Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL AND REQUIRED, PART 1, June 7, 2004
This review is from: Hard Again (Exp) (Audio CD)
If you are a fan of the blues, and more importantly, Muddy Waters, this is the beginning of an essential triad that marked the grand finale of a long and storied career of the seminal blues figure of American music. For all the talk about Robert Johnson and Charlie Payton, the blues would never have evolved without Muddy Waters. There are any number of great CDs available from his career, but none as protean as the final three he did with Johnny Winter, plus the MUDDY MISSISIPPI WATERS LIVE CD and THE WOODSTOCK ALBUM guided by Levon Helm. These are the very last of his efforts and they are precious documents of the man who plugged the guitar in. Think about that just for a moment.
The remastered LIVE CD is an honest and uncompromising document of the Waters band in full flight, and while what was the official release suffers from Winters' presence, the second disc of the set is just so amazing that words fail to convey its power. While I am no fan of Johnny Winters, his work at the controls and in the studio with Waters through the course of these recordings is truly genius. This particular disc is as raw and as primal as the blues gets. It features Muddy's band, including Pinetop Perkins, Bob Margolin, Willie Smith, Calvin Jones Luther Johnson in a fired up, red hot, incendiary mood, and they simply burn through the catalog. This version of "Mannish Boy" is the most feral you'll ever hear. "Deep Down in Florida" steams like the Everglades in August. "The Blues had a Baby" rocks with a hip grinding intensity. "I can't Be Satisfied" threatens all sorts of promiscuity, and "Crosseyed Cat" is as quintessentially a part of African American humour (which is also a key element of the blues) as it gets. A bonus track is added from the sessions.
The remastering is incredible: this sounds as though it was done live, first take, and they all nailed it. Were he to have passed away right here, Muddy would have left us with an endearing ememory of his force. But the best was still to come.
Make no mistake, get this. This IS the blues.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rock's "sound" hails from Muddy Waters, December 23, 2004
This review is from: Hard Again (Exp) (Audio CD)
June 29, 2004
Title: Hard Again
Title: I'm Ready
Title: King Bee
Artist: Muddy Waters
Rate: Great
When it rains it pours...
Telling someone with even a modest interest in "GREAT" music to check out a Muddy Waters album is like telling a baseball fan the New York Yankees have had some good players. In an honest discussion Muddy Waters was the foundation that defined popular music in the 20th century.
If there is any question, allow me to erase it now, Muddy Waters, more than Elvis or Chuck Berry or ANYONE ELSE birthed the sound of rock n' roll. Oh yeah, Elvis made it sexy and Chuck gave it lyrics but Muddy birthed it and nurtured it. When the Beatles rolled off the boat in the early `60's all the great blues artists and many of the (white) rock artists got rudely shoved aside. When Johnny Winter got signed in the late `60's he was rumoured to have been the first "rock" solo artist to have received a million dollar recording contract. Go figure! Anyway, within a decade Winter was at the recording helm breathing new life into the great Muddy Waters recording career with these three albums.
In 1977 Johnny and Muddy would release the critically acclaimed album, Hard Again. It was on this album that Waters would re-record his older hits using a `modern' recording studio with one of his great bands including; Pinetop Perkins (piano), James Cotton (harp), Willie `Big Eyes' Smith (drums), `Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin (guitar) and Charles Calmese (bass). I can remember the buzz on this album being so strong that, as a high school senior, going in to purchase the brand new (and only) Sex Pistols album AND the Hard Again...which harkens me back to the time when it was the music that mattered!
So now, much to my own joy, Muddy's `Blue Sky Trilogy' have all been remastered and reissued; Hard Again ('77), I'm Ready ('78), King Bee ('81). No music collection is complete without a worthy sampling of Muddy Waters and no true music fan's knowledge is rounded unless they have developed a full appreciation for the greatness of Muddy Waters. Any of these three discs are worth the time and investment although I recommend beginning with Hard Again.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You must have this!, March 12, 2005
This review is from: Hard Again (Exp) (Audio CD)
As a dumb teenager of 13 years, I first encountered Muddy Waters on the RISKY BUSINESS soundtrack, where buried between Jeff Beck and Bob Seger was "Mannish Boy" (the version found here, on HARD AGAIN). At that braindead age, I jumped the needle to get to "Old Time Rock&Roll". Man, was I dumb.
A few years later, I found that album and listened to the song I was skipping. I was blown away. I had to have more and bought HARD AGAIN. Best money ever spent, period. From the opening of "Mannish Boy" to the National Steel on "I Can't Be Satisfied" to the ultra funky "Cross-eyed Cat", this is the shizzle. Muddy's voice is ultra powerful, Johhny Winter and Bob Margolis interplay their guitars seamlessly and Pinetop Prking just about steals the show. Add Jerry Portnoy's harmonica and you get the most fantastic blues album ever.
If you like music, you must buy this.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
,was produced by Johnny Winter 
