McKinley Morganfield grew up in the Mississippi Delta, and got his musical influences from the likes of Son House and Robert Johnson (the one that sold his soul to the devil). He made records since 1941 under that name, and then changed his stage name to Muddy Waters near the end of the Fifties. In 1960 he made his first live album, at Newport. His influence on rock and blues cannot be overstated. If you know any Scorsese films, you must have heard him: he is all over his films.
Rough Guides is a well known publisher of travel guides aimed at the lower end of the budget. They offer practical tips for backpackers. Since they started with the Rough Guide to Greece in 1982, they branched out to all kinds of publications, including a BBC series and uhm… records. The records are actually not that bad, and offer well chosen collections of songs.