Page 32 - BiTS_01_JANUARY_2021
P. 32

I made enough money to buy some school clothes. The whole ironic thing about this is when I was in
    the field my father was out touring the world and making a huge name for himself. Unfortunately he
    didn’t send any money to have clothes bought for me for whatever reason. These days they don’t let
    guys do that. I’m not saying anything bad about him that’s how it was back then and because whatever

    happened to me made me the man I am today. I’m a pretty tenacious fella. My next job back then was
    as a side field which is clipping grass and was that hot work. I did some dishwashing and then went
    on to become a chef at fifteen working on the beach in Florida. I got a diploma in commercial cooking
    and baking. I use a lot of spices when I cook.



                                                                              When I first started music I got a
                                                                              band together called The Stone Cold
                                                                              Blues  Band  and  we  played  around
                                                                              Atlanta and we made $300 but we
                                                                              had six in the band so if you do the
                                                                              maths that’s not a whole lot. I was
                                                                              singing and playing bass guitar and

                                                                              I  taught  myself  how  to  play  Delta
                                                                              blues as I thought I needed to get
                                                                              my musical foundation together. My
                                                                              music kept progressing from there
                                                                              as I got better at it. I started playing

                                                                              other places and other countries. I
                                                                              came out as Big Bill Morganfield in
                                                                              1998.  I  remember  there  was  a
                                                                              tribute  concert  in  Washington  DC
                                                                              and  a  guy  approached  me  about
                                                                              being  my  manager  and  he  called
                                                                              Scott  Cameron  who  managed  my

                                                                              father  and  Scott  called  my  dad’s
                                                                              wife and asked who I was and she
                                                                              told him I was Muddy’s son. So he
                                                                              got me on a show with so many big
    artists like Keb Mo, Robert Lockwood, Buddy Guy and many other famous artists and I was the most

    unfamous person amongst them and I ended up being the mc for the show as well as playing. So that’s
    how I became known after that show was aired on PBS. So I’ve been Big Bill Morganfield ever since.


    I’ve had great support since. On my first record on Blind Pig ‘Rising Son’ we brought in Bob Margolin
    who I had known for some time and they brought in other members of the band that had played with
    Muddy Waters like Paul Oscher and Willie Smith. That recording session blew my mind being with

    such musicians who had done a tour of duty with my father and had learned how to play that music.
    It was great to know that my father was like an ambassador for the blues. I’ve always believed in
    developing a sound for myself that is important to me as I believe that god bless the child that has his
    own. I can’t be Muddy Waters and I believe that people like things that are original. If you listen to
    my records I refuse to be like Muddy Waters. Sure I learned from him.



    I now have three albums out on my own label so I have total control. The name of the label is Black
    Shuck Records and I had a hard time coming up with a name. As soon as I did, I would Google it and
   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37