Muddy Waters (1913–1983) was an American blues artist who is considered a pioneer of the electric Chicago blues and a major influence on the development of blues and rock music. He popularized several early Delta blues songs, such as "Rollin' and Tumblin'", "Walkin' Blues", and "Baby, Please Don't Go", and recorded songs that went on to become blues standards, including "Hoochie Coochie Man", "Mannish Boy", and "Got My Mojo Working". During his recording career from 1941 to 1981, he recorded primarily for two record companies, Aristocrat/Chess and Blue Sky; they issued 62 singles and 13 studio albums (as with most postwar blues musicians, his recordings were released as two-song singles until the 1960s, when the focus shifted to long-playing albums).
While he was living in Mississippi, Waters was recorded by Alan Lomax in 1941 for a U.S. Library of Congress folk music project. Two songs were released on a 78 rpm record, "Country Blues" and "I Be's Troubled". After moving to Chicago, he recorded for Leonard Chess and Aristocrat issued Waters's first single in 1947. In 1950, Chess bought out his label partners and formed Chess Records. From 1950 to 1958, Chess issued 15 singles that reached the top 10 of Billboard magazine's R&B chart. Among the many albums the label released are the influential early compilation The Best of Muddy Waters (1958) and the live At Newport 1960.
After Chess went out of business in 1975, Waters recorded several successful albums for Blue Sky. Produced by blues rock singer and guitarist Johnny Winter, Hard Again (1977), I'm Ready (1978), and Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live (1978) won Grammy Awards for "Best Ethnic or Traditional Recordings". As a sideman, Waters also contributed to recordings by Little Walter, Junior Wells, Otis Spann, and others. After Waters's death in 1983, a large number of compilation and live albums have been issued by various record companies, often with significant overlap and duplication. The double disc The Anthology: 1947–1972 (2001) is ranked at number 483 on Rolling Stone magazine's 2020 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
For an in depth, illustrated discography, see https://www.wirz.de/music/waters.htm
Studio albums
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+
! scope="col" width=50% | Title
! scope="col" width=% class="unsortable" | Album details
! scope="col" width=5% data-sort-type=number | Chart<br />peak <br>U.S.<br>200
! scope="col" width=5% class="unsortable" |
|-
! scope="row" | Muddy Waters Sings "Big Bill"
|
- Released: June 1960
- Label: Chess <small>(LP-1444)</small>
- Format: Mono LP
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | Folk Singer
|
- Released: January 30, 1964
- Label: Chess <small>(LP-1483)</small>
- Format: Mono LP
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | Muddy, Brass & the Blues
|
- Released: October 26, 1966
- Label: Chess <small>(LP/S-1507)</small>
- Format: Mono/stereo LP
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | Electric Mud
|
- Released: October 5, 1968
- Label: Cadet Concept <small>(LPS-314)</small>
- Format: Stereo LP
| align="center"| 127
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | After the Rain
|
- Released: May 12, 1969
- Label: Cadet Concept <small>(LPS-320)</small>
- Format: Stereo LP
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | Fathers and Sons
|
- Released: August 18, 1969
- Label: Chess <small>(LPS-127; reissue: 2CH 50033, 1972)</small>
- Format: Stereo 2xLP
- Note: Sides 1 and 2 are studio recordings
| align="center"| 70
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | I'm Ready
|
- Released: January 1978
- Label: Blue Sky <small>(JZ 34928)</small>
- Format: Stereo LP
| align="center"| 157
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | Collaboration
|
- Released: 1995
- Label: Tomato <small>(R2 71661)</small>
- Format: CD
- Note: Recorded 1958
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | Hoochie Coochie Man
|
- Released: 1996
- Label: LaserLight <small>(17 101)</small>
- Format: CD
- Note: Recorded 1964
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" |
|
- Released: 1999
- Label: Topcat/Blind Pig <small>(BPCD 5054)</small>
- Format: LP, CD
- Note: Recorded November 1971
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | Live at the Fillmore AuditoriumSan Francisco 1966
