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Muddy Waters
Born April 4, 1915
Cannonball's Corner
by Don Testa
The Gypsy told Bertha Morganfield: "You got a boy child comin', gonna' be a son-of-a-gun." That was in March 1915. On April 15, 1915, Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield) was born, and the Gypsy was right, he sure as hell was a son-of-a gun! Now it's 88 years later, minus a few days, and it's time to head south to celebrate Muddy's birthday again. Every year I go down to Key Largo and help Toby throw his "Muddy Water's Birthday Party", and when I come back, I usually wind up writing a story about it.
At first I was hesitant to do it every year because I thought it might become redundant, but after getting positive reader feed back, it feels ok. For you new members, the ritual goes like this: about a week or two before April 4, I load up my Harley on by bike trailer and head south. I unload the bike in Lady Lake (Central Florida), hang there a few days, then head on down to Key Largo on two wheels. This year I stopped in Atlanta on the way down to visit some friends. Tony and Mark are two Greek brothers I met in Sturgis back in '93. We've kept in touch all these years, and it was good to see them again. The blues CD's I brought with me sure did sound good on Tony's sound system, while we all played some pool and talked over old bike trips. The Early Times brought good time that night!
I called Toby from Atlanta, and he said we were heading up to Fort Lauderdale for a blues jam to see Willie "Big Eyes" Smith before the party. Willie is an old friend of Toby's from when Willie played in Muddy's band at Toby's "Imperial Garage" back in the early '80's. It's a days drive from Atlanta to Lady Lake Florida where my friend Bill lives. Bill and I go back a long way, actually to grammar school. He lets me keep my car and trailer there while I'm down in the Keys. After visiting with friends and family for a few days, I headed on down to Key Largo.
The big V-Twin engine barked "hello" when I started her up; she had been asleep for a long time. She ran strong all the way down the Florida Pike. The ride felt good, it had been a long winter! I arrived at Toby's on a Friday, one week before the party. The next day we went up to Fort Lauderdale by car. Toby had a friend in "Liquordale", name of Mike. We went to Mike's house to hang out for a while before the Blues Fest. Mike had an outdoor bar back of his house, and he took real good care of us. He used to write for the Blues Revue magazine, he is a very knowledgeable bluesman. It was a great show, one of the local bands that caught my eye (and ear) was the "Stan Street Blues Band"; Stan played a honkin' blues sax. He is also a painter and had a table set up by the stage displaying his painting, very nice (stanstreet.com). Willie's band came on last, of course, being the headliner, and they just blew everybody away with their tight Chicago Blues sound. Willie has to be way into his 70's, and he can still play those skins with the best of them. We went backstage after the show, and Toby introduced me to Willie. I shook the hand of Muddy Waters' drummer, quite an experience for me. I also met Stan Street, both stand-up guys. We rapped a while, then went back to Mike's place where he put Toby and me up for the night.
In the morning, Mike was rootin' around in the kitchen, then Toby kind of took over the cooking chores. Besides bluesin', the other thing Toby is real good at is cooking! After a dynamite breakfast, we headed on down the road; actually we headed on UP the road. Willie had another gig in Melbourne the next day, and Toby wanted to go up there. Hey, why not, we're out on the road, what's another couple hundred miles or so. As Murphy's Law would have it, the alternator stopped alternatin', and it seemed to take forever to find a parts store. You would think off of I-95 they would be all over the place. Anyway, we found one, Toby installed it, and we were on our way again. When we got to Melbourne, the weather turned real cool. We found the blues fest, it was named "E.A.R.T.H AWARENESS 2003 MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL". The band that was playing was called Steve Miller and the Winos for Peace; really, that was their name! There was a one string washtub base and banjo, and they played some real good down home blues. After a few cold ones, it started to drizzle, and we decided not to wait for Willie. We booked on out of there; back down to the Keys, where the weather suits our clothes.
Toby had a gang of people visiting him: his girlfriend, Diane, her sister, Michelle, his son, Aaron, and Aaron's girl friend, Celeste. Toby's daughter, Remy, and her husband and nephew, Rich Rotella, and his wife. I did a little riding before the party... went up to Marathon Key. I like to get in right lane and chug along at about 40 with my boots up on the highway pegs, no helmet, with a Muddy Waters CD playing the blues through my Walkman headset. It don't get any better than that! The day of the party, Mike came down from Lauderdale with a few of his friends. I was busy cooking up the 20 lbs. of sausage, and Aaron was cutting up 30 lbs. of chicken wings. "Chicken Wing" Larry shows up from Lauderdale, too. This guy won the "Taste of Buffalo" $500 first place prize a couple of years ago for the best chicken wings. He put "Chicken Wing" Louie (our last year's cook), as good as he was, out of action! The people over at Mangrove Marina were kind enough to let us use their newly constructed Tiki for the party. It sits at the foot of the marina dock and affords a beautiful view of the Gulf side. We make a few truck runs from Toby's, bringing all the food, champagne, lights, etc., including all Muddy Waters' vintage albums to the Tiki. The sound guy was a little late, or maybe we were just a little early, he arrived about 6; set up his sound system, and soon Muddy’s voice began to reverberate across the water. His powerful blues so moved everyone and everything, that several pelicans moved in close, almost as if to hear better. Muddy's favorite drink was champagne, and, of course, it's the prime beverage at his birthday party. Many of the 100 odd folks (no pun intended) in attendance brought a dish of some sort and/or a bottle of the bubbly. This kind of augmented the 20 or so bottles Toby supplies. By the way, this party is free to anyone who shows up, and its cost is shouldered by Toby, to show his love for his deceased friend.
I was busy handing out my awesome sausages, while Larry was trying to keep up with the demand for his red hot wings, when someone tapped me on the shoulder, and said: "Hi Don." It was my artist friend, Helen, who I had met at last year’s party. Helen is a very talented French sculptress who specialized in cats. I call her the "Cat Lady." You can view her fine work at her web site catscupltures.com. "Don't bother knockin', this tiki's rockin." Muddy's blues flowed over the swaying dancers; you could just feel the electricity in the air. As the sun slowly disappeared below the Gulf horizon, so did the champagne (disappear, that is). Not to worry, Celeste went around with a hat, and Toby was soon on his way to the closest 24-hour Piggly Wiggly supermarket!
It was a good party, as Muddy Waters' birthday parties always are every year. This year was kind of special, being that congress passed a resolution proclaiming 2003 as the "Year of the Blues". The magnitude of Muddy Waters' contribution to blues music is enormous. If you would like to know more and have a computer (if you don't have one, you can get on line at any library, free), go to: all-music.com and search his name. You will find a thumbnail biography and a complete discography of all his recorded works. Rest in peace Muddy Waters, you're safe in the arms of Jesus.
Blues Beat Summer 2003
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