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In 1971, Chess recorded a show at Mister Kelly's, an upscale Chicago nightclub. The album signaled Muddy's return to form and cemented his appeal with white audiences. In 1972, he won his first Grammy Award, for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording for They Call Me Muddy Waters, a 1971 album of old but previously unreleased recordings. Later in 1972, he flew to England to record the album The London Muddy Waters Sessions. The album was a follow-up to the previous year's The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions. Both albums were the brainchild of Chess Records producer Norman Dayron, and were intended to showcase Chicago blues musicians playing with the younger British rock musicians whom they had inspired. He brought with him two American musicians, harmonica player Carey Bell and guitarist Sammy Lawhorn. The British and Irish musicians who played on the album included Rory Gallagher, Steve Winwood, Rick Grech, and Mitch Mitchell. Muddy was dissatisfied by the results, due to the British musicians' more rock-oriented sound. "These boys are top musicians. They can play with me, put the book before 'em and play it, you know," he told Guralnick. "But that ain't what I need to sell my people. It ain't the Muddy Waters sound. An' if you change my sound, then you gonna change the whole man." He stated, "My blues look so simple, so easy to do, but it's not. They say my blues is the hardest blues in the world to play."[44] Nevertheless, the album won another Grammy, again for Best Ethnic or Traditional Recording. He won another Grammy for his last LP on Chess, The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album, recorded in 1975 with a new band, guitarist Bob Margolin; pianist Pinetop Perkins and Paul Butterfield on harmonica with Levon Helm and Garth Hudson of the Band on drums, organ, accordion and saxophone.[45] In November 1976, he appeared as a featured special guest at the Band's Last Waltz farewell concert, and in the subsequent 1978 feature film documentary of the event. He performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1972, 1974 and 1977. An album, CD, and streaming release featuring many of his best known songs from these performances was compiled in 2021 as Muddy Waters: The Montreux Years.[46] In 1974, his backing musicians in Montreux included Buddy Guy, Pinetop Perkins, Junior Wells, and Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman. Wyman and Perkins also performed with him in 1977.[47] From 1977 to 1981, blues musician Johnny Winter, who idolized Muddy since childhood and who had become a friend,[48][49] produced four albums for him, all on the Blue Sky Records label: the studio albums Hard Again (1977), I'm Ready (1978) and King Bee (1981), and the live album, Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live (1979). The albums were critical and commercial successes, with all but King Bee winning a Grammy. Hard Again has been especially praised by critics, who have tended to describe it as his comeback album.[50][51] In 1981, he was invited to perform at Chicago Fest, the city's top outdoor music festival. He was joined onstage by Johnny Winter and Buddy Miles, and played classics like "Mannish Boy", "Trouble No More", and "Mojo Working" to a new generation of fans. Shout! Factory made the performances available on DVD in 2009. On November 22, he performed live with three members of the Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood) at the Checkerboard Lounge, a blues club in Bronzeville, on the South Side of Chicago, which Buddy Guy and L.C. Thurman opened in 1972.[52][53] A DVD of the performance, Live at the Checkerboard Lounge, Chicago 1981, was released in 2012.[54][better source needed] In 1982, he cut way back on performing due to declining health. His last public performance took place when he sat in with Eric Clapton's band at a concert in Florida in the summer of 1982.[55] Personal life, death and estate[edit] Muddy Waters was married to his first wife, Mabel Berry, from 1932 to 1935.[56] Muddy Waters' second wife, whom he married in the 1940s, Geneva Wade, died of cancer on March 15, 1973. Gaining custody of three of his children, Joseph, Renee, and Rosalind, he moved them into his home, eventually buying a new house in Westmont, Illinois. In 1977, he met Marva Jean Brooks, whom he nicknamed "Sunshine", at a Florida hotel;[57] Eric Clapton served as best man at their wedding in 1979.[58] He had at least six children, including illegitimate children.[59] Two of his sons Larry "Mud" Morganfield and Big Bill Morganfield are also blues singers and musicians. In 2017, his youngest son, Joseph "Mojo" Morganfield, began publicly performing the blues, and played occasionally with his brothers;[60] he died in 2020 at the age of 56.[61] The cemetery plot of Waters under his real name, McKinley Morganfield, in Restvale Cemetery, Alsip, Illinois Muddy Waters died in his sleep at his home in Westmont, Illinois, on April 30, 1983 from heart failure and cancer-related complications.[62] He was taken from his Westmont home, where he lived for the last decade of his life, to Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, Illinois,[63] where he was pronounced dead. His funeral was held on May 4, 1983. Throngs of blues musicians and fans attended his funeral at Restvale Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois. He is buried next to his wife, Geneva. After his death, a decades-long court battle ensued between his heirs and Scott Cameron, his manager at the time. In 2010, his heirs were petitioning the courts to appoint Mercy Morganfield, his daughter, as administrator who would then control the assets of his estate which were mainly copyrights to his music.