Muddy Waters vs. Howlin' Wolf - Good for Blues, Good for Business
I know when a day is going to be a good one if before I open my eyes my thoughts are about the 2 main characters in Book of Blues. Book of Blues is buoyed by character relationships. In one case, the relationship is so clear that the nicknames are Ying and Yang.
There’s only one public example which displays the complexities of the relationship and it makes me happy to consider this forthcoming example because the characters were made years before the blues and subsequent research trickled their way into the story. Even this example doesn’t tell the whole tale but it does share a great story.
Allow me to introduce to you the ballad of McKinley Morganfield and Chester Arthur Burnett. To those outside The Blues this duo is more commonly known as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf.
Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf are considered second generation Bluesmen, inspired by legends including Son House, Blind Willie Johnson and the like. Both born in the Mississippi Delta around the same time, Muddy n’ Wolf clawed their way on to the Chess Record label.
Muddy Waters – From Sharecropper to Superstar
Like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, the personas of Muddy and the Wolf matched the others background moreso than their own. In Muddy’s case, he had and unimaginable road to hoe as a beat-down Mississippi sharecropper until he was finally able to scrape up enough cash to scramble up to the south side of Chicago and get a mill job while he worked on his career. And when his success finally came, his persona was bigger than life. Flamboyant and gregarious, Muddy Waters appeared to have rolled up Highway 61 with his entourage in tact.
Howlin’ Wolf – Effort Worth His Stature
Of the two, the 6’6″, 30o lbs. Howlin’ Wolf actually had the easier road. Though born in Mississippi, he eventually ended up living in Chicago with his dad during his teen years and enlisted in the military in the 1930s – becoming a DJ. After being discharged, Wolf got his band going. And when his band became successful, Wolf stayed relatively grounded. He took up guitar lessons and got insurance plans for his bandmates.
When they both hit their stride in blues, they both hit it at around the same time. In that “this town’s not big enough for the both of us,” sort of way, a ‘rivalry’ broke out between the two. Fueled by stories of the duos $100-burning pissing matches and bidding wars for the services of musicians – Hubert Sumlin of note – the rivalry between Muddy and the Wolf became legendary. And like any good legend, there’s opportunity.
And these boys made the most of it.
Book of Blues learned this lesson the hard way.
muddy waters, howlin’ wolf, blues
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