The Grand Wazoo
31-07-2012, 21:32
Album Club: 31.07.2012: Muddy Waters – ‘Folk Singer' (1964)
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51qxGkmDZqL._SS500_.jpg
Play it on Spotify if you have an account:
spotify:album:5cLWh6nwcLUX2H4oGfW9Rx
Play it on Grooveshark if you don't: Muddy Waters – Folk Singer (http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/Folk+Singer/312509)
Wikipedia Link: Album (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_Singer)
Wikipedia Link: Muddy Waters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muddy_Waters)
When he was on a tour of the South, recording music for the Library of Congress in 1941, Alan Lomax was trying to find Robert Johnson in order to document his songs. He discovered that Johnson was dead but made the first recording of Muddy Waters instead. Muddy got two copies of the record and a cheque for $40, but even more importantly, he got the confidence to believe that he could make a life in Chicago as a professional musician.
After a time doing driving jobs and working in a factory during the day, and playing for house parties and opening spots in clubs for Big Bill Broonzy, Muddy eventually got to do some recording. By this time, he’d moved to electric guitar because the atmosphere of the gigs was so rowdy & an acoustic couldn’t be heard above the din. He recorded some sides for Columbia that remained unreleased until much later, but then found his home at what eventually became Chess Records.
After some huge hit records, and three albums, the electric blues looked like becoming forgotten amid the new folk revival, so Chess decided to record what must have been the first ‘unplugged’ album in order to cash in. This was just Muddy going back to his roots, hence the reason for the great performances on ‘Folk Singer’.
It was well received by the critics but didn’t really sell all that all well at the time (never actually making the chart), but has grown over the years in stature to become what is probably one of the most important blues records ever.
The band included Waters on guitar, Willie Dixon on bass, Otis Spann on harmonica and piano and Buddy Guy also on guitar. The sound quality is superb, rich and liquid with the band perfectly portrayed in all planes, and with every note captured just as it should be. A Rolling Stone magazine review said:
"...There aren't too many blues albums that qualify as audiophile recordings, but Muddy Waters Folk Singer surely does. A wonderfully intimate session, it delivers Waters' voice in all its power and subtlety, while rendering his guitar work...with such vivid realism, you would think you were sitting in the studio...."
The album is readily available on vinyl and CD and it's cheap on CD. It's often reissued in audiophile formats.
May I commend this record to the house? - fill yer boots with the blues!
VOTING - please note that as well as the normal marks out of ten, this time there's the chance to tell us if you already know this album or not, so first select A or B and then select your vote out of ten
Note: - The Spotify & Grooveshark versions here have extra tracks that weren't on the original nine track release (the final track originally being 'Feel Like Going Home').
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51qxGkmDZqL._SS500_.jpg
Play it on Spotify if you have an account:
spotify:album:5cLWh6nwcLUX2H4oGfW9Rx
Play it on Grooveshark if you don't: Muddy Waters – Folk Singer (http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/Folk+Singer/312509)
Wikipedia Link: Album (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_Singer)
Wikipedia Link: Muddy Waters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muddy_Waters)
When he was on a tour of the South, recording music for the Library of Congress in 1941, Alan Lomax was trying to find Robert Johnson in order to document his songs. He discovered that Johnson was dead but made the first recording of Muddy Waters instead. Muddy got two copies of the record and a cheque for $40, but even more importantly, he got the confidence to believe that he could make a life in Chicago as a professional musician.
After a time doing driving jobs and working in a factory during the day, and playing for house parties and opening spots in clubs for Big Bill Broonzy, Muddy eventually got to do some recording. By this time, he’d moved to electric guitar because the atmosphere of the gigs was so rowdy & an acoustic couldn’t be heard above the din. He recorded some sides for Columbia that remained unreleased until much later, but then found his home at what eventually became Chess Records.
After some huge hit records, and three albums, the electric blues looked like becoming forgotten amid the new folk revival, so Chess decided to record what must have been the first ‘unplugged’ album in order to cash in. This was just Muddy going back to his roots, hence the reason for the great performances on ‘Folk Singer’.
It was well received by the critics but didn’t really sell all that all well at the time (never actually making the chart), but has grown over the years in stature to become what is probably one of the most important blues records ever.
The band included Waters on guitar, Willie Dixon on bass, Otis Spann on harmonica and piano and Buddy Guy also on guitar. The sound quality is superb, rich and liquid with the band perfectly portrayed in all planes, and with every note captured just as it should be. A Rolling Stone magazine review said:
"...There aren't too many blues albums that qualify as audiophile recordings, but Muddy Waters Folk Singer surely does. A wonderfully intimate session, it delivers Waters' voice in all its power and subtlety, while rendering his guitar work...with such vivid realism, you would think you were sitting in the studio...."
The album is readily available on vinyl and CD and it's cheap on CD. It's often reissued in audiophile formats.
May I commend this record to the house? - fill yer boots with the blues!
VOTING - please note that as well as the normal marks out of ten, this time there's the chance to tell us if you already know this album or not, so first select A or B and then select your vote out of ten
Note: - The Spotify & Grooveshark versions here have extra tracks that weren't on the original nine track release (the final track originally being 'Feel Like Going Home').