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Good question, Tanta ... but answering it is not so easy ... so many greats were with the Muddy Waters band ... I like 'em all ... but my favorite ... and this is a home-boy biased opinion, mind you ... so I doubt if anyone else will select this guy ... is drummer, Francis Clay. I pick Francis because he comes from my hometown, because he contributed to Muddy's sound, and because he's a friend who I was lucky enough to perform with, as well as presenting him with the Mississippi Valley Blues Society's "River Road Lifetime Achievement Award" a few years ago at their annual super great blues festival (www.mvbs.org).

Francis live in San Francisco, and is not in the best of health ... but is hangin' in there, I'm happy to say.

Below is a bio. on Francis ... and if you go to the link you can read some of his wondeful poery, as well.

Cheers,

Hawkeye

http://www.bluespower.com/a-fc.htm
Francis Clay's work is well known to those who have studied Chicago Blues. If you've listened to Muddy Waters, you've heard Francis. He was Muddy's drummer on and off for about 15 years starting in 1957. Francis was in the thick of things during the heyday of Chicago blues and played with all the greats. His highly original and immensely propulsive drumming drives numerous recordings by Muddy Waters and others. You can find his name on some of the classics of Chicago blues, including the much-acclaimed album "Muddy Waters At Newport." He has toured and recorded with Little Walter, Otis Spann, Clifton Chenier, John Lee Hooker, Big Mama Thornton, Lightnin' Hopkins and Jimmy Reed (to name a few) and was a founding member of the James Cotton Blues Band. Francis Clay is truly one of the all-time masters of blues drumming.

FRANCIS CLAY BIO

Through the unique, jazz-rooted style which he brought to his recordings and performances with the Muddy Waters band in its heyday (1957-1967), percussionist Francis Clay has influenced a generation of drummers.

Francis Clay was born into a musical Rock Island, Illinois, family in 1923. By age five, he was doing bird and animal imitations, playing guitar and singing country-western songs learned from his father (a multi-instrumentalist and square dance caller from Missouri). At ten, he carved a pair of drumsticks, made a practice pad and started teaching himself to play drums.

Francis's first professional engagement was with Pat Patrick's band at the American Legion Hall in Davenport, Iowa, in 1938; by 1939, he was advanced enough to fill in for three weeks with the Jay McShann band (which, by that time, featured Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie); in 1940, he formed his own group, Francis Clay And His Syncopated Rhythm. During the early and mid-forties, Francis performed with his own group and with other bandleaders. He also played at the Faust Club (a vaudeville house in Peoria, Illinois), on the S.S. Idlewild (a riverboat) and for the Austin Brothers Circus (the world's largest at the time).

From 1947 to 1957, Francis played in jazz groups in the Chicago area. In 1957, his historic association with Muddy Waters began. Among the many recordings he made with Muddy was the highly acclaimed "Muddy Waters Live At Newport" album (1960). His other recording credits include John Lee Hooker, Lightnin' Hopkins, Jimmy Reed, Big Mama Thornton, Otis Spann, Little Walter, Jimmy Rogers, Earl Hooker, Victoria Spivey, Luther "Snake Boy" Johnson and Clifton Chenier.

In 1967, Francis helped put together the James Cotton Blues Band. He toured Europe and recorded the album "Pure Cotton" with the group in 1968.
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