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Here are the liner notes I wrote for the Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live Deluxe Edition: Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live was one of the peaks of Muddy's career, near the end of his life. Recorded at a concert featuring Johnny Winter and James Cotton and at a club date with his band, this Grammy-winning album showed the depth he'd developed since pioneering Chicago Blues in the '50s. A second CD unearths unreleased live tracks from the club shows that were originally recorded for the album. They feature Muddy's road band and reveal Muddy Waters, the legend and The Man, more than any other recordings. The original recordings were lovingly produced by Johnny Winter.
MUDDY "MISSISSIPPI" WATERS LIVE DELUXE EDITION LINER
NOTES They say "you can't take it with you," but Muddy did when he died in 1983. There will never be another bluesman like him. Even if someone is born with comparable talent and charisma, the Mississippi Delta and the tough streets of Chicago that spawned and shaped Muddy are long gone. Muddy Waters is a legend, an icon of American Music for the Chicago Blues he pioneered in the 1950's. Still on the road in the late '70s, he teamed with his friend and admirer Johnny Winter for four albums on the Blue Sky label, Hard Again, I'm Ready, Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live, and King Bee. These albums introduced him to a new, wider audience. The mature Muddy, in his early 60's, had developed more depth and power without losing his original fire. His band of this time owned a signature sound grown over hundreds of nights on bandstands all over the world. I played guitar next to Muddy in that band. One night after a particularly strong show around the time these recordings were made, Muddy told me that we were his best band since his original band featuring Little Walter and Jimmy Rogers - "tight as frog booty, and that's waterproof," Muddy complimented. I'm proud to work on this re-issue of Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live. It seemed obvious when it was released, and more so in hindsight, that this album was his musical peak of that era. But I think you will find, as I did, that the previously-unreleased tracks on the second CD are as strong, sometimes stronger, and actually more revealing of who Muddy was than any other recording. Because the original Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live is known and loved by so many blues fans, we have not changed the song choice or sequence (We considered it because there are two long, similar slow blues right next to each other - the pacing could be better). We have, however, used modern studio tools to preserve the clarity and power of the original multi-track tapes and let you hear details that were obscure on the original LP's and CD's. Also, I know what we sounded like live - I was standing right in the middle of it every time we played. The sound of that band is as familiar to me as my mother's voice, and whenever I hear it, I'm Home. I've tried to use that perspective, and everything I've learned about playing and recording and producing in the 25 years since, to make the recordings feel right today and take me Home again. It's a labor of love, and I'm grateful to Sony/Legacy for the opportunity. Co-producer Al Quaglieri and Sony studio engineer Thom Cadley were essential at every step of creating this Deluxe Edition from the raw tapes. Executive Producer Steve Berkowitz' conception makes it so much more than a simple re-issue. I know Sony/Legacy's Steve Berkowitz from when we were playing guitar in different blues bands in Boston, before I joined Muddy's band in '73. Hanging together in Memphis a few years ago for the W.C. Handy Awards, Steve told me that Legacy independent producer Bob Irwin had discovered the original multi-track tapes recorded for Muddy's Blue Sky albums, about to be discarded. Steve, Bob, Al, and Marc Kirkeby (Sony Tape Archivist) saved them and preserved them and made rough-mix reference dubs to hear what was there. Steve did the necessary business to acquire the rights to the tapes from the defunct Blues Sky label and Muddy's estate. These tapes revealed not only the recordings that became Muddy's four Blue Sky albums, but studio out-takes and a few live shows. Some were from the concerts Muddy did right after the first album, Hard Again, was released. These featured the players that were on that album -- Johnny Winter, Muddy, and James Cotton backed by me, Pinetop Perkins, and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith from Muddy's band and the late Charles Calmese, from Cotton's band, on bass. More original tapes of Muddy and Johnny Winter at this time were recently provided by Johnny Winter's manager, Teddy Slatus. There will be more albums coming soon. The second CD comes from multi-track tapes recorded over two days in August, 1978 at Harry Hope's, a music club. Some of these tracks were already used on "Muddy 'Mississippi' Waters Live," but those that weren't chosen for that album have not been heard since the '70s. It's the best recording of what Muddy and his band of this time sounded like live back then. Harry Hope's had been reconstructed from a ski lodge in Cary, Illinois, about 45 miles west of Chicago. From the mid- to late-70's, Muddy played there a few times each year. The room held about 300 people, with ampitheater-style seating, so everyone had a good view. The wooden walls reflected warmly and complemented Muddy's blues. This club and The Quiet Knight in Chicago were Muddy's "home" gigs - he lived in suburban Westmont, Illinois. His family and friends were with him, his road manager/designated guitar player Brian Bisesi took care of his every comfort and professional need, and he was relaxed and happy and inspired to grace us with his deepest blues as well as his warm, playful side. Audiences for live music knew intuitively then that they were part of the experience, not just observers. Their contageous response inspired the band. * * * Let's go back to your place, raise a toast to Muddy and to good blues and days gone by, and I'll point out some interesting details and tell you some stories as we enjoy these recordings together: Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live, the original album: "Mannish Boy" was always a signature song for Muddy, one he could count on to devastate an audience. It is, of course, based on Bo Diddley's '50s hit "I'm A Man" and it was common practice then, if an artist had a hit, another might try to have one with a similar song or style. Whether that works or not depends on the copy-cat and song, and Muddy's song was at least as powerful as Bo's. By the early '70s, Muddy wasn't performing this song often. I remember that on October 6, 1974, Muddy headlined a show