Hoochie Coochie Man
| "I'm Your Hoochie Cooche Man" | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Muddy Waters | |
| B-side | "She's So Pretty" |
| Released | 1954 |
| Format | 10-inch 78 rpm & 7-inch 45 rpm records |
| Recorded | Chicago, January 7, 1954 |
| Genre | Chicago blues |
| Length | 2:47 |
| Label | Chess (no. 1560) |
| Writer(s) | Willie Dixon |
| Producer(s) | Leonard Chess |
"Hoochie Coochie Man" (originally titled "I'm Your Hoochie Cooche Man") is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1954. The song references hoodoo folk magic elements and makes novel use of a stop-time musical arrangement. It became one of Waters' most popular and identifiable songs and helped secure Dixon's role as Chess Records' chief songwriter.
The song is a classic of Chicago blues and one of Waters' first recordings with a full backing band. Dixon's lyrics build on Waters' earlier use of braggadocio and themes of fortune and sex appeal. The stop-time riff was "soon absorbed into the lingua franca of blues, R&B, jazz, and rock and roll", according to musicologist Robert Palmer, and is used in several popular songs. When Bo Diddley adapted it for "I'm a Man", it became one of the most recognizable musical phrases in blues.
After the song's initial success in 1954, Waters recorded several live and new studio versions. The original appears on the 1958 The Best of Muddy Waters album and many compilations. Numerous musicians have recorded "Hoochie Coochie Man" in a variety of styles, making it one of the most interpreted Waters and Dixon songs. The Blues Foundation and the Grammy Hall of Fame recognize the song for its influence in popular music and the US Library of Congress' National Recording Registry selected it for preservation in 2004.
Between 1947 and 1954, Muddy Waters charted a number of hits recording for Chess Records and its predecessor. One of his first singles was "Gypsy Woman", recorded in 1947. The song shows Delta blues guitar-style roots, but the lyrics place "emphasis on supernatural elements—gypsies, fortune telling, [and] luck", according to musicologist Robert Palmer.
You know the gypsy woman told me that you your mother's bad luck child
Well you havin' a good time now, but that'll be trouble after awhile
Waters expanded the theme in "Louisiana Blues", which was recorded in 1950 with Little Walter accompanying on harmonica. He sings of traveling to New Orleans, Louisiana, to acquire a mojo hand, a hoodoo amulet or talisman; with its magical powers, he hopes "to show all you good lookin' women just how to treat your man". Similar lyrics appeared in "Hoodoo Hoodoo", a 1946 recording by John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson: "Well now I'm goin' down to Louisiana, and buy me another mojo hand". Although Waters was ambivalent about hoodoo, he saw the music as having its own power:
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