Mud Morganfield Interview
- chicagoblueseditor
- Sep 13
- 7 min read
Updated: Sep 15
“I had to have some blues of my own to sing about….you don’t just get up and go outside and say, ‘Look at me, I’m a bluesman!’ You’ve got to go through something, fight for survival.”
By Linda Cain
Mud Morganfield to celebrate new album release and birthday at Hey Nonny , Sept. 27, 2025
By Linda Cain
The eldest son of blues legend Muddy Waters declares, “I didn’t ask to be the son of Muddy Waters,” during his shows. Nevertheless, Mud Morganfield was born into blues royalty on Sept. 27, 1954. He can’t help it if he looks and sounds almost exactly like his famous father, who passed away in 1983. But Mud didn’t always aspire to follow in the footsteps of McKinley Morganfield, a.k.a. “Pops,” to become a blues artist himself. It wasn’t until the early 21st century that Larry Williams decided to claim his birthright and become Mud Morganfield.
“I had to have some blues of my own to sing about….you don’t just get up and go outside and say, ‘Look at me, I’m a bluesman!’ You’ve got to go through something, fight for survival.”
Mud added: “I don’t care if you can play blues. You’ve got to have some blues, man. So that’s what I was doing – getting my blues.
Mud’s mother, Mildred McGee, encouraged her son to fulfill his destiny; she was his biggest fan who attended all of his local shows and was known and loved by blues fans everywhere she went. Millie enjoyed passing out buttons and keychains emblazoned with her son’s image. She enjoyed crafting and would give away homemade paper fans with Mud’s photo on each side, which she decorated with glitter. Mud was clearly a “mama’s boy” and took excellent care of his very stylish mother who enjoyed going to the clubs and casinos.
Millie, who was born on August 14, 1932, passed away the day before Mardi Gras, March 3, 2025 at age 92. Her devoted son was devastated; it was another lesson in having the blues for Mud.
“My life changed forever when the doctor told us they couldn’t do anything else for my mother. We lost her in March. She was my biggest supporter from day one. Her love is the music in my heart.”
Mud had been working on his new album, but with his mom’s illness and death, it was very difficult for him to finish the project and carry on without his beloved number one fan.
“I almost couldn't finish it after my mother’s passing. But I knew she would want me to finish it. And I wanted her to be proud of me.”
Mud’s new album, Deep Mud, on the Nola Blue Records label, is dedicated “to my mother, whose love is the melody that plays in my heart.”
The 14-track release, available in digital, CD and limited edition red vinyl LP, closes with the original song “A Dream Walking.” The heartfelt lyrics, printed on the inside sleeve, express the deep love shared by son and mother: Have you ever seen a dream walking/ Have you ever heard an angel sing/ If I had only one wish/ To see my mother in my dreams.
The songs on Deep Mud, reflect the artist’s tender, tough, and fun-loving, skirt chasing sides as well -- not unlike his old man’s music.
Photo: Dianne Bruce Dunklau
“I am over the hills about many of these new songs I have written and the band is bad ass!” Mud exudes.
Recorded at Chicago’s JoyRide studio, Deep Mud pays tribute to the revered, rough- and-ready, Mississippi meets Chicago ensemble style blues that Muddy Waters created at Chess Studios. “Listen, man, it is Chicago blues. No rock-blues here for Mud,” he emphasizes. “I talk and I sing about real things, real live people, real situations, things that people go through, from falling in love to beautiful women. So, it’s Chicago blues at its best.”
With each album he records, Mud always includes at least two of Muddy Waters’ songs to honor his father. For Deep Mud, he chose “Country Boy” and “Strange Woman” to cover. The rest of the songs are originals. As with past recordings, Mud likes to throw in a few surprises --like funk, soul and R&B influenced numbers.
And here he assembled a dream team of backing musicians who could play all of these styles, but especially bring authenticity to the Muddy Waters sound. Deep Mud was produced and arranged by blues harp master and slide guitarist Studebaker John, an internationally known artist and bandleader who learned his chops on Chicago’s gritty Maxwell Street. “The album wouldn’t sound like it sounds without Studebaker John,” says Mud. “The man has a fantastic ear.”
Photo: Dianne Bruce Dunkau
Guitarist Rick Kreher played in Muddy Waters final band, with guitarist John Primer. Both of them famously backed up Muddy at the Checkerboard Lounge when the Rolling Stones took over the club to perform with their blues hero.
Also contributing their talents to Deep Mud, to name just a few, are:
Melvin “Pookie Styx” Carlisle on drums (Buddy Guy, Toronzo Cannon), Sumito “Ariyo” Ariyoshi on keys (Otis Rush, Billy Branch), bassist E.G. McDaniel (son of blues/doo woop icon Floyd McDaniel, and a regular with Mud, Jimmy Burns and Dave Specter), Phil Perkins (who plays trumpet and arranged the horn parts), guitarist Mike Wheeler (Delmark recording artist).
All of the above band members, plus two backup singers, will join Mud when he celebrates his birthday and the release of Deep Mud on Saturday, September 27, 2025 at Hey Nonny in Arlington Heights. Tickets are on sale HERE.
Mud’s main musical influence early in life was, of course, his famous father. “Dad played the most important role with my being. I was born in the blues, man. I’ve had music running through my being all my life.”
“I started out as a drummer,” Mud recalls. I’d get a set of drums from Dad –first the little paper ones. I would tear them up, and then a couple weeks later he’d get me another pair. And finally he got me a real set with some tougher skins. And one day, I was about 16 years old, I went to an Earth, Wind & Fire concert. I saw Verdine White playing bass, and that did it. That did it, man. I put the drums down, and I’ve been playing the bass secretly for at least 30 years now.”
Mud’s bass playing is no longer a well-kept secret as he almost always keeps his bass guitar within arm’s reach when he performs on stage and will pick it up to play on a couple numbers.
It took a while for Mud to settle into the music business. In his early 20s, he played with neighborhood garage bands. “No big deal. I remember as a young man, I used to try to sing Tyrone Davis and Johnnie Taylor songs. But it kept sounding like Muddy Waters. I don’t care what I sing, man, it’s gonna come out like Father’s. And I just said, ‘Hey I can’t run.’ I couldn’t run no more. I have to get in where I fit in. I have to do what God put me here to do.”
In the meantime, Mud returned to school, got his GED and got a degree from Malcom X College. He also attended DeVry Institute. And he drove trucks for a living, too.
Eventually, Mud began singing the blues in local clubs in the early 2000s. Veteran blues singer Mary Lane invited him to perform with her on the West Side. And that was all it took. His recording career began in 2008 with Fall Waters Fall, a self-produced album.
In 2012 he signed with Severn Records and found critical acclaim with Son of the Seventh Son. In 2014, he collaborated with Kim Wilson, the harp player and singer with the Fabulous Thunderbirds, on For Pops – A Tribute to Muddy Waters. It featured inspired performances by both artists covering songs from Muddy’s Chess era. “That’s the killer, man, that album,” Mud emphasized. “Listen, you won’t find nobody to get that close to my Dad, other than me!” Mud’s last Severn release was 2018’s They Call Me Mud. Delmark Records released Portrait in 2018 which was a remastered version of Son of the Seventh Son that included two new tracks -- Mud’s original gospel song “Praise Him” and a cover of his dad’s “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl.”
In 2016, Mud toured the country with Big Head Todd & The Monsters for their Big Head Todd Blues Club show Way Down Inside: Songs of Willie Dixon. The show included Ronnie Baker Brooks, Billie Branch and Erica Brown. An album by the same name followed on the Big Imprint label.
Photo: Dianne Bruce Dunklau
Mud has toured all over the world, playing with blues bands who all know how to play Muddy Waters style Chicago blues. He has performed in England the most and has also visited Ireland, Italy, Russia, China, Sweden, Serbia and Macedonia and more countries.
Like his illustrious father, Mud is carrying the torch and keeping the blues flame burning far beyond Chicago. “I didn’t get a chance to really show him, because he had passed. But I hope…he can still visualize or see us back down here. I want him to say: ‘I’m proud of him!’”
The spirits of Millie and Muddy will surely be cheering on their first son on his birthday when he performs at Hey Nonny on September 27.
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Mud's birthday party and album release show will be on Saturday, September 27, 2025 at Hey Nonny in Arlington Heights. Tickets are on sale HERE.
For info or to buy and hear the music:
Nola Blue Records: www.nola-blue.com
Mud Morganfield: https://mudmorganfield.bandzoogle.com/music
