Biography
Mud Morganfield, born Larry Williams in 1954 as the eldest son of McKinley Morganfield—better known as Muddy Waters—also performed early on under the name Muddy Waters Jr. He grew up immersed in the blues, beginning with the drums his father gave him as a boy before switching to bass guitar, an instrument at which he later excelled. Like his father before him, Morganfield worked as a truck driver while occasionally writing material for other artists and performing at South and West Side Chicago venues throughout his twenties. Only after Muddy Waters died in 1983 did the nearly thirty-year-old singer decide to pursue music professionally; his buoyant baritone, strikingly reminiscent of his father’s timbre and phrasing, soon made him a regular attraction on the city’s club and festival circuit, where he blended his own compositions with Waters classics and other blues standards.
His first recording, the self-released Fall Waters Fall, appeared in 2008, followed by a live set with England’s Dirty Aces. Signing with Severn Records in late 2011, he issued Son of a Seventh Son the next year; the album reached the blues charts, earned widespread critical acclaim, and led to extensive touring across the United States and Europe. It also received nominations for Best Album and Traditional Blues Male Artist Album at the 2013 Blues Music Awards. After further road work, Morganfield entered a Maryland studio with harmonica player, singer, and songwriter Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds to cut For Pops: A Tribute to Muddy Waters in a lively house-party atmosphere. Released in 2014, the set climbed the blues charts, drew enthusiastic notices, and earned the 2015 Blues Music Award for Best Traditional Blues Album, enabling Morganfield to headline larger venues such as Ronnie Scott’s and the Royal Albert Hall.
Returning to Chicago, he maintained club residencies before assembling his road band and additional players recruited by guitarist and producer Rick Kreher—who had worked with Muddy Waters—for two days of sessions at Joyride Studios in February 2017. The resulting album, They Call Me Mud, arrived in 2018 with ten of its twelve tracks written by Morganfield himself; it outperformed his earlier releases commercially, appeared on multiple year-end lists, and was selected by Living Blues as one of the fifty best albums of the year. An extended tour of American and European clubs, halls, and festivals followed until the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed live work in 2020. Morganfield resurfaced in August 2021 with the Delmark single “Praise Him,” a track fusing Chicago blues, gospel, and gritty soul that crossed over to both blues and gospel charts and became a staple on gospel radio and B.B. King’s Bluesville. Delmark subsequently licensed Son of a Seventh Son, remixed and remastered it under the new title Portrait, and issued the expanded edition in 2022, appending “Praise Him” along with a previously unreleased version of “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” from the original sessions.
His first recording, the self-released Fall Waters Fall, appeared in 2008, followed by a live set with England’s Dirty Aces. Signing with Severn Records in late 2011, he issued Son of a Seventh Son the next year; the album reached the blues charts, earned widespread critical acclaim, and led to extensive touring across the United States and Europe. It also received nominations for Best Album and Traditional Blues Male Artist Album at the 2013 Blues Music Awards. After further road work, Morganfield entered a Maryland studio with harmonica player, singer, and songwriter Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds to cut For Pops: A Tribute to Muddy Waters in a lively house-party atmosphere. Released in 2014, the set climbed the blues charts, drew enthusiastic notices, and earned the 2015 Blues Music Award for Best Traditional Blues Album, enabling Morganfield to headline larger venues such as Ronnie Scott’s and the Royal Albert Hall.
Returning to Chicago, he maintained club residencies before assembling his road band and additional players recruited by guitarist and producer Rick Kreher—who had worked with Muddy Waters—for two days of sessions at Joyride Studios in February 2017. The resulting album, They Call Me Mud, arrived in 2018 with ten of its twelve tracks written by Morganfield himself; it outperformed his earlier releases commercially, appeared on multiple year-end lists, and was selected by Living Blues as one of the fifty best albums of the year. An extended tour of American and European clubs, halls, and festivals followed until the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed live work in 2020. Morganfield resurfaced in August 2021 with the Delmark single “Praise Him,” a track fusing Chicago blues, gospel, and gritty soul that crossed over to both blues and gospel charts and became a staple on gospel radio and B.B. King’s Bluesville. Delmark subsequently licensed Son of a Seventh Son, remixed and remastered it under the new title Portrait, and issued the expanded edition in 2022, appending “Praise Him” along with a previously unreleased version of “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” from the original sessions.
Albums
Singles
