“Mississippi Mud”

“Mississippi Mud” is a swinging song from Ray’s 1960 album The Genius Hits The Road. The lightness of the lyric and the jauntiness of the big band are offset by an incongruent vulnerability in Ray Charles’s voice. It’s a busy song for a singer — not many breaks and no solos in this version — but Ray’s voice is tinged with melancholy throughout. The album it’s on was Ray’s first major output on his new label ABC, but “Mississippi Mud” is silly, not stark and bluesy.

The tugging sadness of Ray Charles’s vocals ends up being a mere curiosity. The general thrust of “Mississippi Mud” is one almost of novelty; the song is not a gimmick, exactly, but its raison d’être is to be a goofy singalong. In the plus column, though, there’s something more here. In Ray’s expert hands the track becomes testament to his musical choices: “Mississippi Mud” is no “I Believe To My Soul”, but there is heartache in his natural voice that he just can’t hide from us. It reminds you that this song was chosen because Ray felt close to it, no more and no less.

It’s a treat to beat your feet on the Mississippi mud
What a dance do they do, Lordy how I’m telling’ you

At any rate, “Mississippi Mud” turned out to be an excellent addition to its parent album, where each song mentioned a different place in America. It’s an unexpected selection, perhaps, but something that Ray discovered was coursing through his musical veins. Sometimes, though the rich haze of his voice, he could be just as happy as cow chewing on its cud.

The Origins of “Mississippi Mud” and Its Composers

This song was written in 1927 by Harry Barris and James Cavanaugh. The first version was released that year on a 78 rpm record by an outfit called Paul Whiteman’s Rhythm Boys – which featured a 25-year old Bing Crosby and cornetist Bix Biederbecke. (The song was performed as a medley on the disc with “I Left My Sugar Standing In The Rain”.)

James Cavanaugh’s name was, over and over, left off of record labels when this song was repeatedly covered by multiple artists through the years. On The Genius Hits The Road, both his and Harris’s names are used. We don’t know why any of this was the case.

Listen to “Mississippi Mud”

Get your own “Mississippi Mud” on LP, CD or MP3 from Amazon.