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