In 1955 Bo Diddley scored his breakout hit for Checker records, “I’m A Man”. The
song itself was a minor variation on Muddy Waters’ 1954 hit , (also released by Chess
Records) “Hoochie-Coochie Man”. Chess Records were enjoying a boom time as
the new style of electric urban blues they were purveying became the new sound
on the radio and juke boxes across the country. Bo’s version of “I’m A Man” was
somewhat relegated to a double-a side with the eponymous “Bo Diddley”, a
reworking of the ancient beat, known as “hambone”, which many say came
directly from the slaves of west Africa. Bo Diddley called it his own, and since
1955 it’s stayed that way.
Waters star was rising at speed, and along with Howlin’ Wolf and his label mates had become the de facto loud, aggressive sound of Chicago blues. The urbanisation of the blues
had come with the post war rush north, to the factories of Chicago and Detroit, regular well paid work, away from the terror of the apartheid ridden South.
A few weeks after the release of Bo’s version of “I’m A Man”, Waters assembled his band to record an ‘answer record’ to “I’m a Man”, to claim back his riff and his
song. Mannish Boy was born, the sound and fury of urban African American life played out in song. The song itself features a one chord blues motif, repeated over and over again to enormous dramatic effect. And it never wavers, relentless
and constant, end to end. It’s there in the room (with..?). When Mud begins his intro – a simmering church created part whimper, part growl – you feel he could be next to you. Right there. Where he takes what is ostensibly the same song as
Bo, really is somewhere else. Somewhere popular music had never been taken before. Like a gallop through time, space and outside their parameters. It was but
a mere commercially released record but it was one of those defining moments in the advancement of music and sound that if we’re lucky, we may experience once in our lives.
I first became aware of it as a teenager on a Chess Records compilation I bought
in an effort to appear more grown up. It stuck out because it was louder, harder and more aggressive than all the other tracks on the LP. That was in the late seventies – to the untrained ear, it probably sounded like the portals of hell opening in 1955. Sixty odd years after its original release, it still sounds threatening and angry. And alive!
Muddy Waters recorded it several times. When Marshall Chess was putting together Waters’ psychedelic cash-in LP, “Electric Mud” in 1968, he turned out another more “electrified” version. Mud hated the record, he could see it for what
it was. But there can be gold shimmering among those stones, Electric Mud really
is a fantastic LP, regardless of what its protagonist may have thought at the time.
My favourite version is from his 1977 Johnny Winter produced album “Hard Again”. Winter re-recorded Mannish Boy with a more than live sound, himself on electric guitar and one of the most incredible pieces of blues ever recorded. The feeling that you are part of the recording is evident on every version, but here Winter takes that ambient feel to another level, (so that…?) you can’t help but be moved by it. This version is used in Martin Scorcese’s ganster masterpiece, “Goodfellas’ – listen to it, hear just how magnificently it connects with the images, a truly astonishing harmony.
It was the perfect sonic introduction to a hitherto unknown world – it gave me an insight into music and culture I wouldn’t begin to understand for many years. However, it was the sound of Mannish Boy that first drew me in. That awesome power. It never goes away.
Muddy Waters – Mannish Boy – Chess Records 1602 (45/78) – 1955.
Muddy Waters – Electric Mud – Cadet Records 314 (lp) – 1968.
Muddy waters – Hard again – Blue Sky PZ 34449 (lp) – 1977.
bernie@happening-things.com 