|
- Released: 2009
- Label: Chess/Geffen <small>(B00112650 02)</small>
- Format: CD
- Note: Recorded November 04/05/06, 1966
|align="center"|8
| align="center"|
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+
! scope="col" width=50% | Title
! scope="col" width=% class="unsortable" | Album details
! scope="col" width=5% data-sort-type=number | Chart<br />peak <br>U.S.<br>Blues
! scope="col" width=5% class="unsortable" |
|-
! scope="row" |
|
- Released: 1958
- Label: Chess <small>(LP-1427)</small>
- Format: Mono LP
- Note: Repackaged and resequenced as Sail On <br>(1969, Chess LP-1539)
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" |
|
- Released: January 1966
- Label: Chess <small>(LP-1501)</small>
- Format: Mono LP
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | More Real Folk Blues
|
- Released: January 27, 1967
- Label: Chess <small>(LP/S-1511)</small>
- Format: Mono/stereo LP
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | They Call Me Muddy Waters
|
- Released: February 1971
- Label: Chess <small>(CH 1553)</small>
- Format: LP
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | McKinley Morganfield A.K.A. Muddy Waters
|
- Released: June 1971
- Label: Chess <small>(2CH 60006)</small>
- Format: 2xLP
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | Rolling Stone
|
- Released: November 1982
- Label: Chess/MCA <small>(CH 8202; CH 9101)</small>
- Format: LP
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | Rare and Unissued
|
- Released: 1984
- Label: Chess/MCA <small>(CH 9180)</small>
- Format: Mono LP
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | Trouble No More: Singles 1955–1959
|
- Released: 1989
- Label: Chess/MCA <small>(CH/C/D-9291)</small>
- Format: LP, cassette, CD
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" |
|
- Released: 1989
- Label: Chess/MCA <small>(CH/C/D-80002)</small>
- Format: 6xLP, cassette, 3xCD
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | Blues Sky
|
- Released: June 16, 1992
- Label: Columbia/Legacy <small>(ZK/T-49172)</small>
- Format: CD, cassette
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" |
|
- Released: June 8, 1993
- Label: Chess/MCA <small>(CHD/C-9344)</small>
- Format: CD, cassette
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | One More Mile (Chess Collectibles, Vol. 1)
|
- Released: 1994
- Label: Chess/MCA <small>(CHD/C2-9348)</small>
- Format: 2xCD, cassette
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | His Best: 1947 to 1955 [Volume 1]
|
- Released: 1997
- Label: Chess/MCA <small>(CHD-9370)</small>
- Format: CD
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | His Best: 1956 to 1964 [Volume 2]
|
- Released: 1997
- Label: Chess/MCA <small>(CHD-9380)</small>
- Format: CD
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | King of the Electric Blues
|
- Released: 1997
- Label: Epic/Legacy <small>(65215)</small>
- Format: CD
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" |
|
- Released: 1999
- Label: Chess/MCA <small>(CHD-11946)</small>
- Format: CD
|align="center"| 15
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" |
|
- Released: 2001
- Label: Chess/MCA <small>(CHD-112649)</small>
- Format: 2xCD
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | Winning Combinations (split release with John Lee Hooker)
|
- Released: 2001
- Label: Universal Special Products <small>(088 112 646-2)</small>
- Format: CD
|align="center"|8
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" |
|
- Released: 2006
- Label: Chess/Geffen <small>(B0006273 02)</small>
- Format: CD
|align="center"| 14
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | You Shook Me: The Complete Chess Masters, Volume 3 (1958–1963)
|
- Released: 2012
- Label: Hip-O Select/Geffen <small>(B0017581 02)</small>
- Format: 2xCD
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|- class="sortbottom"
| align="center" colspan="4" style="font-size: 80%"| "—" denotes a release that did not chart
|}
Singles
Muddy Waters's first 78 rpm record in 1941 listed him using his birth name, McKinley Morganfield. The late 1940s–mid-1950s record releases by Aristocrat Records and Chess Records sometimes used "Muddy Waters and His Guitar" as well as Muddy Waters. From the late 1950s on, he is identified as Muddy Waters.
