Artists and bandsMuddy Waters
Mississippi-born singer and guitarist who became a central figure in Chicago blues and recorded for Chess.
A record label finds an address
A fortune teller announces the arrival of an extraordinary boy in “Hoochie Coochie Man”. The character grows into a swaggering narrator surrounded by signs of luck and conjure. Willie Dixon wrote the song and Muddy Waters recorded it for Chicago’s Chess label in 1954; the band’s short, emphatic breaks leave space for his voice between the instrumental phrases.
Chess was then based on Cottage Grove Avenue. In 1957 it moved to 2120 South Michigan Avenue, where Waters, Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf and many others worked. The move matters when placing the earlier record: “Hoochie Coochie Man” predates the Michigan Avenue premises.
In 1964 the Rolling Stones visited the studio and recorded an instrumental named “2120 South Michigan Avenue”. They had taken their own name from a Muddy Waters song, “Rollin’ Stone”. Today Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation preserves the former Chess building and its history.
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