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Jones suggested that he might like to meet his cousin, Muddy Waters, who he explained

also played blues, and they would probably get on well. Getting together towards the end
of 1945, the two musicians certainly did hit it off, and decided to team up, with Muddy on
vocals and guitar, and Jimmy on harmonica. They went to a few of Tampa Red’s jam
sessions, but Muddy often didn’t play at all, as he admitted to being nervous around
experienced musicians. The two felt more at home playing the Maxwell Street Market on
a Saturday or Sunday, where Muddy was also forced to fit a pickup to his acoustic guitar
in order to be heard above the noise of the visitors to the market, and the numerous other

musicians also playing.

A little later they hooked up with Blue Smitty, who played second guitar - actually, Muddy’s
guitar playing was still
very basic at this time,
Musicians in Maxwell Street Market
so some backup in
that area was a good

idea. However, Smitty
didn’t always show up
when he was
supposed to, with the
result that Rogers

took over his guitar
duties, often tuning it
down to imitate the
bass. He also took
over the duty of giving
Muddy guitar lessons,
that had also been the
© press.uchicago.edu
job of Smitty!

The two took whatever gigs they could find, with regular dates at Mason & Dave’s, Dave’s
Tavern and Tom’s Tavern, on the West Side of Chicago. That said, they were not a
permanent duo, because Muddy would accept gigs with anyone who wanted him, including
Eddie Boyd and Sonny Boy Williamson #I.

Muddy was desperate to record his by now amplified blues, and got the chance in 1946,
when he recorded ‘Mean Red Spider’ with a group including Memphis Slim, Sunnyland
Slim, J. T. Brown (from Elmore James’ band on alto sax), Big Crawford on bass, and Jimmy
Rogers. The track was the B side of ‘Let Me Be Your Coal Man’, by James “Sweet Lucy”
Carter, who was also credited with ‘Mean Red Spider”, and it was released as a 78rpm, on
the 20th Century label, but Muddy never knew it had been released until decades later -
not that it made any difference, as the song flopped.

The following year Rogers played guitar on a Little Walter session for the tiny Ora Nelle
label, the two having previously met, almost inevitably, on Maxwell Street. He was
becoming better known around the city for his guitar skills, and was sometimes called
upon for other sessions, most notably with Memphis Minnie, who had two guitar playing
husbands as well! In addition, gigging around the city with such a brilliant, if unknown,
harmonica player as Walter, Rogers decided he had better concentrate on the guitar.