Dancing with Muddy: Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, and My Lucky Life In and Out of the Blues

by Jerry Portnoy

Overview

Jerry Portnoy grew up in Chicago hearing the blues being played outside his father’s rug store on famed Maxwell Street during the late 1940s and early '50s. 

After dropping out of college, he became immersed in the colorful world of pool hustlers like Cornbread Red, and Minnesota Fats as he managed the largest pool hall in Chicago. During a stint as a paratrooper early in the Vietnam war, he applied for discharge as a conscientious objector, and lived in San Francisco during 1967’s "summer of love.” While bumming around Europe the following year, Portnoy heard the blues again on a record by Sonny Boy Williamson and instantly became obsessed with mastering blues harmonica.

He returned to Chicago and in 1974 he was playing in small Black clubs at night when Muddy Waters plucked him from his day job at Cook County Jail to fill the historic harmonica chair in his fabled band. Eric Clapton followed suit in 1991. In a career that took him from ghetto taverns to the White House and the Royal Albert Hall, he went from the raggedy vans and cheap roadside motels of the blues world to the private jets and five-star hotels of the rock world. Between those two very different gigs was a struggle to survive the vagaries of the music business and the pressures of life on the road. In a remarkable life, he also assisted in surgery, lodged in a Moroccan house of ill repute, and dined at Giorgio Armani’s. 

Dancing with Muddy details the surprising, lively, and sometimes bumpy ride of a blues harmonica legend.

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780897334587
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/13/2025
Pages:	282
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Jerry Portnoy is a Grammy nominated musician whose career has taken him to all fifty states and over thirty countries on six continents. He makes his home on Cape Cod.

Table of Contents

Prologue: 807 Maxwell Street, Chicago 1981
1          I Heard the Voice of a Pork Chop —Jim Jackson
2          I’m a Little Schoolboy Too —John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson
3          The Blues Had a Baby and They Called It Rock ’n’ Roll —Muddy Waters
4          I Just Want to Make Love to You —Muddy Waters
5          All I Cared About Was Shootin’ Pool and Hangin’ ’Round. —The Legendary Blues Band
6          You Got to Walk Straight and Tote a Rifle / Uncle Sam Want to Use You a While —John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson
7          Look at That Cadillac / Look at That —The Stray Cats
 

Editorial Reviews

"Jerry Portnoy has written an extraordinary and wildly readable account of his myriad adventures, including his apprenticeship to some of the most famous bluesmen in history. His account of the Chicago blues scene and behind-the-curtain tales as Muddy’s harp player fill a crucial hole in the history of the blues. Portnoy is an exceptionally fine writer. . . . His book was a great pleasure to read.” —Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm

“A lighthearted and mostly affectionate accounting of a remarkable career.” — Library Journal

“[A] lively and entertaining memoir” — Booklist

“Portnoy is a skilled, engaging writer and his book is a personal journey through postwar America, filled with anecdotes, personalities, and examinations of twentieth century American cultural phenomena — baseball, pool, army service, hippie culture, and the brief, shining moment when Americans listened to the blues.” — Jewish Book Council

“What a terrific book! Having toured many years with Muddy when Jerry was in his band, it’s wonderful to have all the fascinating backstories and recollections of his life, in and out of the blues. Jerry’s a gifted writer. Thumbs up!” —Bonnie Raitt, Grammy Award–winning musician

“Jerry Portnoy was born into the electrifying heart of Chicago blues, and his book never loses that grit. He has played with extraordinary talents, and his memories sing like his harp. I knew he could play, but I didn’t know Jerry could write!” —Robert Gordon, author of Can’t Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters

“Jerry Portnoy is best known as a stellar harmonica sideman, but what I loved about this book were the early stories of growing up on Maxwell Street and his adventures as a pool shark, paratrooper, and multitalented hustler, before he hooked up with the famous names.” —Elijah Wald, musician and author of Dylan Goes Electric!

“Jerry Portnoy tells a wonderful story that weaves the vast and varied musical experiences that took him around the world with an incredible personal journey that is nearly as astonishing as the music itself. A mind-blowing read!” —Kim Wilson, musician and leader of the Fabulous Thunderbirds

"Jerry Portnoy, having worked the best two jobs a blues harp player could have, captivated me with his detailed recollections of the ups, downs, and adventures of a professional musician. I couldn't put it down."  —Joe Filisko, master harmonica player, designer, and consultant to the Hohner harmonica company

“The only musician to play in the bands of both Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton has gifted us an enthralling memoir of his unique musical journey, but Dancing with Muddy is so much more. Jerry Portnoy has lived a rich and fascinating life outside of music, too, and it’s all brilliantly told by a gifted writer who also doubles as a world-famous musician.” —Kim Field, musician and author of Harmonicas, Harps and Heavy Breathers
 

“From Maxwell Street in Chicago to London’s Royal Albert Hall, making a spectacle of himself in cities around the world, Jerry Portnoy has enjoyed an unashamedly outsized life, making it big on a gadget small enough to fit in the pocket of a sharkskin suit. Just reading about it will make you cool.” —Robert Sabbag, author of Snowblind: A Brief Career in the Cocaine Trade

From the Publisher