The Definitive Collection

by Muddy Waters

Overview

There are scores of Muddy Waters compilations out there, and while it might be overreaching a bit to call this 24-track single-disc set definitive, it is still a mighty good selection, including as it does all of Waters' major singles from Chess Records and its Aristocrat Records imprint between the years 1948 and 1964 along with a single track from 1976's Hard Again, Waters' first actual LP, which was released on the Columbia subsidiary Blue Sky and produced by Johnny Winter. All that's really missing here in order to give this set a full sweep through Waters' career is a couple of tracks from the series of field recordings Alan Lomax did with Waters in 1941 and 1942 when Muddy was still known as McKinley Morganfield, with "I Be's Troubled" being the most likely candidate, since it was the song Muddy rewrote for his first single, 1948's brilliantly intimate "I Can't Be Satisfied," the song that kicks off this set. Other obvious highlights here include 1950's "Louisiana Blues," a chunk of swampy blues that was harmonica man Little Walter's debut recording with Waters, the spooky but bright "I'm Ready" (one wonders what Waters would think of this song being used for a Viagra commercial) from 1954, and the chugging original recording of "Got My Mojo Working" from 1957. "You Shook Me" from 1962 features a Waters vocal over a basic track recorded by Earl Hooker a year earlier, yet still manages to sound edgy and immediate. "My Home Is in the Delta," an acoustic outing from 1963 featuring Buddy Guy, is a low-key and atmospheric masterpiece that could well serve as Waters' own concise autobiography. The Winter-produced cut from 1976, "Crosseyed Cat," sounds big and messy by comparison, and leaving it off this compilation would have made 1964's "You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had," Waters' last hit for Chess, a much more fitting final track. In the end, Waters' considerable reputation rests with his Chess sides, and deservedly so, and since all of the essential ones are here, this makes a close to ideal introduction to one of the most important voices in blues history. ~ Steve Leggett

Product Details

Release Date:	05/23/2006
Label:	Geffen
UPC:	0602498520123

Tracks

1. I Can't Be Satisfied
2. I Feel Like Going Home
3. Rollin' & Tumblin', Pt. 1
4. Rollin' Stone
5. Louisiana Blues
6. Long Distance Call
7. Still a Fool
8. Turn Your Lamp Down Low (Baby Please Don't Go)
9. (I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man
10. I Just Want to Make Love to You
11. I'm Ready
12. Mannish Boy
13. Trouble No More
14. Forty Days and Forty Nights
15. Don't Go No Farther
16. Got My Mojo Working
17. Rock Me
18. Walkin' Thru the Park
19. Take the Bitter with the Sweet
20. You Shook Me
21. My Home Is in the Delta
22. The Same Thing
23. You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had
24. Crosseyed Cat

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Muddy Waters   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
James Cotton   Guest Artist,Harmonica
Buddy Guy   Guest Artist
Otis Spann   Guest Artist,Piano
Johnny Winter   Guest Artist,Guitar
Leonard Chess   Drums (Bass)
Bob Margolin   Guitar
A.C. Reed   Sax (Tenor)
Willie "Big Eyes" Smith   Drums
Jimmy Rogers   Guitar
Lafayette Leake   Piano
Clifton James   Drums
Fred Below   Drums
Francis Clay   Drums
Charles Calmese   Bass
Little Walter   Harmonica
S.P. Leary   Drums
Junior Wells' Chicago Blues Band   Harmonica
Willie Dixon   Bass
Elgin Evans   Drums
Andrew Stephenson   Bass
Luther Tucker   Guitar
Pat Hare   Guitar
Earl Hooker   Guitar

Technical Credits

Leonard Chess   Producer
Mary Katherine Aldin   Liner Notes
Phil Chess   Producer
McKinley Morganfield   Composer
Muddy Waters   Composer
Johnny Winter   Screams,Producer
Mel London   Composer
Adam Starr   Production Coordination
Willie Dixon   Composer,Producer
Melvin R. London   Composer
James Burke Oden   Composer
Meire Murakami   Design
Beth Stempel   Production Coordination
James Moore   Composer
Preston Foster   Composer
Ryan Null   Photo Coordination
James B. Oden   Composer
Melvin London   Composer
Andy McKaie   Compilation Producer
Bo Diddley   Composer
Bernard Roth   Composer
J.B. Lenoir   Composer
Erick Labson   Digital Remastering
Ellas McDaniel   Composer