Featured Interview – Mud Morganfield

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Cover photo © 2023 Laura Carbone

imageFans of the late, great Muddy Waters often find themselves astonished and a bit awestruck when they first witness a performance by his eldest son, Larry “Mud” Morganfield.  Morganfield not only bears a strong physical resemblance to Waters but is also noted for having a tone and timbre to his voice that is almost an exact match to his famous father’s vocals.  Blues Blast Magazine had the opportunity to catch up with Morganfield when he played the DC Blues Society Spring Fest in Washington DC, where he was backed by the legendary band, The Nighthawks.  Mark Wenner (founder and leader of the Nighthawks) was present for most of the interview, at Morganfield’s request.

“I wanted to include Mark because I started playing blues after my dad passed, but he’s been playing blues since almost the time I was born.  That’s a lot of years and dedication on his part.  I have the utmost respect for him, and he deserves every bit of attention he gets.”

Wenner also expressed his appreciation of Morganfield, and noted, “the high point of my entire life was the two or three days I got to be in Muddy Waters’ band.  This Nor’ Eastern storm came in, and Jerry (Portnoy) couldn’t make it because of the weather, so I got to fill in.”

Morganfield’s parents split up when he was only eight years old, and he spent many years during his childhood when he rarely saw his father, who was touring extensively.  Morganfield was primarily raised by his mother and seven uncles.

“I just left my mom.  She’s 91-years-old, and she is my rock.  You know my dad wasn’t at home, so she was the one who taught me how to ride a bike.  When Dad came home it was all about the White Sox and sleep. My seven uncles also stood in when my dad wasn’t there.  But I am his first-born son.  At least as far as we know.  Every day I’m kind of looking out, expecting someone in a wheelchair to come up and say they are really his first-born son, because he was a rolling stone.  He was a Hoochie-Coochie man, so you never know.”

imageWhen asked which of his father’s songs was his mother’s favorite, he responded, “’Forty Days and Forty Nights” but I don’t know why.  Every time she hears me play; she wants to hear me play that song.  She knows why she likes it so much, but she never said.  Maybe she left him for forty days and forty nights once.  Who knows.”

Morganfield noted that he grew up in a rough neighborhood in Chicago and witnessed gangs, violence, and drug use on a daily basis.  However, those life experiences ended up just lending authenticity to his blues.

“I was born and raised on the west side of Chicago, and that was all you’d see when you came out the door.  There were always gunshots, ambulances, and fights.  I had to fight every day.  You either had to fight or run.  They didn’t care about me being Muddy Waters’ son.  I could have been BB King’s son, they wouldn’t care.  I still had to fight every day.  It was just a manly thing.  But I’m glad about it because it made me the man I am today.  That’s my blues.”

Morganfield didn’t start his professional musical career until relatively late in his life and drove a truck for many years.  However, he always felt the drive to be a musician and finally couldn’t ignore the call to play music any longer.

“I started out as a drummer.  My dad used to buy me a new set of drums whenever I tore them up, and I couldn’t lay in bed without tapping on the side of my mattress or on the dashboard while I was driving the trucks. I had to get these sounds out.  I think I might have been tapping on my mother’s stomach before I was born.  Then I went to an Earth, Wind and Fire concert and I fell in love with what the bass player was doing, so I picked up the bass.  But Dad left some big shoes to fill, so I just ran from playing professionally for a long time.”

Although his father was rarely home, he did sometimes get to meet his father’s friends and fellow musicians as he was growing up.

“Eric Clapton was at his wedding, and I remember when I was really little, I saw a guy jump out of this really long car.  I had never seen a car that long before.  And this guy had on some really tight britches and high heels—it was Mick Jagger.”

imageMorganfield also noted that it was those British artists who helped his father expand the reach of his music.

“When I was coming up, I remember that my dad was really sad for a year or so until those guys came and took Willie Dixon and my dad to England.  It gave Dad a shot, a booster.  Then he got back into his mode and started to get the respect due to him.”

While he is thankful that those artists, (who were more rock-oriented), helped wider audiences appreciate his father’s music, he is disappointed that traditional blues sometimes gets overlooked as many festival lineups seem primarily focused on the blues-rock sub-genre.

“I think we should keep the blues the blues.  I don’t want to see it turn into rock. Blues is blues, and rock is rock, and jazz is jazz.  Don’t change it.  Don’t rename it.  I just think you should keep it traditional.  You know people like BB King, Howlin’ Wolf, my dad, and Willie Dixon, they all made it possible.  And there are young artists carrying forward the tradition, like Marquoise Knox and Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram.  There’s a chance the blues can survive with them.”

Morganfield has released several albums honoring the legacy of traditional blues, which earned him many nominations and awards.  Releases include “Fall Waters Fall” in 2008, “Son of the Seventh Son” in 2012, “For Pops:  A Tribute to Muddy Waters” (with Kim Wilson) in 2014, “They Call Me Mud” in 2014, and “Portrait” in 2022.  But he doesn’t just reinterpret the classics, as he is also a very skilled songwriter.  One of his original songs, a beautiful, spiritual number entitled “Praise Him”, won critical acclaim, and can often be heard on the Sirius XM station Bluesville.  The song describes being saved by God, and Morganfield noted that it was a very personal story for him.

“It is a testimony of my life.  When you’re young, you think you are invincible.  I was smoking so much weed and I had tried treatment, but that didn’t work for me.  Other people prayed for me and that didn’t work for me.  I hadn’t thought that there was a higher power, a greater power than me.  I had to find out the hard way.  The only thing that worked was when I prayed for myself.  Then I sat down with the bass, and I came up with that song,
imageto give a small testimony of my life.  I want young artists out there to know, don’t believe the hype.  You don’t need a substance to sound good. You don’t need a drink, or a joint or any of that.  Just use what God gave you. Sometimes you might think it makes you play better, and maybe the first song or two might sound better to you, but you’ll realize later you’re in slow motion and you won’t even know it.”

Morganfield has ten children, and indicated that while none are professional musicians, his daughters sing very well.  He noted that they will be singing the powerful back-up vocals to “Praise Him” when he performs at the Chicago Blues Festival later this year.

“I was born and raised in Chicago.  So, to be allowed the opportunity to be a headliner at the Chicago Blues Festival is just overwhelming to me.  It’s such an honor.”

Morganfield is working on a new album but noted that he is experiencing some temporary writer’s block.

“I’m the kind of guy that doesn’t like my songs to sound the same as what I already did, so sometimes it’s hard to find a different riff and different lyrics.  I hate for my music to sound like something I did before.  I’m trying to take my time.  It will come from the heart. And it will be released in late 2024.”

When asked if there were any musicians with whom he wished he could play, he noted that he still finds himself wishing his father was here, so he could play with him.  He was asked what advice his father might offer him if he could see Morganfield now.

“I really wish Dad was here.  I would have liked to have his guidance and learn more.  Dad was a perfectionist.  He loved everything done correctly.  I have an ear like him too.  I can hear you miss a beat when the audience can’t hear it.  He had an ear like that, so I guess he would probably still be on me for something like that—telling me I shouldn’t have done this or that.”

To those of us who are fans of Mud Morganfield, it seems much more likely that his father would just be extraordinarily proud of his eldest son.  As eloquently stated by long-time Muddy Waters band member, Bob Margolin, “Mud Morganfield’s physical and vocal resemblance to Muddy is natural, and a stunning legacy.  How well he fulfills that legacy is a gift to us all.”

You can find out more about Mud Morganfield, including his tour dates and how to purchase his albums at www.mudmorganfieldblues.com

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