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+
! scope="col" width=% | Title<br /><small>A-side / B-side</small>
! scope="col" width=5% | Year
! scope="col" width=10% | Label
! scope="col" width=5% data-sort-type=number | Chart<br />peak<br>U.S.<br>R&B
! scope="col" width=5% class="unsortable" |
|-
! scope="row" | "Country Blues" / "I Be's Troubled"
| 1941
| Library of<br> Congress<br> <small>AAFS 18</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Gypsy Woman" / "Little Anna Mae"
| rowspan="3" | 1948
| Aristocrat <br><small>1302</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "I Can't Be Satisfied" / "I Feel Like Going Home"
| Aristocrat <br><small>1305</small>
| align="center"| 11
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Train Fare Home" / "Sittin' Here and Drinkin'"
| Aristocrat <br><small>1306</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "You're Gonna Miss Me (When I'm Dead and Gone)" / "Mean Red Spider"
| rowspan="3" | 1949
| Aristocrat <br><small>1307</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Streamlined Woman" / "Muddy Jumps One" (instrumental)
| Aristocrat <br><small>1310</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Little Geneva" / "Canary Bird"
| Aristocrat <br><small>1311</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Screaming and Crying" / "Where's My Woman Been"
| rowspan="5" | 1950
| Aristocrat <br><small>406</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Rollin' and Tumblin' (Part 1)" / "Rollin' and Tumblin' (Part 2)"
| Aristocrat <br><small>412</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" |"Rollin' Stone" / "Walkin' Blues"
| Chess <br><small>1426</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "You're Gonna Need My Help 'I Said' (Gonna Need My Help)" / "Sad Letter Blues"
| Chess <br><small>1434</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Louisiana Blues" / "Evans Shuffle" (instrumental) ( "Ebony Shuffle")
| Chess <br><small>1441</small>
| align="center"| 10
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Long Distance Call" / "Too Young Too Know"
| rowspan="4" | 1951
| Chess <br><small>1452</small>
| align="center"| 8
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Honey Bee" / "Appealing Blues (Hello Little Girl)"
| Chess <br><small>1468</small>
| align="center"| 10
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Still a Fool (Two Trains Running)" / "My Fault"
| Chess <br><small>1480</small>
| align="center"| 9
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "She Moves Me" / "Early Morning Blues (Before Daybreak)"
| Chess <br><small>1490</small>
| align="center"| 10
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "All Night Long" / "Country Boy"
| rowspan="3" | 1952
| Chess <br><small>1509</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Please Have Mercy" / "Looking for My Baby" ( "I Can't Be Satisfied")
| Chess <br><small>1514</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Standing Around Crying" / "Gone to Main Street"
| Chess <br><small>1526</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "She's All Right" / "Sad, Sad Day"
| rowspan="3" | 1953
| Chess <br><small>1537</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Turn the Lamp Down Low (Baby Please Don't Go)" / "Who's Gonna Be Your Sweet Man"
| Chess <br><small>1542</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Mad Love (I Want You to Love Me)" / "Blow Wind Blow"
| Chess <br><small>1550</small>
| align="center"| 6
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" / "She's So Pretty"
| rowspan="4" | 1954
| Chess <br><small>1560</small>
| align="center"| 3
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Just Make Love to Me (I Just Want to Make Love to You)" / "Oh! Yeh"
| Chess <br><small>1571</small>
| align="center"| 4
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "I'm Ready" / "I Don't Know Why"
| Chess <br><small>1579</small>
| align="center"| 4
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "I'm a Natural Born Lover" / "Loving Man"
| Chess <br><small>1585</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "I Want to Be Loved" / "My Eyes (Keep Me in Trouble)"
| rowspan="4" | 1955
| Chess <br><small>1596</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Manish Boy (Mannish Boy)" / "Young Fashioned Ways (Old Fashioned Ways)"
| Chess <br><small>1602</small>
| align="center"| 5
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Sugar Sweet (I Can't Call Her Sugar)"
| Chess <br><small>1612</small>
| align="center"| 11
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | / "Trouble No More"
| Chess <br><small>1612</small>
| align="center"| 7
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Forty Days and Forty Nights" / "All Aboard"
| rowspan="3" | 1956
| Chess <br><small>1620</small>
| align="center"| 7
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Don't Go No Farther (You Need Meat)" / "Diamonds at Your Feet"
| Chess <br><small>1630</small>
| align="center"| 9
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Just to Be with You" / "I Got to Find My Baby"
| Chess <br><small>1644</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Got My Mojo Working" / "Rock Me"
| rowspan="3" | 1957
| Chess <br><small>1652</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Good News" / "Come Home Baby (I Wish You Would)"
| Chess <br><small>1667</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "I Live the Life I Love (I Love the Life I Live)" / "Evil"<!--NOT the Willie Dixon/Howlin' Wolf song-->
| Chess <br><small>1680</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "I Won't Go On" / "She's Got It"
| rowspan="2" | 1958
| Chess <br><small>1692</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Close to You" / "She's Nineteen Years Old"
| Chess <br><small>1704</small>
| align="center"| 9
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Walking Thru the Park (Walking in the Park)" / "Mean Mistreater"
| rowspan="4" | 1959
| Chess <br><small>1718</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Clouds in My Heart" / "Ooh Wee"
| Chess <br><small>1724</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Take the Bitter with the Sweet" / "She's Into Something"
