History Music / ElectricMud

* RatedMForManly: Mannish Boy

A 60s ConceptAlbum by Music/MuddyWaters, controversial for the fact that, despite marketing, Waters did not play guitar on the album at all (despite being credited as such), and, even more controversial, it strayed from traditional {{Blues}} to a [[PsychedelicRock Psychedelic]] BluesRock sound with prominent jazz influences; the songs themselves were a mix of new psychedelic arrangements of Muddy's standards, plus some new songs written for the album and a cover of a song by Music/TheRollingStones. The title, despite what you might think, does not mean that it's the first Muddy Waters album with electric guitars. He had actually been playing electric guitar for a huge portion of his career, and all of his previous albums, with the exception of the acoustic ''Folk Singer'', featured him playing electric guitar. The use of the word "electric" here is antiquated slang for psychedelia. The album was recorded with the same intentions Music/MilesDavis had when he recorded ''Music/BitchesBrew'', and the two approaches to amalgamation of the artists' respective genres are similar, except Miles actually was more actively involved in the arrangements and playing on his Psychedelic album, whereas Muddy Waters only sang the vocals, and all the guitar playing was done by session players Phil Upchurch,

The highly divisive album was part of Chess Records' short-lived Cadet Concept series of avant-garde albums intended to tap into the late 1960s youth market and introduce the {{Blues}} to fans of blues-influenced rock artists like Music/TheYardbirds, Music/TheRollingStones, Music/JimiHendrix and Music/LedZeppelin who quoted and referenced blues originators in their recordings. ''Electric Mud'' is the most well known of the two psychedelic-tinged blues albums recorded by major blues icons (the other was ''Music/TheHowlinWolfAlbum'', recorded with the same backing musicians). After the negative response to his album from blues purists, Muddy Waters allegedly later called ''Electric Mud'' "dog shit" (although this may be misattributed, as Howlin' Wolf was also quoted as saying the same thing about his album).

The push to record psychedelic blues-rock with a blues icon was instigated by Marshall Chess, who intended these albums to be [[ConceptAlbum concept albums]] in which the bluesmen were rock stars. Muddy Waters was the more overtly enthusiastic in his performance, playing the part of a rock singer more prominently, while the Howlin' Wolf Album featured a more understated performance probably owing to Howlin' Wolf hating the PsychedelicRock sound.

A 60s ConceptAlbum by Music/MuddyWaters, controversial for the fact that, despite marketing, Waters did not play guitar on the album at all (despite being credited as such), and, even more controversial, it strayed from traditional {{Blues}} to a [[PsychedelicRock Psychedelic]] BluesRock sound with prominent jazz influences; the songs themselves were a mix of new psychedelic arrangements of Muddy's standards, plus some new songs written for the album and a cover of a song by Music/TheRollingStones. The title, despite what you might think, does not mean that it's the first Muddy Waters album with electric guitars. He had actually been playing electric guitar for a huge portion of his career, and all of his previous albums featured him playing electric guitar. The use of the word "electric" here is antiquated slang for psychedelia. The album was recorded with the same intentions Music/MilesDavis had when he recorded ''Music/BitchesBrew'', and the two approaches to amalgamation of the artists' respective genres are similar, except Miles actually was more actively involved in the arrangements and playing on his Psychedelic album, whereas Muddy Waters only sang the vocals, and all the guitar playing was done by session players Phil Upchurch,

The highly divisive album was part of Chess Records' short-lived Cadet Concept series of avant-garde albums intended to tap into the late 1960s youth market and introduce the {{Blues}} to fans of blues-influenced rock artists like Music/TheYardbirds, Music/TheRollingStones, Music/JimiHendrix and Music/LedZeppelin who quoted and referenced blues originators in their recordings. ''Electric Mud'' is the most well known of the two psychedelic-tinged blues albums recorded by major blues icons (the other was ''Music/TheHowlinWolfAlbum'', recorded with the same backing musicians), because of its controversial sound. After the negative response to his album from blues purists, Muddy Waters later called Electric Mud "dog shit" (although this may be misattributed, as Howlin' Wolf was also quoted as saying the same thing about his album).

The push to record psychedelic blues-rock was instigated by Marshall Chess, who intended these albums to be [[ConceptAlbum concept albums]] in which the bluesmen were rock stars. Muddy Waters was the more overtly enthusiastic in his performance, playing the part of a rock singer more prominently, while the Howlin' Wolf Album featured a more understated performance probably owing to Howlin' Wolf hating the PsychedelicRock sound.

The highly divisive album was part of Chess Records' short-lived Cadet Concept series of avant-garde albums intended to tap into the late 1960s youth market and introduce the {{Blues}} to fans of blues-influenced rock artists like Music/TheYardbirds, Music/TheRollingStones, Music/JimiHendrix and Music/LedZeppelin who quoted and referenced blues originators in their recordings. ''Electric Mud'' is the most well known of the two psychedelic-tinged blues albums recorded by major blues icons (the other was ''Music/TheHowlinWolfAlbum'', recorded with the same backing musicians), because of its controversial sound. During the sessions with Muddy Waters and Music/HowlinWolf that produced the two albums, the bluesmen had two different reactions to the psychedelic sound. Muddy Waters was more open to the experimentation, but Howlin' Wolf suggested that a session guitar player take his wah-wah pedals and psychedelic effects and toss them in a lake. After the negative response to his album from blues purists, Muddy Waters later called Electric Mud "dog shit" (although this may be misattributed, as Howlin' Wolf was also quoted as saying the same thing about his album).

