quote [ James Cotton, the veteran blues harmonica player who performed with Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, among others, died at age 81.
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He launched his own career as a teenager and toured with both Williamson and Howlin' Wolf. In 1953, he recorded his first Sun single, "Straighten Up Baby," which he followed up with "Cotton Crop Blues." At age 20, he began touring and recording with Waters and is featured on that artist's At Newport LP (1960), most notably "Got My Mojo Working."
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Cotton would later find himself playing with Matt "Guitar" Murphy and Hubert Sumlin, and would go on to explore blues-rock with performances with Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, B.B. King, Santana, Steve Miller and Freddie King, among others. ]