McKinley Morganfield, known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and songwriter.
He has often been named the “father of modern Chicago blues.” In 1981, in the middle of their American tour, the Rolling Stones arrived in Chicago. Since they’ve been influenced by the Chicago blues, the band paid a visit to Buddy Guy’s club The Checkerboard.
They wanted to see the legendary bluesman perform, but it didn’t take long before they joined him on stage.
Muddy Waters is on stage with a guitar in his lap, smiling at the audience.
The band is behind him right away on a big stage as they play “Baby Please Don’t Go.” The song was first recorded by Big Joe Williams in 1935, but Waters’s cover helped its popularity. The club is full, and the crowd is enjoying it. We can see everyone’s glasses are full and they’re toasting, dancing and singing along. Before long, you can finally notice Mick Jagger in the audience.
He signals something to Waters and he answers without skipping a beat, just like a true professional would do.
There are rumors about one interview when Jagger was asked what would he like to do first in America, and he replied with “Meet Muddy Waters.”
We understand it—who wouldn’t want to meet a legend? By the middle of the song, Jagger is called on stage by the famous musician.
As he comes to the stage, Jagger whispers something in Waters’s ear, to which he replies: “Could you sing a verse with me?”
Before long, the fabulous duet is in action. Then, of course, they call Keith Richards on stage. Waters is adorable when he shouts, “What about Keith?” The audience repeats everything after him, and Keith Richards comes as well. The stage is full of great musicians, and we bet this is one of the best performances that has ever blasted through The Checkerboard.
We feel the need to give some praise to Muddy’s band, because they are phenomenal, especially the man playing the harmonica.
He gave this song wings! This is one of those performances that has everything: great music, a lot of style, and an amazing audience.
We love this epic encounter and the fact that the Rolling Stones never forgot their origins, and how much they were inspired by blues.
Jagger looks like an awestruck kid in the first couple of minutes, and it’s obvious that he’s a huge fan of Waters. Isn’t it awesome when the inspired meets the inspiration? Music is truly one of the greatest gifts to mankind, and this performance had us smiling from the beginning until the end. The way they effortlessly sing and play guitar is so great.
Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, and Lefty Dizz were also in for a night of pure blues.
Before long, all of them eventually came to the stage too!
The Rolling Stones paid homage to Waters and they did it with style—after all, they named the band after one of his songs! Now we understand what was meant by that famous line, “The Blues had a baby and they named it rock and roll.” We’re lucky that the camera captured this encounter between the blues father and his rock and roll sons. Since it was posted, the video has been viewed more than 10 million times!
Check out the full performance by clicking the link below:
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