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Big Bill Morganfield
Big Bill Morganfield
	Morganfield performing at Burnley Blues Festival, April 2006. Photo: Phil Wight
Background information
Birth name	William Morganfield
Born	19 June 1956 (age 68); Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres	Blues, R&B, soul
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, teacher
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1990 – present
Labels	Taxim, Blind Pig, Black Shuck
Website	Official website

William "Big Bill" Morganfield (born June 19, 1956)^[1] is an American blues singer and guitarist. He is the son of McKinley Morganfield, also known as Muddy Waters, and the half-brother of Mud Morganfield.

Biography

Morganfield was born in Chicago, Illinois. He had little contact with his father.^[1] Instead he was raised in Southern Florida by his grandmother, and now lives in Atlanta, Georgia.^[1]^[2] As a child he listened to his father's records, but also to more popular fare such as The Jackson Five.^[1] He came to music later in life, having first worked as a teacher after earning a bachelor's degree in English from Tuskegee University and another in Communications from Auburn University.^[1] He did not begin playing music seriously until after his father's death in 1983, and then spent six years studying guitar.^[2] A well-received performance with Lonnie Mack at Atlanta's Center Stage convinced Morganfield that his career move was a good one, but dissatisfied with his craft, he returned to studying traditional blues forms and songwriting while continuing work as a teacher.^[2]

He got his first break in 1996 when he and his band ("The Stone Cold Blues Band" 1996-1998) played at the Blue Angel Cafe in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The band consisted of professional Atlanta based musicians who helped launch his career. In 1998 he then began to play the east coast that led to bigger shows like "The Stan Rogers Folk Fest" and "Montreal Jazz fest" .

His first independent album,"Rising Son", was released in 1999 by Blind Pig Records.^[2] The album was recorded in Chicago, and featured Paul Oscher, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, and Pinetop Perkins.^[2] In 2000, he won the W.C. Handy Award for Best New Blues Artist.^[2] The title cut was featured in the 2004 film A Love Song for Bobby Long. (In 1997 Taxium Records released a demo-intended recording of Big Bill Morganfield called "Nineteen Years Old" without the consent of Big Bill Morganfield. American laws do not apply as this recording was taken to Germany for release.)

In 1999, Morganfield appeared at the San Francisco Blues Festival.

Ramblin' Mind, Morganfield's next album, included Taj Mahal on two songs, plus his song "Strong Man Holler". Billy Branch played harmonica on the album.^[2] In 2009, Morganfield released the album Born Lover, produced by Bob Margolin and Brian Bisesi.^[3]

During the 2000s, Morganfield headlined many festivals and performed at venues around the world. In concert, Morganfield performs his own material with an occasional number from his father's work. He also performed at a Kennedy Center Honors tribute to his father.^[2] His version of Waters' "Got My Mojo Working" has been said to be as potent as the original.^{[by whom?]} Tours in Spain that band member Max Drake accompanied him on were particularly popular, due to the legacy connection to Waters.^[4]

Morganfield appeared in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown (2024), playing the role of a blues musician who meets and jams with Dylan in a TV studio.^[5]