily known to have sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads, to take on the guitar at the age of 17.
In the early 1940s, Muddy ran a juke joint, where folks could gamble, drink unlicensed alcohol and enjoy music from a jukebox, as well as live, with Muddy himself playing. The groundwork would soon be laid for his music career takeoff, when in 1941 and 1943 musicologist Alan Lomax sat down with Muddy for his very first recording session, for the Library of Congress. After that, he said, he kept playing and playing the recording in his juke joint, extremely excited at the professional sound.
Muddy was living a mediocre life when in 1943 he moved to Chicago in hopes of hitting the big time. In 1945, he received his first electric guitar, and in 1948, after several years of opening for shows in blues clubs, he finally struck gold for himself. "I Can't Be Satisfied" and "I Feel Like Going Home" suddenly found themselves at the tops of the blues charts, with "Rollin' Stone" carving out his first three hits.
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