[63] The petition to reopen the estate was successful. Following Cameron's death, the heirs' lawyers, in May 2018, sought to hold Scott Cameron's wife in contempt for allegedly diverting royalty income. The heirs, however, asked for that citation not to be pursued. The last court date was held on July 10, 2018,[64] and, as of 2023, the disputed arrangement remained unchanged.[65] Legacy[edit] Two years after his death, the city of Chicago paid tribute to him by designating the one-block section between 900 and 1000 East 43rd Street near his former home on the south side "Honorary Muddy Waters Drive".[66] In 2017, a ten stories-mural commissioned as a part of the Chicago Blues Festival and designed by Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra was painted on the side of the building at 17 North State Street, at the corner of State and Washington Streets.[67] The Chicago suburb of Westmont, where he lived the last decade of his life, named a section of Cass Avenue near his home "Honorary Muddy Waters Way". In 2008, the Mississippi Blues Commission marked the site of his cabin with a marker as part of the Mississippi Blues Trail in Clarksdale, Mississippi.[68] He also received a plaque on the Clarksdale Walk of Fame.[69] Muddy Waters' Chicago Home in the Kenwood neighborhood is in the process of being named a Chicago Landmark.[70] A crater on Mercury was named in his honor in 2016 by the IAU.[71] In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked him at number 72 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.[72] Influence[edit] The British band The Rolling Stones named themselves after Muddy Waters' 1950 song, "Rollin' Stone". Jimi Hendrix recalled that "I first heard him as a little boy and it scared me to death". Eric Clapton was a big fan of Muddy Waters growing up and his band Cream covered "Rollin' and Tumblin'" on their 1966 debut album, Fresh Cream. Canned Heat also covered the song at the Monterey Pop Festival and later Bob Dylan played it on his album Modern Times. Many bands recorded "Hoochie Coochie Man" including The Allman Brothers Band, Humble Pie, Steppenwolf, Supertramp and Fear. The Led Zeppelin hit "Whole Lotta Love has lyrics and a melody heavily influenced by the Muddy Waters hit "You Need Love" (written by Willie Dixon). Angus Young has cited Muddy as an influences and the AC/DC song "You Shook Me All Night Long" came from lyrics of his song "You Shook Me", written by Dixon and J. B. Lenoir. In 1981 ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons went to visit the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale with The Blues magazine founder, Jim O'Neal. The museum's director, Sid Graves, brought Gibbons to visit Muddy's original house, and encouraged him to pick up a piece of scrap lumber that was originally part of the roof. Gibbons eventually converted the wood into a guitar. Named Muddywood, the instrument is now exhibited at the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale.[73] In 1993, Paul Rodgers released the album Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters, on which he covered a number of his songs, including "Louisiana Blues", "Rollin' Stone", "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "I'm Ready" in collaboration with guitarists Gary Moore, Brian May and Jeff Beck. Following Muddy's death, fellow blues musician B.B. King told Guitar World, "It's going to be years and years before most people realize how greatly he contributed to American music." The bluesman John Hammond told Guitar World, "Muddy was a master of just the right notes. It was profound guitar playing, deep and simple ... more country blues transposed to the electric guitar, the kind of playing that enhanced the lyrics, gave profundity to the words themselves."[74] In 2003, Rolling Stone included The Anthology: 1947-1972 on its list of greatest albums.[75] They ranked him seventeenth on their list of the greatest artists of all time. Gibbons wrote: It was all supposed to be disposable. Just noise on a shellac disc. And here we are in the 21st century still trying to figure out how such a simple art form could be so complicated and subtle. It's still firing brain synapses around the world. You've got the Japanese Muddy Waters Society corresponding with fans in Sweden and England, and his music can still propel a party in the U.S. He made three chords sound deep, and they are.[76] In film[edit] Muddy Waters' songs have been featured in long-time fan Martin Scorsese's movies, including The Color of Money, Goodfellas, and Casino. A 1970s recording of "Mannish Boy" was used in Goodfellas, Better Off Dead, Risky Business, and the rockumentary The Last Waltz. In 1988 "Mannish Boy" was also used in a Levi's 501 commercial and re-released in Europe as a single with "Hoochie Coochie Man" on the flip side. Waters is a central character in the 2008 American biographical drama film Cadillac Records. The role of Muddy Waters is played by Jeffrey Wright. Wright recorded "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man" for the movie soundtrack. Awards and recognition[edit] Grammy Awards Muddy Waters Grammy Award History[77] Year Category Title Genre Label Result 1972 Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording They Call Me Muddy Waters folk MCA/Chess winner 1973 Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording The London Muddy Waters Sessions folk MCA/Chess winner 1975 Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album folk MCA/Chess winner 1978 Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording Hard Again folk Blue Sky winner 1979 Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording I'm Ready folk Blue Sky winner 1980 Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live folk Blue Sky winner Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed four songs of Muddy Waters among the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.