"Mannish Boy" (or "Manish Boy" as it was first labeled) is a blues standard written by Muddy Waters, Mel London, and Bo Diddley (with Waters and Diddley being credited under their birth names). First recorded in 1955 by Waters, it serves as an "answer song" to Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man", which was in turn inspired by Waters' and Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man". "Mannish Boy" features a repeating stop-time figure on one chord throughout the song.
Recordings and releases
Waters recorded the song in Chicago on May 24, 1955.
Charts and recognition
The song reached number five during a stay of six weeks in the Billboard R&B chart. The song was Muddy Waters' only chart appearance on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 51 in 1988.
In 1986, Muddy Waters' original "Mannish Boy" was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame "Classics of Blues Recordings" category. It was also included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of the "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll". "Mannish Boy" is ranked number 425 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The early David Bowie band, the Mannish Boys, took its name from the song, as did the blues band the Mannish Boys.