Mud Morganfield

Deep Mud

Nola Blue Records

Larry “Mud” Morganfield is an American blues singer and songwriter and the oldest son of McKinley Morganfield better known as Muddy Waters. He was born September 27th, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois. Morganfield grew up surrounded by music but was mostly raised by his mom and uncles. Morganfield became a truck driver and didn’t consider a career in music until after his father’s death. He released his debut recording “Fall Waters Fall” in 2008. Morganfield signed with Severn Records in 2012 and released the widely acclaimed “Son of a  Seventh Son”. His follow-up recordings included 2013’s “The Blues In My Blood”, and 2014’s “For Pops: A Tribute to Muddy Waters”, recorded with Kim Wilson,  the multiple Blues Music Award winning harmonica master. The latter album won the 2015 BMA for Traditional Blues Album of The Year and helped to further establish Morganfield’s career. Overall he has four BMA nominations. Morganfield also appeared on 2016’s “Way Down Inside:Songs of Willie Dixon”; on 2018’s  “They Call Me Mud” on Severn Records; and 2022’s “Portrait” on Delmark  Records.

This new album is appropriately titled “Deep Mud”. Morganfield’s mother, Mildred McGhee was Muddy’s girlfriend during the blues legend’s glory years at Chess Records. He and his mother lived on Chicago’s South Side in a building located  around 46th and Greenwood owned by Joseph Chess, father of Chess bosses Leonard and Phil Chess. Unfortunately Morganfield’s mom passed away and he  dedicates this album “To my mother, whose love is the melody that plays in my  heart”. The album is produced and arranged by harmonica ace Studebaker John.  The album was recorded at JoyRide Studios in Chicago. Twelve of the songs are  Morganfield originals while two are lovingly rendered Chess-era revivals.

The ensemble featured includes Morganfield, all vocals and bass on one track;  harp master Studebaker John, who plays on all but four tracks; Rick Kreher, guitar on all but one track; Mike Wheeler, guitar on all but three tracks; Melvin “Pooky Styx” Carlisle, drums on all tracks; E. G. McDaniel, bass on all but two tracks; Sumito Ariyo Ariyoshi, piano on eight tracks; Roosevelt Purifoy, piano on four tracks, and organ on four more; Rodrigo Mantovani, bass on one track; Phil Perkins, trumpet on two tracks; and backing vocalists Felicia Collins, Kirsten Lowe, Jacole Avent, and Demetrias M. Hall.

On the opening track “Bring Me My Whiskey” Morganfield sings “Bring me my  whiskey, get that girl outta’ my mind…she’s got eyes that shine, I won’t be  satisfied ’til she’s by my side”, with Rick Kreher on guitar. “Big Frame Woman” features Morganfield as he chimes “I want a big frame woman…a girl who treats me right…I want a big frame woman, in the morning, in the afternoon, and at  night”, with Ariyoshi on piano, and Studebaker John on harmonica.

“Strange Woman” is the first cover, originally recorded by Muddy Waters in 1971, as Morganfield chants “oh, a strange woman,,,you might wonder if I could be your man, you know I love you girl, but it’s so hard to explain, can I go home with you?; with Morganfield on bass. On ” Don’t Leave Me” Morganfield moans “Don’t Leave Me”, “don’t leave me here all my myself, ’cause if you walk out that door, you can’t come back no more”, with more harp and piano from Ariyoshi.

“She’s Getting Her Groove On” features Phil Perkins on trumpet; Purifoy, piano and organ; and bass by E.G. McDaniel, as Morganfield groans “she’s getting her groove on, we used to walk hand in hand, you told me I was you’re only man, get your  groove on, get your groove on, get my groove on”. “Ernestine” includes the twin guitars of Kreher and Wheeler, and Purifoy, piano and organ, as Morganfield belts out “I say will you marry me, I’ll give you anything, everything that you need,  Ernestine, Ernestine, I love the way you walk…I’ll go anywhere you want me too”.

On “Strike Like Lightning” Morganfield cries “she strikes like lightning…she goes to a meeting, just like I go from stage to stage, I drive by her home to see if she’s alone, six o’clock in the morning she knocks on my door, she strikes like lightning, she’s more dangerous than any snake”. On “Co-signer Man”, again with Perkins  on trumpet and horn arrangements, Morganield shouts “just let me be, let me be, your co-signer man…it’s all I ever asked for, I’ll sign the documents on the dotted line, ’cause I want you to be mine”.

“Lover Man” once again featuring the twin guitars, and John on harp Morganfield bursts “come on and walk with me , ’cause I’m your lover man, come on and talk  with me, ’cause I’m your lover man, when you move to the left, I move to the right, ’cause I’m your lover man”. On “In And Out of My Life”, Morganfield chirps “you  came before me, in and out of my life, I’m gonna’ make love to you, your my life line”, with backing vocalists Kirsten Lowe, and Felicia Collins.

“The Man That You’re With” once again with the twin guitars sounding like Muddy, as Morganfield vocalizes, “I made my mind, and I’m the man that you’re with, if it wasn’t for your need of attention, I wouldn’t be the man that you’re with”. On  “Carolina” with more harp and Ariyoshi on piano, Morganfield whines “oh, darlin’ sweet Carolina, if you think of me gotta’ take your time…’cause if you make love to me, you got to make it last”.

On “Country Boy” first recorded in 1964, Morganfield argues “don’t say I don’t love you, ’cause I stay out all night, but I’m a country boy and I don’t no what’s going on, don’t say I don’t love you ’cause I don’t ever treat you right”. On the  closer, “A Dream Walking” with Purifoy on organ, and backing vocalists, Avent and Hall; Morganfield croons “Have you ever seen a dream walking? have you  ever heard an angel sing?, if I had only had, one wish to see my mother in my  dreams, I know she is there, if my father was a rolling stone, then my mother  must have been strong, ’cause I can’t remember one day, that she left us all  alone”.

For the last couple of decades, Morganfield has followed in his beloved dad’s mammoth footsteps, staunchly keeping the traditional Chicago blues flame  alight. That deeply held commitment to Chicago blues tradition defines “Deep Mud”. Morganfield states “No rock-blues here…I sing about real things, real live people, real situations, things that people go through…so it’s Chicago  blues at it’s best”. Everything in Morganfield’s musical life traces directly back to his father…so listen up and get your groove on.

Richard Ludmerer

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