The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Mud sings, and Muddy Waters comes out
CANTON — You never have to guess who Mud Morganfield’s father was — even if you don’t know enough about him to know that the late McKinley Morganfield was known throughout the world as Muddy Waters.
It’s in his voice.
It’s in his inflection.
It’s in the way one side of his face scrunches up into a snarl when he sings certain lyrics.
No, you don’t have to guess who Mud Morganfield’s daddy was — Muddy Waters comes pouring out of him every time he takes the stage, and for sure every time he opens his mouth. But guess what?
Mud Morganfield, Muddy’s eldest son — whose name growing up actually was Larry “Mud” Williams — writes his own songs, knows his own way around the music and deserves all the attention he gets.
If you love the blues — and if you’re smart — you’ll get up to see him on Friday night when he takes the stage at Bridge Street Live (41 Bridge St., Collinsville).
Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets are $30 for general admission and $40 for VIP reserved, available in advance at 41bridgestreet.com.
While he lived in Chicago with his mother, Mud Morganfield grew up surrounded by many of the finest, most legendary blues musicians in the world. His singing is deep into the classic tradition of Chicago and his father’s original Mississippi blues.
“I tell you what I’m trying
not to do,” Mud Morganfield told the Chicago Tribune in 2016. “I’m trying not to sound like everybody else, except Dad.
“When you’re in this business, you have to look around and find who you are,” he said. “And, well, listen, man, I got a lot of blues. I came up in the streets on the West Side.”
Other bluesy shows well worth seeing this week include acoustic bluesman Chris Smither on Thursday at Fairfield Theatre Company’s StageOne, Louisiana bluesman Tab Benoit on Friday at Infinity Hall in Hartford, and British soul
“I’m trying not to sound like everybody else, except Dad.”
Mud Morganfield
brother James Hunter and his James Hunter Six on Saturday at Infinity Hall in