| Chess <br><small>1733</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Recipe for Love" / "Tell Me Baby"
| Chess <br><small>1739</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "I Feel So Good" / "When I Get to Thinking"
| rowspan="5" | 1960
| Chess <br><small>1748</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Read Way Back" / "I'm Your Doctor"
| Chess <br><small>1752</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Look What You've Done" / "Love Affair"
| Chess <br><small>1758</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Tiger in Your Tank" / "Meanest Woman"
| Chess <br><small>1765</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Got My Mojo Working (Part 1)" (live) / "Woman Wanted"
| Chess <br><small>1774</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Messin' with the Man" / "Lonesome Bedroom Blues"
| 1961
| Chess <br><small>1796</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Going Home" / "Tough Times"
| rowspan="3" | 1962
| Chess <br><small>1819</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "You Shook Me" / "Muddy Waters Twist"
| Chess <br><small>1827</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "You Need Love" / "Little Brown Bird"
| Chess <br><small>1839</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Five Long Years" / "Twenty Four Hours"
| 1963
| Chess <br><small>1862</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "" / "You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had"
| rowspan="3" | 1964
| Chess <br><small>1865</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "My John the Conquer Root" / "Short Dress Woman"
| Chess <br><small>1914</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Put Me in Your Lay Away" / "Still a Fool" <small>(re-release)</small>
| Chess <br><small>1921</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "My Dog Can't Bark" / "I Got a Rich Man's Woman"
| 1965
| Chess <br><small>1937</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Corine, Corina" / "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" <small>[w/overdubbed horns]</small>
| 1966
| Chess <br><small>1973</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Birdnest on the Ground" / "When the Eagle Flies"
| 1967
| Chess <br><small>2018</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Going Home" <small>(remake)</small> / "I Feel So Good" <small>(remake)</small>
| 1970
| Chess <br><small>2085</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Making Friends" / "Two Steps Forward"
| 1971
| Chess <br><small>2107</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "Can't Get No Grindin' (What's the Matter with the Meal)" / "Garbage Man"
| 1973
| Chess <br><small>2143</small>
|align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "" / "Mannish Boy" <small>(remake, 12-inch single)</small>
| rowspan="2" | 1977
| Blue Sky <br><small>MUDT 1</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" <small>(remake)</small> / "Mannish Boy" <small>(remake, 12-inch single; edited version)</small>
| Blue Sky <br><small>MUD 1</small>
| align="center"|—
| align="center"|
|- class="sortbottom"
| align="center" colspan="5" style="font-size: 80%"| "—" denotes a release that did not chart
|}
As accompanist
Albums
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+
! scope="col" width=50% | Title
! scope="col" width=% | Album details<br><small>(sortable by listed artist)</small>
! scope="col" width=5% data-sort-type=number | Chart<br />peak<br>U.S.<br>Blues
! scope="col" width=5% class="unsortable" |
|-
! scope="row" | Broken Soul Blues
|
- Memphis Slim
- Released: 1961
- Label: United Artists <small>(3137)</small>
- Format: LP
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" |
|
- Released: 1964
- Label: Decca (UK) <small>(LK 4615)</small>
- Format: LP
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" |
|
- Released: 1965
- Label: Prestige <small>(7391)</small>
- Format: LP
- Note: credited as "Dirty Rivers"
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | Big Mama Thornton with the Muddy Waters Blues Band – 1966
|
- Released: 1966
- Label: Arhoolie <small>(1032; 9043)</small>
- Format: LP, CD
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | Live at Cafe Au Go Go
|
- Released: 1966
- Label: Bluesway <small>(BL/BLS 6002)</small>
- Format: LP
- Note: recorded August 1966
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | The Blues Is Where It's At
|
- Released: 1967
- Label: Bluesway <small>(BLS 6003)</small>
- Format: LP
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | Super Blues
|
- Bo Diddley, Little Walter
- Released: 1967
- Label: Checker <small>(LP/S 3008)</small>
- Format: LP
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" |
|
- Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf
- Released: 1968
- Label: Checker <small>(LP/S 3010)</small>
- Format: LP
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" |
|
- Released:1968
- Label: Bluesway <small>(BLS 6013)</small>
- Format: LP
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | George Smith & the Chicago Blues Band: A Tribute to Little Walter
|
- Released: 1968
- Label: World Pacific <small>(WPS 21887)</small>
- Format: LP
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | Luther "Georgia Boy Snake" Johnson with the Muddy Waters Blues Band
|
- Released: December 1969
- Label: Douglas <small>(LP 781)</small>
- Format: LP
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | Come On Home
|
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" |
|
- Released: March 1978
- Label: Warner Bros. <small>(3WS 3146)</small>
- Format: LP
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" | Live the Life
|
- Released: 1997
- Label: Testament <small>(TCD 6001)</small>
- Format: CD
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|
|-
! scope="row" |
|
- Released: April 16, 2002
- Label: Warner Bros./Rhino
- Format: CD
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! scope="row" | Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down
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- & Johnny Winter
- Released: June 2007