The blues, a form of music originated by black Americans in the South, has been
used throughout it's history to express a lifestyle that spoke for many lower class American
citizens who usually suffer from unfortunate circumstances. One man that sticks out in the
history of the blues and who has had an influence like no other is McKinley Morganfield or
more popularly known, Muddy Waters. Waters was born on April 4, 1915 to parents who were
sharecroppers on a Southern plantation. When he was three his mother passed away and he was
sent off to live with his grandmother, who was also a plantation worker. Waters grew up living a
life of poverty in the Mississippi Delta region.
Due to the unfortunate circumstances of being poor and having to rely on only his
grandmother for support, Waters was compelled to work at a young age. When Waters was 13
and working as a farmhand he began to develop an interest in the regions music and storytelling
traditions. By the time he was 14 he had already taught himself how to play the harmonica,
which allowed for him to begin to express himself. When he was 17 he had learned how to play
the guitar, which gave him and opportunity to combine his musical talents along with his passion
While still working on plantations, Muddy Waters broke off from emulating his musical
influences and began to develop his own style. During this period he began to play gigs at local
joints, which allowed for him to be noticed. After he recorded his first album for the United
States Library of Congress archives, Waters moved to Chicago, where he turned to playing
electrically instead of acoustically due to the loudness of the nightclubs. This switch gave his
music a new sound, which in turn changed his style from the traditional blues he was influenced
by into a style of his own known as the urban electric sound of Chicago
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