MUDDY WATERS - FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS

FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS

MUDDY WATERS

SONGWRITER: BERNARD ROTH

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS

LABEL: CHESS RECORDS

GENRE: BLUES

YEAR: 1956

 

           McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 – April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago blues". His style of playing has been described as "raining down Delta beatitude".

            Muddy Waters grew up on Stovall Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi, and by age 17 was playing the guitar and the harmonica, emulating the local blues artists Son House and Robert Johnson. He was recorded in Mississippi by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1941. In 1943, he moved to Chicago to become a full-time professional musician. In 1946, he recorded his first records for Columbia Records and then for Aristocrat Records, a newly formed label run by the brothers Leonard and Phil Chess.

             In the early 1950s, Muddy Waters and his band—Little Walter Jacobs on harmonica, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Elga Edmonds (also known as Elgin Evans) on drums and Otis Spann on piano—recorded several blues classics, some with the bassist and songwriter Willie Dixon. These songs included "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "I'm Ready". In 1958, he traveled to England, laying the foundations of the resurgence of interest in the blues there. His performance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960 was recorded and released as his first live album, At Newport 1960.

           Muddy Waters' music has influenced various American music genres, including rock and roll and rock music.

            "Forty Days and Forty Nights" is a blues song recorded by Muddy Waters in 1956. Called "a big, bold record", it was a hit, spending six weeks in the Billboard R&B chart, where it reached number seven. "Forty Days and Forty Nights" has been interpreted and recorded by a variety of artists.

Forty days and forty nights

Since my baby left this town

Sunshinin' all day long

But the rain keep comin' down

She's my life I need her so

Why she left I just don't know

 

Forty days and forty nights

Since I set right down and cried

Keep rainin' all the time

But the river is runnin' dry

Lord help me it just ain't right

I love that girl with all-a my might

 

Forty days and forty nights

Since my baby broke my heart

Searchin' for her in a while

Like a blind man in the dark

Love can make a poor man rich

Or break his heart I don't know which

 

Forty days and forty nights

Like a ship out on the sea

Prayin' for her each night

That she would come back-a home to me

Life is love and love is right

I hope she come back home tonight.