From Jimi Hendrix to Angus Young: Six guitarists inspired by Muddy Waters
In terms of carrying the guitar from its rudimentary era to the swaggering rock ‘n’ roll that changed the world, only a select few can claim to have had a significant hand in this metamorphosis. One of those names is the late Muddy Waters, the man affectionately dubbed the ‘father of modern Chicago blues’. A definitive figure of the blues era, it’s a testament to his work that his hallmarks remain ubiquitous in modern guitar playing.
Waters was born McKinley Morganfield on a Mississippi plantation circa 1913, the only child to two teenage parents. As was the case for many Black Americans then, he learnt music through trips to church. After this early foray into creativity, he developed his art by attempting to emulate the skill of the local blues pioneers Robert Johnson and Son House. Little did he know at this point, but in the not-too-distant future, he would be discussed in as glowing terms as his heroes.
After cultivating his musical skill on the local circuit, in 1943, Waters moved to Chicago, Illinois. There, he broke into the music industry and created a legacy that sees me writing this piece today. The Mississippi export made the ‘Windy City’ his own, and his form of pulsating blues would quickly spread throughout the locale and further afield. By the time the classic rock era arrived in the 1960s, he was hailed as one of the greatest to have ever picked up the six-string.
Whether it be The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin or Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters boasts only the most eminent rockstars as his disciples. Accordingly, today we’ve listed six guitarists inspired by him. Expect to see some familiar faces.
Six guitarists inspired by Muddy Waters:
Jimmy Page
First up is Led Zeppelin creative director, producer and guitar hero Jimmy Page. The Londoner is one of the most prominent guitarists inspired by Muddy Waters. His influence was particularly notable on Led Zeppelin’s first two albums, when Page and the band were crafting a much darker and more expansive form of rock than fans had ever heard. Page loves Waters so much that some allege that Zeppelin’s ‘You Shook Me’ is lifted from the late hero.
Page told Reuters about the late musician: “As far as the blues, it just captured them hearing Chicago blues. When The Stones first started they were doing really good interpretations of Muddy Waters songs and all that Chess catalogue.”
Jimi Hendrix
Another significant axeman who took his cues from Muddy Waters was Jimi Hendrix, one of the instrument’s defensive players. The Chicago blues legend was the first guitarist that Hendrix discovered, a monumental point when considering Hendrix’s cultural weight. In a 1968 Rolling Stone interview, Hendrix said: “The first guitarist I was aware of was Muddy Waters. I heard one of his old records when I was a little boy, and it scared me to death because I heard all of those sounds. Wow, what is that all about? It was great.”
Whilst Hendrix is widely known as a psychedelic rock player, he was greatly indebted to Waters, with this shining clearly in his bluer moments such as the timeless ‘Little Wing’. He said elsewhere: “I used to like Elmore James and early Muddy Waters and stuff like that. Robert Johnson and all those old cats.”
He continued: “Where I first started playing guitar is was way up in the Northwest, in Seattle, Washington. They don’t have too many of the real Blues singers up there. When I really learned to play was down South. Then I went into the Army for about nine months. But I found a way to get out of that. When I came out, I went down South, and all the cats down there were playing blues, and this is when I really began to get interested in the scene.”
Hendrix was kind enough to record a cover of Waters’ ‘Mannish Boy’ with The Band of Gypsys in 1969.
Stevie Ray Vaughan
The late Stevie Ray Vaughan was one of the ultimate blues rock guitarists and, in many ways, was born in the wrong generation. A true blues purist, taking his cues from the likes of Muddy Waters, B.B. King and Jimi Hendrix, he placed emotion at the forefront of his playing, with clear nods to Waters across his oeuvre.
Waters significantly impacted the Texan musician, yet Vaughan would refuse to compare himself to him and the others he cited as heroes. He said: “Yeah, but because people don’t understand there’s only one Jimi Hendrix. I do what I can do. I’m very, very glad to be able to hear him and be influenced by his life and his music. But there is only one Jimi Hendrix. Just like there is only one Bo Diddley. Also only one Muddy Waters and only Howlin’ Wolf.”
Vaughan was another unafraid of covering the work of Muddy Waters.
Keith Richards
The Rolling Stones guitarist, Keith Richards, has never shied away from Muddy Waters’ impact on his iconic form of guitar playing. Waters and the group are so closely linked that they even took their name from his 1950 single, ‘Rollin’ Stone’. When the London band had conquered the world, they were lucky enough to perform with their hero, a life-affirming moment for all. Still, it was Richards who particularly felt the gravity of the situation.
In Richards’ candid memoir, Life, he recalled the band’s first tour of the US that saw them play some of the storied venues where Muddy Waters and other legendary bluesmen cut their teeth. He expressed: “I think some of us had died and gone to heaven, because a year before we were plugging London clubs, and we’re doing all right, but actually in the next year, we’re somewhere we thought we would never be.”
The best was yet to come for the hell-raising guitarist. In 1981, the year before Waters was forced to retire due to ill health – only two before his passing – he played alongside The Rolling Stones at Chicago’s Chequerboard Lounge.
Fulfilling this lifelong dream remains a highlight of Richards’ career brimming with them. He continued: “You want to be a blues player, the next minute you fucking well are and you’re stuck right amongst them, and there’s Muddy Waters standing next to you. It happens so fast you really can’t register all of the impressions that are coming at you… It’s one thing to play a Muddy Waters song. It’s another thing to play with him.”
Angus Young
AC/DC lead guitarist Angus Young has always been a purveyor of a hard-rockin’ good time, and much of this can be traced back to Muddy Waters, one of the three main influences he notes on his playing. Producing “happy blues music”, Young was rapt the first time he ever heard Waters, and this changed his life. It would see him write some of the best riffs in rock history.
Speaking to Total Guitar, Young explained: “It’s the emotion in those old blues records. I’ve never really been into the depression stuff. I’ve always liked the happy sort of blues music, like Muddy Waters. Even though he might have been singing about his woman running off with a nineteen-year-old bus driver from Florida, there would be an element of humour in it. That’s what I’ve always loved.”
Eric Clapton
This list of guitarists inspired by Muddy Waters would be incomplete without Eric Clapton. He is his generation’s most prominent adherent of American blues, citing heroes in Waters and Robert Johnson. Old ‘Slowhand’ is another player to fuse technique with emotion, and in doing so, he established one of the most distinctive styles the instrument has ever seen.
In a 2004 interview with Music Radar, Clapton touched on the brilliance of Muddy Waters, a man he was also fortunate enough to share the stage with. Asked what he learned from playing with greats such as Waters, B.B. King and Buddy Guy, Clapton responded: “I’m always aware of the authority they carry, and it is immense. If the blues community is an army, then these guys are generals. It’s just acknowledged when they walk into a room. Muddy just carried a power that everyone was in awe of. And it’s the same with Buddy and BB – it’s almost like they are kings.”
