''Electric Mud'' is the fifth studio album by

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...

, with members of

Rotary Connection Rotary Connection was an American psychedelic soul band, formed in Chicago in 1966. In addition to their own recordings, including their 1967 debut album '' Rotary Connection'', the band backed Muddy Waters on his 1968 psychedelic blues album ...

playing as his backing band. Released in 1968, it presents Muddy Waters as a

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

musician. Producer

Marshall Chess Marshall Chess (born March 13, 1942) is an American record producer, the son of Leonard Chess who co-founded Chess Records. Chess Records Marshall worked for sixteen years with Chess Records; founded by his father Leonard and his uncle Phil. He ...

suggested that Muddy Waters record it in an attempt to appeal to a rock audience. The album peaked at number 127 on ''Billboard'' 200 album chart. It was controversial for its fusion of

electric blues Electric blues is blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930s and John Lee Ho ...

with psychedelic elements.

History

The 1960s saw

seeking to introduce Muddy Waters' music to a younger audience;

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock an ...

, Waters' record label, founded by Marshall's father,

Leonard Chess Leonard Samuel Chess (born Lejzor Szmuel Czyż; March 12, 1917 – October 16, 1969) was a Polish-American record company executive and the founder of Chess Records alongside his brother Phil. He was influential in the development of the recor ...

, released a series of compilation albums of Muddy Waters' older music repackaged with psychedelic artwork.Gordon, Robert. "Notes: ''Electric Mud'', ''After the Rain'', Marshall Chess and the Players". ''Can't Be Satisfied''. Pp. 348-349. 0-316-32849-9. In 1967, Marshall Chess formed

Cadet Concept Records Cadet Records was an American record label that began as Argo Records in 1955 as the jazz subsidiary of Chess Records. Argo changed its name in 1965 to Cadet to avoid confusion with the similarly named label in the UK. Cadet stopped releasing r ...

as a subsidiary of Chess Records. The label's first release was the self-titled debut album of

, a psychedelic band. The next project Chess conceived was ''Electric Mud'', a

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

; Marshall later stated, "I came up with the idea of ''Electric Mud'' to help Muddy make money. It wasn't to bastardize the blues. It was like a painting, and Muddy was going to be in the painting. It wasn't to change his sound, it was a way to get it to that market."Gordon, Robert. "Rolling Stone". ''Can't Be Satisfied''. Pp. 205-207. 0-316-32849-9. Chess hoped the new albums would sell well among fans of psychedelic rock bands influenced by Muddy Waters and

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chica ...

. According to Muddy Waters, "Quite naturally, I like a good-selling record. I was looking at it because I played for so many of these so-called hippies that I thought probably I could reach them."

Production

To provide the psychedelic sound Chess sought for the album, he assembled "the hottest, most

avant garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

jazz rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...

guys in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Gene Barge James Gene Barge Jr. (August 9, 1926 – February 2, 2025) was an American tenor and alto saxophonist in several bands in addition to being a composer. Career Born in Norfolk, Virginia, on August 9, 1926, he was a founding member of the 1960s ...

Pete Cosey Peter Palus Cosey (October 9, 1943 – May 30, 2012) was an American guitarist who played with Miles Davis' band between 1973 and 1975. His fiercely flanged and distorted guitar invited comparisons to Jimi Hendrix. Cosey kept a low profile for ...

, Roland Faulkner,

Morris Jennings Morris Jennings was an American drummer and musician from Chicago. He recorded as Moe Jennings, M. Jennings, Maurice Jennings, Morris "Gator" Jennings, and Morris Jennings Jr. Jennings played drums on the ''Electric Mud'' album by Muddy Waters, ...

Louis Satterfield Louis Edward Satterfield (April 3, 1937 – September 27, 2004) was an American bassist and trombonist. Satterfield was a member of both The Pharaohs and the Phenix Horns. He also collaborated with prominent artists such as Earth, Wind & Fire, Mu ...

