Muddy Waters – Mannish Boy

One of the best riffs in blues or rock. It’s been recycled in so many songs but never loses its bite. This song was a reworking of the Bo Diddley song “I’m A Man.” Great song by the great Muddy Waters.

Muddy recorded several versions of this song through the years. He recorded the original at Chess Records in Chicago in 1955. One of the reasons I love this song so much is because the guitar line is easy to play but very memorable. Waters used the same basic riff on his song “Hoochie Coochie Man.” George Thorogood also used it for his song “Bad To The Bone.”

The song peaked at #51 in the UK in 1988 and #5 in the R&B Charts in 1955.

Muddy Waters originally recorded this in 1955, then re-recorded it in 1977 for his Hard Again album in a version produced by Johnny Winter. The song was written by Muddy Waters, Mel London, and Bo Diddley.

He was born McKinley Morganfield in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, around 1913. Nicknamed “Muddy” as a child, he worked on the huge Stovall cotton plantation before following the northward migration of African Americans to Chicago, where he drove a truck and signed to Chess Records, a tiny blues label run by two émigré Polish brothers, Leonard and Phil Chess. As Muddy Waters, he established himself as a pioneering electric blues musician in the early 1950s.

Mannish Boys

Oh, yeah
Oh, yeah

Everything gonna be alright this mornin’
Now, when I was a young boy
At the age of five
My mother said I was gonna be
The greatest man alive
But now I’m a man
I’m age twenty-one
I want you to believe me, honey
We having lots of fun

I’m a man (yeah)
I spell M
A, child
N
That represent man
No B
O, child
Y
That spell mannish boy
I’m a man
I’m a full-grown man
I’m a man
I’m a rollin’ stone
I’m a man
I’m a hoochie-coochie man

Sittin’ on the outside
Just me and my mate
I’m made to move
Come up two hours late
Wasn’t that a man?
I spell M
A, child
N
That represesnt man
No B
O, child
Y
That spell mannish boy
I’m a man
I’m a full-grown man
I’m a man
I’m a rolllin’ stone
I’m a man
Full-grown man
Oh, well
Oh, well

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

25 thoughts on “Muddy Waters – Mannish Boy”

  1. In 1964, racial segregation in public institutions in the USA was abolished. In this light, “Mannish Boy,” first released in 1955, sounds like a declaration of independence.

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    1. That’s a fair comment, DeKe, essentially since I’ve been among those folks criticizing Zep for repeatedly borrowing without acknowledging.

      I think Zep were one of the greatest rock bands of all time and never minded the borrowing. It just bugged me that once it was pointed out to them, their egos were too big to acknowledge it – even though it wouldn’t have taken much if anything away from their music!

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      3. True! Plus, despite the fact that “Stairway’s” intro was clearly taken from from Spirit’s “Taurus”, to me, it still remains one of the greatest rock songs of all time. Messrs. Plant and Page should have put their big egos aside and admitted it. Given financial implications, I know I’m probably pretty naive here!

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  4. One of the most iconic blues guitar riffs! To me, it’s the blues equivalent of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.”

    I also love both of these clips. The Stones really worshipped Muddy Waters and it’s cool to see them perform with their hero! They were also instrumental in helping Waters and other African American blues artists gain popularity beyond Black audiences.

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  8. Muddy Waters, the man who discovered electricity. Love the studio version you posted. Listened to it a zillion times. A greasy jam by the man. “No B!” Dont forget his second cousin “Little Johnny Conqueroo. You got the motor running this morning Max What a great band he had for this one. Johnny Winter caught it perfectly.

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