7 Muddy Waters 7

several unremarkable recordings. By 1948 Aristocrat had

become Chess Records (taking its name from Leonard and

Phil Chess, the Polish immigrant brothers who owned

and operated it), and Waters was recording a string of hits

for it that began with “I Feel Like Going Home” and “I Can’t

Be Satisfied.” His early, aggressive, electrically amplified

band—including pianist Otis Spann, guitarist Jimmie

Rodgers, and harmonica virtuoso Little Walter—created

closely integrated support for his passionate singing, which

featured dramatic shouts, swoops, and falsetto moans. His

repertoire, much of which he composed, included lyrics that

were mournful (“Blow Wind Blow,” “Trouble No More”),

boastful (“Got My Mojo Working,” “I’m Your Hoochie

Coochie Man”), and frankly sensual (the unusual 15-bar

blues “Rock Me”). In the process Waters became the fore-

most exponent of modern Chicago blues.

Tours of clubs in the South and Midwest in the 1940s

and ’50s gave way after 1958 to concert tours of the United

States and Europe, including frequent dates at jazz, folk,

and blues festivals. Over the years, some of Chicago’s pre-

mier blues musicians did stints in Waters’s band, including

harmonica players James Cotton and Junior Wells, as well

as guitarist Buddy Guy. Toward the end of his career,

Waters concentrated on singing and played guitar only

occasionally. A major influence on a variety of rock musi-

cians—most notably the Rolling Stones (who took their

name from his song “Rollin’ Stone” and made a pilgrimage

to Chess to record)—Waters was inducted into the Rock

and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

Billie Holiday

(b. April 7, 1915, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—d. July 17, 1959, New York, N.Y.),

B

illie Holiday, born Elinore Harris, was one of the great-

est American jazz singers from the 1930s to the ’50s.