Charles Stepney Charles Stepney (March 26, 1931May 17, 1976) was an American record producer, arranger, songwriter and musician. Stepney is noted for his work with artists such as The Dells, Ramsey Lewis, Rotary Connection and Earth, Wind & Fire. Career He sta ...

and

Phil Upchurch Phillip Upchurch (born July 19, 1941) is an American soul music, R&B, jazz and blues guitarist and bassist. Career Upchurch started his career working with the Kool Gents, the Dells, and the Spaniels, before going on to work with Curtis Mayfiel ...

. According to one account of the album's recording, Cosey, Upchurch and Jennings joked about calling the group "The Electric Niggers". According to Marshall Chess, "We were going to call them the Electric Niggers, but my dad wouldn't let me." The album incorporates use of

wah-wah pedal A wah-wah pedal, or simply wah pedal, is a type of effects pedal designed for electric guitar that alters the timbre of the input signal to create a distinctive sound, mimicking the human voice saying the onomatopoeic name "wah-wah". The peda ...

and

fuzzbox Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly ...

. Marshall Chess augmented the rhythm of Muddy Waters' live band with the use of

electronic organ An electric organ, also known as electronic organ, is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the pump organ, harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally designed to imitate their sound, or orchestral sounds, it has si ...

and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

. According to Marshall Chess, "It was never an attempt to make Muddy Waters a psychedelic artist; it was a concept album like

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

being

Ziggy Stardust Ziggy Stardust was a glam alter ego of musician David Bowie in the early 1970s. It may refer specifically to: * Ziggy Stardust (character) * ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'', often shortened to ''Ziggy Stardust'', a ...

." Muddy Waters said of the album's sound, "That guitar sounds just like a cat – ''meow'' – and the drums have a loping, busy beat." "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" incorporates

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

influences, with Gene Barge performing a

concert harp The pedal harp (also known as the concert harp) is a large and technologically modern harp, designed primarily for use in art music. It may be played solo, as part of a chamber ensemble, or in an orchestra. It typically has 47 strings with sev ...

. Muddy Waters performs the vocals of "

Let's Spend the Night Together "Let's Spend the Night Together" is a song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and originally released by the Rolling Stones as a double A-sided single together with " Ruby Tuesday" in January 1967. It also appears as the opening track ...

", a cover of

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

' 1967 single, in

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

style with heavy influence from Cream's “

Sunshine of Your Love "Sunshine of Your Love" is a 1967 song by the British rock band Cream. With elements of hard rock and psychedelia, it is one of Cream's best known and most popular songs. Cream bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce based it on a distinctive bass riff h ...

.” The track "She's All Right" interpolates

The Temptations The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...

' " My Girl". According to

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaug ...

, " uddy Waters couldn'tfeel this psychedelic stuff at all... and if the feeling is gone, that's it. You can't get too busy behind a singer. You've got to let him sing it." Muddy Waters' previous albums replicated the sound of his live performances. Working with a studio band rather than his own was problematic for Muddy Waters, who could not perform material from the album live. He stated "What the hell do you have a record for if you can't play the first time it's out? I'm so sick of that... If you've got to have big amplifiers and wah-wahs and equipment to make you guitar say different things, well, hell, you can't play no blues." The title of the album did not refer to the use of

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

, as Muddy Waters had played the instrument since he first signed with Chess Records. The use of the term "electric" is used in a psychedelic context.

Release

''Electric Mud'' was released in 1968 with a simple black and white cover that did not make it obvious that the music on the album was psychedelic. The album's inner spread featured photographs of Muddy Waters having his hair processed at a beauty parlor. On November 19, 1996, the album was reissued on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...

by Chess Records. On November 22, 2011, ''Electric Mud'' and '' After the Rain'' were combined on a single compact disc by BGO Records. A new vinyl edition was released by

Third Man Records Third Man Records is an eclectic, vinyl-focused independent record label founded and owned by Jack White, Ben Blackwell, and Ben Swank. The company operates out of three locations—Nashville, Detroit, and Soho in London—with multiple entitie ...

in November 2017.

