James "Pee Wee" Madison

James "Pee Wee" Madison was a key member of Muddy Waters' band from the mid-'60s until the early '70s, playing guitar on most of his singles and albums from 1964 through 1973. He started out in Osceola, AR, before coming to Chicago and, according to Robert Gordon in his book Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters, Madison practiced guitar to the music of Little Walter. His opportunity to play with Muddy came in late 1963 when his predecessor in Muddy's band, Pat Hare, shot and killed his girlfriend and was arrested for (and later convicted of) murder. From the 1964 single "The Same Thing" b/w "You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had" (on which, new to the band, he was confined to playing rhythm guitar) to the 1973 album Can't Get No Grindin', he was on most of Muddy's output, and, indeed, as this was the period in which Muddy was increasingly playing to white audiences, Madison was probably seen and known by more of Muddy's ultimate fan base than Pat Hare ever was -- though, curiously, Madison was not a participant on the two albums in Muddy's output that were most obviously aimed at the white collegiate audience, Electric Mud and Fathers and Sons. Madison's professional relationship with Muddy ended following a 1973 world tour, and he wasn't on The Woodstock Album or any of the Johnny Winter-produced records that followed. During the 1970s, Madison turned up as part of L.C. "Good Rockin'" Robinson's band, and he was a participant in George "Mojo" Buford's 1979 Chicago Blues Summit, along with his fellow Muddy Waters alumni Sam Lay and Sammy Lawhorn. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi