Got My Mojo Working

By the mid-60s, Blues had lost its core African-American audience to age and upscaling. A roadside-assistance crew of young British bands quickly arrived to hot-wire interest in the raw, hard-truth music for a new generation—which promptly engaged with its two main moving parts: rhythm and riff. The high-octane chug of Muddy Waters' “Got My Mojo Working” has cast its spell over jazzmen (Art Blakey) and jammers (Widespread Panic), soul mavens (Etta James) and multi-stylists (John Mayer). The earworm lick that drives Howlin' Wolf's “Smokestack Lightning” has won the tune covers by everyone from Dylan and the Dead to Aerosmith and Gov't Mule.