Boys Get The Blues, Girls Too

alex@whitegum.com: Muddy Waters’”Mannish Boy” is almost identical to Bo Diddley’s “I’m A Man”. Bo Diddley had a chart success with this in 1955, and Chess decided to cash in by releasing a similar record. Otis Span played organ on both. At the time, Bo Diddley did not seem to object – he was given a shared writing credit (“Morganfield” is Muddy Waters real name, and “McDaniel” is Bo Diddley’s). But Bo Diddley later claimed sole authorship.

Big Road Blues : Q : “which is the better song: Mannish Boy or I’m a man, or I suppose if you think Hoochie Coochie Man beats both of ‘em there’ a third choice.” allanlummox says “Obviously, Muddy and Bo singing together on “Superblues” is the best version.” The lips comments “That happened!? I must find a copy of this mystical musicianary, post-haste!”

Wikipedia : P oor Boy Blues or Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home is a traditional blues song of unknown origin. It is often cited as one of the oldest in the blues genre (Evans, 1987 and Palmer, 1982)..

Lyricstime : The song “The Twelve Year Old Boy” (by Elmore James) says : “I feel bad, I feel terrible, I’m just as sad as I can be. I let a boy that’s twelve years old, take my baby away from me”; (Now, that is rather obscure. Was she the son’s mom or english teacher or what?) :

The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture : Robert Lockwood Jr. moved to Chicago in 1950 and performed as a member of the historic group that provided backup for Chess Records stars Muddy Waters and, in particular, Little Walter. Lockwood became a member of the band, the Aces, and played an important role in the development of the Chicago Shuffle

Cascade Blues Association : Jimmy Witherspoon a.k.a. ‘Spoon played the gangster dominated nightlife realm of Newport, KY in a band with another blues immortal, pianist Charles Brown. ‘Spoon appeared with an all-star group of jazz musicians at the 1959 Monterey Jazz Festival that included Ben Webster, Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkinds, Woody Herman and Earl “Fatha” Hines. This searing, emotional performance was captured on the subsequent album, “Jimmy Witherspoon At Monterey”, and vaulted him into the jazz world’s leading ranks of blues singers

Blues and Two J’s Web Site : Roosevelt Sykes becomes one of the first to record for the American arm of the Decca record label. In 1936 he uses the nickname ‘The Honey Dripper’ on his recordings. It will stick with him for the rest of his life. He plays several dates at venues across the USA with St. Louis Jimmy Oden in 1939, and in 1941 he returns to the OKeh label.

The New-York Times : With a raw, unadorned electric guitar style and hypnotic one-chord songs, Mr. Burnside’s music was seen by critics as a link to the sound of Muddy Waters and Mississippi Fred McDowell. That might not have been a coincidence: Mr. Burnside, who was born in Harmontown, Miss., grew up near McDowell and learned to play guitar from him, and said that a cousin of his had married Muddy Waters.

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