Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live [Deluxe Edition] [Remaster]

Performer: Muddy Waters
Artist: Bob Margolin; Willie "Big Eyes" Smith; Johnny Winter; James Cotton
Engineer: Dave Still; Matt Cavaluzzo; Rick Jacobsohn; Woody Pornpitaksuk; Mark Wilder; Seth Foster
Producer: Johnny Winter; Al Quaglieri (Reissue); Steve Berkowitz (Reissue); Bob Margolin (Reissue)
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Muddy Waters (vocals, guitar, slide guitar); Johnny Winter, Bob Margolin, Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson (guitar); Jerry Portnoy, James Cotton (harmonica); Pine Top Perkins (piano); Calvin Jones, Charles Calmese (bass); Willie "Big Eyes" Smith (drums). Includes liner notes by Robert Gordon and Bob Margolin. Personnel: Muddy Waters (vocals, guitar); Johnny Winter, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, Bob Margolin (guitar); Jerry Portnoy (harmonica); Pinetop Perkins (piano); Willie "Big Eyes" Smith (drums). Audio Mixers: Dave Still; Thom Cadley. Liner Note Authors: Robert Gordon; Bob Margolin. Recording information: Harry Hope's, Cary, IL (03/18/1977-08/26/1978); Masonic Auditorium, Detroit, MI (03/18/1977-08/26/1978). Photographers: David Gahr; Paul Natkin; Jim Marshall . Unknown Contributor Role: Eric Clapton. Muddy Waters was sharp enough to realize he was onto a good thing after Johnny Winter helped him get back to his roots on 1977's HARD AGAIN. He continued working with Winter in the same no-nonsense vein through the rest of the decade. The fruit of their collaboration can be heard in a live setting on this 1979 release, which takes HARD AGAIN's brand of revitalized Muddy to the stage. Backed by his regular band plus Winter, Muddy invests these songs with so much emotion you'd swear it was the first time he'd sung "Mannish Boy" instead of the ten-thousandth. Willie "Big Eyes" Smith's simple, insistent drums, and the guitars of Winter, Bob Margolin and Luther Johnson move together with the single-minded precision of a power drill, with Muddy playing the part of the husky-voiced drill bit. Amazingly, Muddy's power is undiminished from his '50s salad days. When he closes with a newer number about "going down to Florida," there's no need to worry about early retirement. He sounds ready to keep going as long as there's life in him. And that's exactly what he did. In its original edition as a 1979 live album, Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live was a pleasing but inessential adddition to the great bluesman's catalog. The classic versions of most of the numbers from Waters' live set at the time are found on much earlier studio recordings, and there are better Waters live recordings as well. All that taken into account, it's questionable as to whether a two-CD expanded deluxe edition of the release was hungered after by many listeners. But the tapes were out there, and in 2003 here it came, the first CD being just a straight reissue of the 1979 LP, the second disc including no less than an hour of additional music. All of the music on disc two was previously unreleased, and all of it was recorded at the same August 1978 shows that yielded the bulk of the original LP. It's the second disc, naturally, that will hold the most interest for Waters fans, and it shares both the assets and shortcomings of the material on disc one. In its favor, these are good performances with good backup musicians, including Johnny Winter, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, and Bob Margolin on guitars, James Cotton on harmonica, and Pinetop Perkins on piano. To its detriment, most of the songs are old chestnuts available in more memorable studio versions and in some cases other live Waters recordings, including "Hoochie Coochie Man," "Got My Mojo Workin'," and "Mannish Boy." There are a few songs that aren't as commonly available by Waters in live variations, like "Champagne and Reefer," performed here prior to its release on King Bee (with Waters stumbling on some of the lyrics); the traditional "Corrina, Corrina"; an "After Hours"/"Stormy Monday Blues" medley; "Kansas City," on which vocals are shared by Waters and Perkins; and "Trouble No More," which according to Margolin's liner notes "is one of the very few live versions of this song." Still, overall this is fairly far down on the pecking order of Waters albums, live or otherwise. ~ Richie Unterberger In its original edition as a 1979 live album, Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live was a pleasing addition to the great bluesman's catalog. The first CD here is a straight reissue of the 1979 LP, the second disc including no less than an hour of additional music. All of the music on disc two was previously unreleased, and all of it was recorded at the same August 1978 shows that yielded the bulk of the original LP. It's the second disc, naturally, that will hold the most interest for Waters fans. These are good performances with good backup musicians, including Johnny Winter, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, and Bob Margolin on guitars, James Cotton on harmonica, and Pinetop Perkins on piano. Most of the songs are old chestnuts and include "Hoochie Coochie Man," "Got My Mojo Workin'," and "Mannish Boy." There are a few songs that aren't as commonly available by Waters in live variations, like "Champagne and Reefer," performed here prior to its release on King Bee (with Waters stumbling on some of the lyrics); the traditional "Corrina, Corrina"; an "After Hours"/"Stormy Monday Blues" medley; "Kansas City," on which vocals are shared by Waters and Perkins; and "Trouble No More," which according to Margolin's liner notes "is one of the very few live versions of this song." ~ Richie Unterberger

Rolling Stone (12/25/03, p.112) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Top 10 Reissues of 2003" - "...Electrifying club dates..." Q (2/04, p.119) - 4 stars out of 5 - "When this excellent set was recorded, Waters was pushing a venerable 64 and he managed to turn all that age and experience to his advantage."

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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