Reception

''Electric Mud'' sold 150,000 copies within the first six weeks of release. Peaking at number 127 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine's

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...

album chart, it was Muddy Waters' first album to appear on the ''Billboard'' and ''Cash Box'' charts. However, among critics and blues purists, ''Electric Mud'' is Waters' "most polarizing record", according to Waters biographer Robert Gordon.

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

purists criticized the album's psychedelic sound. In a ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' feature,

Pete Welding Peter John Welding (November 15, 1935 – November 17, 1995) was an American historian, archivist, and record producer specializing in jazz and blues. Born in Philadelphia, United States, Welding worked as a journalist for ''Down Beat'' magazine an ...

wrote, "'Electric Mud' does great disservice to one of the blues' most important innovators, and prostitutes the contemporary styles to which his pioneering efforts have led." Although American critics panned the album, it was better received in England. According to Marshall Chess, "It was the biggest Muddy Waters record we ever had at Chess, and it dropped instantly. The English accepted it; they are more eccentric."

Impact, influence and legacy

Muddy Waters recorded '' After the Rain'' the following year, incorporating elements of the sound of ''Electric Mud''. According to Cosey, "I'll never forget, as soon as I walked into the studio for the follow-up and Muddy saw me, he threw his arms around me, said 'Hey, how you doing, boy, play some of that stuff you played on that last album.'" While blues purists criticized the album, Pete Cosey learned from

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

's valet that Hendrix would listen to "Herbert Harper's Free Press News" from the album for inspiration before performing live. Waters later claimed that he disliked the album and its sound, and that he did not consider the album to be

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

. He stated, "Every time I go into Chess,

hey Hey, HEY, or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the ...

put some un-blues players with me ..If you change my sound, then you gonna change the whole man." In the biography ''The Mojo Man'', Muddy Waters stated "That ''Electric Mud'' record was dogshit. But when it came out, it started selling like wild, but then they started sending them back. They said, 'This can't be Muddy Waters with all this shit going on, all this wha-wha and fuzztone.'"

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

reviewer

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' The Daily P ...

panned the album as being "crass". However, the album has attracted new admirers among the

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

scene; in ''Lost in the Grooves: Scram's Capricious Guide to the Music You Missed'',

Gene Sculatti Eugene Paul Sculatti (born January 30, 1947) is an American music journalist who compiled and edited the book ''The Catalog of Cool'' (1982). In 1966, he became the first journalist to write about the nascent San Francisco music scene in a nati ...

wrote that "The rhythm seems to anticipate

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

by three decades." Rapper

Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D is also a me ...

said of the album, "to me it's a brilliant record. I've played it about a thousand times. The voice and character of Muddy Waters stand above the new music. Muddy's vocals ''project''. That's what created a hook for me to get into it: these vocals are actually pulling the music." Chuck D stated that he had been introduced to ''Electric Mud'' by a member of

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

, which sparked an interest in Muddy Waters' earlier work, and in roots-oriented blues. Chuck D explained, "It took me a while to warm up to traditional blues. A whole new world. But the automatic thing that struck me right away was the ''Electric Mud'' thing." The documentary series ''

The Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narra ...

'', produced by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

, depicts the recording band for ''Electric Mud'' performing with Chuck D and members of

The Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

Track listing

The original LP record cover listed the track times in seconds only.

Personnel

Musicians

– vocals *

– tenor saxophone, producer *

– guitars * Roland Faulkner – guitars *

– guitars *

– organ,

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

, producer *

– bass guitar *

– drums

Additional personnel

*Stu Black –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

– producer *Meire Murakami –

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

*Bill Sharpe – cover design *Abner Spector – mixing *Vartan –

art direction Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to super ...

Chart positions

References

{{Good article 1968 albums Cadet Records albums Muddy Waters albums Albums produced by Marshall Chess Albums produced by Charles Stepney