George 'Mojo' Buford

Blues harmonica player Mojo Buford was born in Hernando, Mississippi, in 1929. He learned how to play the blues harp by listening to his father, who was a musician, and from the records of Little Walter. In 1952 Buford moved to Chicago, and formed a band he called The Savage Boys, which eventually became known as The Muddy Waters Jr. Band. In 1959 he replaced James Cotton in Waters' band, but he left three years later to form his own band, The Chi-Fours, in Minneapolis. He came back to Waters' band in 1967 to replace harmonica player George Smith, but returned to Minneapolis a year later to form the Mojo Buford Band. He continued to work occasionally with Waters and even toured with him.