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| "Manish Boy" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Muddy Waters | ||||
| B-side | "Young Fashioned Ways" | |||
| Released | June 1955 | |||
| Recorded | Chicago, May 24, 1955 | |||
| Genre | Blues | |||
| Length | 2:55 | |||
| Label | Chess | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) | ||||
| Muddy Waters singles chronology | ||||
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"Mannish Boy" (or "Manish Boy" as it was first labeled) is a blues standard written by Muddy Waters, Mel London, and Bo Diddley (with Waters and Diddley being credited under their birth names). First recorded in 1955 by Waters, it serves as an "answer song" to Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man",[1] which was in turn inspired by Waters' and Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man".[2] "Mannish Boy" features a repeating stop-time figure on one chord throughout the song.[3]
Although the song contains sexual boasting, its repetition of "I'm a man, I spell M, A child, N" was understood as political. Waters had recently left the South for Chicago. "Growing up in the South, African-Americans [would] never be referred to as a man – but as 'boy'. In this context, the song [is] an assertion of black manhood."[4]
- ^ Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 4 - The Tribal Drum: The rise of rhythm and blues. [Part 2]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries.
- ^ Herzhaft, Gerard (1992). "I'm a Man". Encyclopedia of the Blues. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press. p. 454. ISBN 1-55728-252-8.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Hallwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Mannish Boy". Muddy Waters Official website. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
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