[78] Year recorded Title 1950 "Rollin' Stone" 1954 "Hoochie Coochie Man" 1955 "Mannish Boy" 1957 "Got My Mojo Working" Blues Foundation Awards Muddy Waters: Blues Music Awards[79] Year Category Title Result 1994 Reissue Album of the Year The Complete Plantation Recordings Winner 1995 Reissue Album of the Year One More Mile Winner 2000 Traditional Blues Album of the Year The Lost Tapes of Muddy Waters Winner 2002 Historical Blues Album of the Year Fathers and Sons Winner 2006 Historical Album of the Year Hoochie Coochie Man: Complete Chess Recordings, Volume 2, 1952–1958 Winner Inductions Year Inducted Title 1980 Blues Foundation Hall of Fame 1987 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 1992 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award U.S. postage stamp Year Stamp USA Note 1994 29-cent commemorative stamp U.S. Postal Service Photo[80] Discography[edit] Main article: Muddy Waters discography and for an in depth, illustrated discography, see https://www.wirz.de/music/waters.htm Studio albums Muddy Waters Sings "Big Bill" (Chess, 1960) Folk Singer (Chess, 1964) Muddy, Brass & the Blues (Chess, 1966) Electric Mud (Cadet, 1968) After the Rain (Cadet, 1969) Fathers and Sons (Chess, 1969) The London Muddy Waters Sessions (Chess, 1972) Can't Get No Grindin' (Chess, 1973) Mud in Your Ear (Muse, 1973) London Revisited (Chess, 1974) split album with Howlin' Wolf "Unk" in Funk (Chess, 1974) The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album (Chess, 1975) Hard Again (Blue Sky, 1977) I'm Ready (Blue Sky, 1978) King Bee (Blue Sky, 1981) See also[edit] The Essential Collection Notes[edit] .mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output 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.cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}Palmer, Robert (May 1, 1983). "Muddy Waters, Blues Performer, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved December 4, 2017. ^ Gordon 2002, pp. 4–5. ^ Muddy Waters: Can't Be Satisfied (DVD). Winstar Communications. 2003. ^ Cogan, Jim (2003). Temples of Sound: Inside the Great Recording Studios. Chronicle Books. p. 10. ISBN 9780811833943. Retrieved July 16, 2019. ^ "His thick heavy voice, the dark colouration of his tone, and his firm, almost solid, personality were all clearly derived from House," wrote the music historian Peter Guralnick in Feel Like Going Home, "but the embellishments, which he added, the imaginative slide technique and more agile rhythms, were closer to Johnson." ^ a b Palmer, Robert (October 5, 1978). "Muddy Waters: The Delta Son Never Sets". Rolling Stone. p. 55. ^ a b Gordon, Robert (May 24, 2006). "Muddy Waters: Can't Be Satisfied". PBS. Retrieved January 6, 2015. ^ Gordon 2002, p. 3. ^ Image at Rolling Stone ^ Chilton, Martin. "Muddy Waters: Celebrating a Great Blues Musician". The Telegraph. Retrieved January 25, 2017. ^ "Trail of the Hellhound: Muddy Waters". U.S. National Park Service. Archived from the original on July 2, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2012. ^ "Muddy Waters". Retrieved July 19, 2022. ^ "Muddy Waters Cabin and Statue". Delta Blues Museum. Retrieved January 25, 2017. ^ "What's on View at the Delta Blues Museum". National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved January 25, 2017. ^ a b c Szatmary 2014, p. 8. ^ Palmer 1982, p. 4. ^ Gordon 2002, p. 196. ^ Palmer 1982, p. 13. ^ Palmer 1982, p. 14. ^ O'Neal & Van Singel 2002, pp. 172–173. ^ "Ebony, Chicago, Southern, and Harlem: The Mayo Williams Indies". Archived from the original on June 22, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2017. ^ Palmer 1982, pp. 159–160. ^ Palmer 1982, p. 163. ^ Palmer 1982, p. 167. ^ Mark Deming. "Muddy Waters | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved July 2, 2019. ^ a b Ed Mitchell (June 10, 2010). "The life and times of Howlin' Wolf". Retrieved July 2, 2019. ^ a b c Whitburn 1988, p. 435. ^ Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 4 – The Tribal Drum: The Rise of Rhythm and Blues. [Part 2]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries. ^ Dahl 1996. ^ Gordon 2002, pp. 163–164. ^ a b c d Gordon 2002, pp. 157–159. ^ a b Eder 1996, p. 377. ^ Gordon 2002, p. 167. ^ Gordon 2002, p. 169. ^ Gordon 2002, p. 183. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. No. 937. Straight Arrow. December 11, 2003. pp. 83–178. ISSN 0035-791X. OCLC 1787396. ^ Gordon 2002, pp. 184–185. ^ Gordon 2002, p. 197. ^ Ken Chang. "The Super Super Blues Band – Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley". AllMusic. Retrieved July 2, 2019. ^ Gordon 2002, pp. 205–207. ^ Gordon 2002, p. 207. ^ Eder, Bruce. "Muddy Waters: After the Rain – Album Review". AllMusic. Retrieved September 12, 2017. ^ Paige, Earl (August 16, 1969). "A Chess Album That May Set a Trend". Billboard. p. 46. Retrieved September 12, 2017.