Song:Got My Mo-Jo Working (But It Just Won't Work On You)
Album:The Baton Label: Sol's Story
So most music fans recognize Got My Mo-Jo Working as a signature song of blues great Muddy Waters. But he didn't write the song and it was originally recorded by Ann Cole in 1956. Who? She was a soul singer thought to be way ahead of her time. She was born Cynthia Coleman Jan. 29, 1934 in Newark, NJ. Her father and uncles were the gospel group The Coleman Brothers. So Cynthia formed her own gospel group The Colemanaires in 1949. They toured the US and released a couple of singles. When Cynthia decided to record secular music, she used the name Ann Cole because she didn't want her family to know about it. She signed with Sol Rabinowitz' label Baton Records. Her first single Are You Satisfied was a top ten R & B hit. Got My Mo-Jo Working was her second single. The problem was she was on tour with Waters and she performed the song before it was released and Waters decided to record it. Because Waters was on the much larger Chess label, it got wider exposure and it is now one of Waters' signature songs. But he gave himself the songwriting credit. The song was actually written by Preston "Red" Foster (not the actor). Rabinowitz sued Chess for royalties and Foster made a living from royalties as the song was frequently covered. Leonard Chess told Rabinowitz that Waters brought the song into the studio and claimed he wrote it. The song should have made Ann Cole a star. But that never happened. You can get her version on this comp from Ace Records. Ann recorded a few more singles for Baton, Roulette and MGM. Then she was seriously injured in a car crash and forced to retire. She was confined to a wheelchair until her death in Nov. 1986. It's too bad because she was a great singer. Here's a video for Got My Mo-Jo Working by Ann Cole & The Suburbans.
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