At Newport [Remaster]

Performer: Muddy Waters
Artist: James Cotton; Otis Spann; Langston Hughes
Producer: Andy McKaie (Reissue)
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: This reissue contains 4 mono bonus studio tracks. Personnel includes: Muddy Waters (vocals, guitar); Langston Hughes (spoken vocals); Pat Hare (guitar); James Cotton (harmonica); Otis Span (piano, background vocals); Andrew Stevenson (bass); Francis Clay (drums). Recorded live at Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, Rhode Island on July 3, 1960 and Chicago, Illinois in June 1960. Includes liner notes by Mary Katherine Aldin and Jack Tracy. Digitally remastered by Erick Labson (Universal Mastering). For many back in the early '60s, this was their first exposure to live recorded blues, and it's still pretty damn impressive some 40-plus years down the line. Muddy, with a band featuring Otis Spann, James Cotton, and guitarist Pat Hare, lays it down tough and cool with a set that literally had 'em dancing in the aisles by the set closer, a rippling version of "Got My Mojo Working," reprised again in a short encore version. Kicking off the album with a version of "I've Got My Brand on You" that positively burns the relatively tame (in comparison) studio take, Waters heads full bore through impressive versions of "Hoochie Coochie Man," Big Bill Broonzy's "Feel So Good," and "Tiger in Your Tank." A great breakthrough moment in blues history, where the jazz audience opened its ears and embraced Chicago blues. This album was in print almost continuously on vinyl for 20-plus years, and MCA reissued it in a fair CD version in 1986. At least one enterprising European bootlegger issued their version in the early '90s, but the real edition of this album to get is the March 2001 remastering from MCA. Transferred in high-resolution digital audio, it brings up the bass overall and the details of just about every aspect of the playing, as well as moving Muddy's singing several layers forward in the mix, so that one gets a very vivid stage ambience, making the original CD seem very ragged. The reissue has been augmented by the presence of four studio sides cut by the same group a month prior to the concert -- none hold a candle to the live material, but they do fill in a few holes in Muddy's U.S. discography. The new notes by Mary Katherine Aldin also give a much better picture of the background of the show and Muddy's performance (so where's the film of the performance that she mentions?) ~ Cub Koda & Bruce Eder The old cover photograph of Muddy clutching John Lee Hooker's guitar gave the impression that he was at a Folk Festival rather than the prestigious Newport Jazz Festival. However, the record revealed the King of Chicago blues at his very best, shouting his music above the discordant wail of a band that included Otis Spann, James Cotton, Pat Hare and Francis Clay. Film of the event shows a sharply dressed Muddy shimmying and jiving around the stage with the energy of a man half his age. Some of that atmosphere is apparent on the record, in a program that includes 'Hoochie Coochie Man', Big Bill Broonzy's 'I Feel So Good', recent singles 'I Got My Brand On You' and 'Soon Forgotten', and a massive 'Got My Mojo Working'. The set ends in poignant mood with the announcement of the end of the Festival and Otis Spann's improvised 'Goodbye Newport Blues'.

Vibe (12/99, p.160) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century

Originally a Delta bluesman in the vein of Son House, Muddy Waters moved north in the 1940s and became the leader of the first--and greatest--electric Chicago blues band. Waters' abrasive guitar, impassioned singing, and commanding stage presence inspired generations of disciples, and hits like "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "I've Got My Mojo Workin'" are now indisputable classics.

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