Mud Morganfield

Mud Morganfield is the eldest son of blues great Muddy Waters. The timbre and tone in his buoyant baritone is eerily similar to his iconic father's, and he shares the same perfect blues phrasing. Morganfield is also a first-class bassist. A late bloomer, he didn't begin a professional career in his native Chicago until after his father died and he was nearly 30. He wrote songs for others and played occasional South and West side clubs for many years. His material consisted then, as it does now, of excellent original songs, his father's tunes, and blues standards. His debut album, Fall Waters Fall, appeared in 2008. 2012's Son of a Seventh Son on Severn drew global notice and allowed him to tour worldwide. 2014's For Pops: A Tribute to Muddy Waters with Kim Wilson, won a Blues Music Award in 2015. The charting They Call Me Mud arrived in 2018, followed by a world tour. Morganfield released the crossover hit single "Praise Him" in 2021. Born Larry Williams in 1954, the eldest son of blues great McKinley Morganfield, otherwise known as Muddy Waters, Mud Morganfield (who has also gone by the name Muddy Waters Jr.), naturally grew up surrounded by music, and particularly the blues, and he's played music all of his life, starting with the drums his dad gave him as a child, then moving on to the bass guitar. Supporting himself as a truck driver, just like his father did when he was first starting out, Morganfield didn't seriously consider being a professional blues musician until after Waters' death in 1983, by which time Morganfield was already close to 30. Possessing a baritone voice very much like his father's, and blessed with a similar sense of vocal phrasing and how to command a stage, Morganfield made up for lost time, cutting his teeth in the southside Chicago clubs where he was soon a popular draw on the blues club and festival circuit; he mixed both original songs and Muddy Waters classics into his live sets. A debut album, Fall Waters Fall, was self-released in 2008, followed by Live with England's blues garage band the Dirty Aces. He signed to Severn Records in late 2011, and in 2012, released what he considered to be his proper first album, Son of a Seventh Son. The album won exemplary reviews from critics across the globe and made the blues charts. It created the opportunity for him to tour the U.S. and Europe with his own band. Further, the album was nominated in the Best Album and the Traditional Blues Male Artist Album categories of the 2013 Blues Foundation Blues Music Awards. Morganfield toured incessantly for a couple of years before re-entering the studio to record For Pops: A Tribute To Muddy Waters with harmonicist, singer and songwriter, Kim Wilson (Fabulous Thunderbirds). In a Maryland studio, the set was recorded in raucous house party style, and included tunes written by or directly associated with Waters. Upon release, it drew rave reviews and hit the blues charts. On tour, Morganfield was able to play bigger houses and stages at festivals including Ronnie Scott's and the Royal Albert Hall. In 2015, the album won a Blues Music Award as Best Traditional Blues album. Following his return from the road, Morganfield began playing club residencies in Chicago and elsewhere. Over two days in February 2017, with his show band and a cast of musicians assembled by guitarist/producer Rick Kreher (who had also played in Muddy's band), he entered the Windy City's Joyride Studios and emerged with 2018's They Call Me Mud. All but two of the set's 12 songs were penned by the singer and the album sold better than any of his previous outings, made numerous critics' lists, and was chosen as one of the year's Top 50 albums by Living Blues magazine. Morganfield spent more than a year on the road, playing across the U.S. and Europe, headlining large clubs, some halls, and festival stages. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he kept a low profile in 2020. He returned to recording and released the single "Praise Him" on Delmark in August 2021. Wedding Chicago blues, gospel, and gritty soul, the track became a crossover hit on the blues and gospel charts as well as a rotation staple at gospel radio and on B.B. King's Bluesville. Delmark then licensed Son of a Seventh Son from Severn, remixed and remastered it, retitled it Portrait, and released it in 2022. The new version added "Praise Him" and a cover of "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" that was recorded during the original album sessions.
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