Breakin' It Up & Breakin' It Down

Performer: Muddy Waters
Producer: Steve Berkowitz; Al Quaglieri; Bob Margolin
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Muddy Waters (guitar); Johnny Winter (guitar); James Cotton (harp). Additional personnel: Bob Margolin (guitar); Pinetop Perkins (piano); Charles Calmese (bass guitar); Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith (drums). Muddy Waters's career was revitalized in the 1970s when he fell in with Johnny Winter, recording the classic HARD AGAIN and a good deal of live material with Winter and singer/harmonica player James Cotton. BREAKIN' IT UP, BREAKIN' IT DOWN culls from these same live recordings, and features material that wasn't included on MUDDY 'MISSISSIPPI' WATERS LIVE or the subsequent expanded version of that album. Fans of Waters's music (and his '70s work in particular) will find much of the old magic here. Waters lets loose on several numbers, including his classics "I Can't Be Satisfied" and "Got My Mojo Workin'," while Winter and Cotton offer takes on other blues gems (Winter turns in a smoking version of John Lee Hooker's "I Done Got Over It," for example). The recordings feature chops galore, but never at the expense of that vintage South Chicago sound. In March 1977, Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter, and James Cotton did a concert tour together in support of Waters' then-recent Hard Again LP, on which Winter had played guitar (as well as produced) and Cotton had played harmonica. This CD, not released until about 30 years later, has an hour of music drawn from three different shows on the tour. It might have been spurred by a Muddy Waters album, but in fact Waters, Winter, and Cotton all took vocals -- sometimes alone, and sometimes on the same song -- on stage, and these 11 songs feature the vocals of each of the three in about equal measure. Often these kind of touring combinations are too many cooks in the kitchen, or, if not quite that, at least more fun to attend than to listen to on tape. The latter could be said of the material on this disc, which is really just okay, not great, and not even among the best recordings that have been issued of Waters in the mid-'70s. It's still solid and decent, including some Waters classics ("Can't Be Satisfied," "Got My Mojo Workin'," "Trouble No More"), Cotton originals, and covers of staples by Jackie Brenston ("Rocket 88"), John Lee Hooker ("I Done Got Over It"), J.B. Lenoir ("Mama Talk to Your Daughter"), Lowell Fulson ("Love Her with a Feeling"), and Elmore James ("Dust My Broom"), as well as the famed jump blues "Caledonia." It's undeniable, however, that Waters was, even at this relatively advanced age, by far the most commanding singer of the trio. The songs on which his vocals are prominent (especially "Can't Be Satisfied" and "Trouble No More") kind of dwarf the ones on which his singing is absent or secondary, making the cuts that emphasize Cotton and Winter seem rather workmanlike in comparison. Nevertheless, the sound is good, and the band filled out competently with sidemen (particularly Pinetop Perkins on piano), making this a satisfactory listen for serious blues collectors, though a little superfluous for most fans. ~ Richie Unterberger

Dirty Linen (p.79) - "Waters, in particular, was in fine form....This is a very hot, enjoyable souvenir of a wonderful tour." Living Blues (p.58) - "Blues has seldom been more fun than this; it's a party from beginning to end....Take a journey back to a time when this kind of unfettered enthusiasm could be enjoyed without irony and without reservation. This is the real thing."

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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