Despite Marshall Chess' best intentions, the fact that his ideas were the main driving force behind the two psychedelic blues albums, rather than the singers' ideas, probably shaped the backlash against them. ''Electric Mud'' actually sold well, but many of the people who bought it returned the album, and it was shortly massively recalled, marking a huge financial failure for Chess. The Howlin' Wolf Album didn't even sell well initially, as the album's cover convinced fans not to buy it. It read:

!This is Howlin' Wolf's new album.

!He doesn't like it.

!He didn't like his electric guitar at first, either.

(The last statement was untrue. Howlin' Wolf was actually an enthusiastic early adopter of electric guitar.)

Your mileage may vary, depending on your stance towards blues purism. This album, and the Howlin' Wolf LP that accompanied it, are either misguided mistakes spurred by record label greed, or misunderstood masterpieces, but their influence is undeniable.

The highly divisive album was part of Chess Records' short-lived Cadet Concept series of avant-garde albums intended to tap into the late 1960s youth market and introduce the {{Blues}} to fans of blues-influenced rock artists like Music/TheYardbirds, Music/TheRollingStones, Music/JimiHendrix and Music/LedZeppelin who quoted and referenced blues originators in their recordings. ''Electric Mud'' is the most well known of the two psychedelic-tinged blues albums recorded by major blues icons (the other was ''[[Music/HowlinWolf The Howlin' Wolf Album]]'', recorded with the same backing musicians), because of its controversial sound. During the sessions with Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf that produced the two albums, the bluesmen had two different reactions to the psychedelic sound. Muddy Waters was more open to the experimentation, but Howlin' Wolf suggested that a session guitar player take his wah-wah pedals and psychedelic effects and toss them in a lake. After the negative response to his album from blues purists, Muddy Waters later called Electric Mud "dog shit" (although this may be misattributed, as Howlin' Wolf was also quoted as saying the same thing about his album).

The highly divisive album was part of Chess Records' short-lived Cadet Concept series of avant-garde albums intended to tap into the late 1960s youth market and introduce the {{Blues}} to fans of blues-influenced rock artists like Music/TheYardbirds, Music/TheRollingStones, Music/JimiHendrix and Music/LedZeppelin who quoted and referenced blues originators in their recordings. ''Electric Mud'' is the most well known of the two psychedelic-tinged blues albums recorded by major blues icons (the other was ''[[Music/HowlinWolf The Howlin' Wolf Album]]'', recorded with the same backing musicians), because of its controversial sound. During the sessions with Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf that produced the two albums, the bluesmen had two different reactions to the psychedelic sound. Muddy Waters was more open to the experimentation, but Howlin' Wolf suggested that the guitar player take his wah-wah pedals and psychedelic effects and toss them in a lake. After the negative response to his album from blues purists, Muddy Waters later called Electric Mud "dog shit" (although this may be misattributed, as Howlin' Wolf was also quoted as saying the same thing about his album).

However, in spite of the failure of ''Electric Mud'', its cult following would develop over time. Numerous psychedelic musicians, particularly Jimi Hendrix, were huge fans of ''Electric Mud'', but the biggest impact the album had was on {{Sampling}}, as D.J.s would sample breakbeats, horns and guitar parts from several of the album's tracks to produce [[https://www.whosampled.com/album/Muddy-Waters/Electric-Mud/ a lot of HipHop songs]], and it was hugely popular among rappers and D.J.s.

Despite Marshall Chess' best intentions, the fact that his ideas were the main driving force behind the two psychedelic blues albums probably shaped the backlash against them. ''Electric Mud'' actually sold well, but many of the people who bought it returned the album, and it was shortly massively recalled, marking a huge financial failure for Chess. The Howlin' Wolf Album didn't even sell well initially, as the album's cover convinced fans not to buy it. It read:

A 60s ConceptAlbum by Music/MuddyWaters, controversial for the fact that, despite marketing, Waters did not play guitar on the album at all (despite being credited as such), and, even more controversial, it strayed from traditional {{Blues}} to a [[PsychedelicRock Psychedelic]] BluesRock sound with prominent jazz influences; the songs themselves were a mix of new psychedelic arrangements of Muddy's standards, plus some new songs written for the album and a cover of a song by Music/TheRollingStones. The title, despite what you might think, does not mean that it's the first Muddy Waters album with electric guitars. He had actually been playing electric guitar for a huge portion of his career, and all of his previous albums featured him playing electric guitar. The use of the word "electric" here is antiquated slang for psychedelia. The album was recorded with the same intentions Music/MilesDavis had when he recorded ''Music/BitchesBrew'', and the two approaches to amalgamation of the attists' respective genres are similar, except Miles actually was more actively involved in the arrangements and playing on his Psychedelic album, whereas Muddy Waters only sang the vocals, and all the guitar playing was done by session players Phil Upchurch,

However, in spite of the album's failure, its cult following would develop over time. Numerous psychedelic musicians, particularly Jimi Hendrix, were huge fans of ''Electric Mud'', but the biggest impact the album had was on {{Sampling}}, as D.J.s would sample breakbeats, horns and guitar parts from several of the album's tracks to produce [[https://www.whosampled.com/album/Muddy-Waters/Electric-Mud/ a lot of HipHop songs]], and it was hugely popular among rappers and D.J.s.