at Carnegie Hall with John Lee Hooker, James Cotton, and Hound Dog Taylor. Spurred to be competitive by a backstage joking remark, Muddy pulled out "Mannish Boy," and became possessed with it -- stalking around the stage, hollering, then falling to the ground and rollin' and tumblin' and crashing into the amplifiers. Onstage with him, I thought, "This is it, the Old Man's gone nuts and then had a heart attack!" I never saw him go that far with it again, but he certainly showed everyone why he was the headliner that night. In October, '76, Muddy re-recorded the song for Hard Again and from then on, he performed it most nights he played, always a show-stopper. This version is from a concert tour and features Johnny Winter and James Cotton, with Johnny sharing the vocals and contributing guitar fills. You can hear Muddy turn to me after the first two "Oh yeah's" and observe, "Somethin' sharp." Muddy had a great ear for pitch and could tell if any of the instruments were out of tune even with seven people playing at once. I wasn't very far out of tune, but I lowered my D string before I hit it again. "She's Nineteen Years Old," "Streamline Woman," and "Howlin' Wolf" are slow blues that showcase Muddy's voice and his trademark slide guitar. Because Muddy was such a star and a great singer, it's easy to forget what a great guitar player he was. He played his red '57 Telecaster (new extra-wide rosewood neck in '61, now in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame) through a '60s Fender Super Reverb, biased to distort easily. You could spend your life trying to master that slide guitar style, as I have, but Muddy took it with him. I never saw a guitar player stand next to him on a bandstand and cut him once he slid that slide. Muddy used to say that "slow blues is where all the Soul is." I believe that if not for considerations of pacing, Muddy would have played nothing but slow blues. "Nine Below Zero" reveals the bass guitar sound of Charles Calmese from James Cotton's band, a little brighter and slicker than Muddy's bass player, Calvin "Fuzz" Jones would have played it. Setting up for the only rehearsal just before the start of the tour on which this song was recorded, Charles was playing some Larry Graham thumb-popping licks that were sweeping the Bass Guitar World. Muddy hurried out of the dressing room, got right up in Charles' hapless young face, and roared, "I HATE THAT SHIT!" Charles, a dynamic modern player, made sure he gave Muddy as much deep blues bass as he could, only showing off when Muddy wasn't onstage and Johnny or James were singing. "Baby Please Don't Go," which Muddy learned while playing with Big Joe Williams, was another of his signature songs. We played on a festival with Big Joe in the mid-'70s and I introduced myself to him as Muddy's guitar player. Big Joe told me, "I used to take Muddy on the road with me in the '30s, but I had to fire him - he was gettin' all the..." Big Joe used a word for a small part of a woman. Later the same day, I mentioned to Muddy that I'd met Big Joe and he smiled and told me, "I used to play for Big Joe, but he fired me because I got all the..." Muddy used the same word. On this version, taken from the Harry Hope's tape, Muddy performs it about as well as ever, and the song really takes off during Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson's stinging West Side-style guitar solo. "Deep Down In Florida" was written by Muddy for Hard Again and he performed it often. He mentions Gainesville, Florida, and we had an "old friend" who lived there, Brooklyn harp player Joe Berson, who passed sadly in the early '90s. But even more personal, Muddy met Marva, his third wife, there. While performing in Gainesville for a few days, one afternoon Muddy called my hotel room and asked me to run an errand for him. When I got back and knocked on his door, one of the hotel maids opened it from inside to reveal Muddy sitting up in bed, drinking champagne and wearing a Playboy-style smoking jacket, with young, pretty maids all around him. Coming out of the intense Florida sunshine, I squinted into the dim light and Muddy warned me, "Don't look at this one, I'm going to marry this one!" And he did. On this recording, Johnny plays open-A slide guitar and my solo cops guitar licks played by harp master Little Walter on Jimmy Rogers' song "Money, Marbles, and Chalk." Second CD: "After Hours/Stormy Monday." This may be the most important song on both CD's because in his playful band introductions, his reminiscing about T-Bone Walker, and his sudden delivery of the deepest blues, Muddy revealed so much of who he was. Muddy sang this when he took the bandstand for the second set of the night. Muddy had enjoyed playing a strong first set and had been relaxing in the dressing room with his friends and family. He had a rider in his performance contracts for the venues to provide a bottle of vintage Piper-Heidseick champagne and he probably had imbibed a touch more than usual this night. He takes the stage, begins to introduce the band and can't hear himself, so he tests the mic impatiently, "Hello, Hello, who is you?" The soundman had not turned his mic on yet in the club's sound system though it was still feeding the tape recorder. When he could hear the mic, Muddy slurs "Yeah, hey..." and you can hear the champagne, maybe a little reefer too. He complains about how the club owner wants two sets, "will not let me leave after one like a gentleman." He playfully introduces the band and it was one of the few times he pronounced my name close to right. As I begin to play some T-Bone Walker licks, Muddy muses over T-Bone's recent death - "...never will be replaced-ed..." Lost in music and memories, he doesn't actually call T-Bone's name but the subject is obvious to any blues fan when he begins to sing "Stormy Monday." I think this song is the vocal high point of these albums as well as an intimate look at Muddy, the man. The day after we mixed this song, in August, 2002, I drove to Chicago to pick up Willie Smith, the drummer on these albums, to do some gigs together. Willie lives next to Muddy's old apartment on the South Side of Chicago. There's a historic plaque in front of 4339 So. Lake Park. As I pulled up to the curb, Muddy's stepson, Charles Williams, came walking by. I hadn't seen Charles since Muddy's funeral. I told him we were mixing songs from Harry Hope's and he told me he used to like the way I played guitar on "Stormy Monday." Since I had the CD-R of the new mixes in my van's CD player, I opened the door and played "Stormy Monday" for Charles. We got goosebumps as Muddy's unique voice suddenly rang out strong, clear, and alive in front of his old apartment building almost 20 years after his death. "Trouble No More" is one of very few live versions of this song, which was covered famously by The Allman Brothers. Jerry Portnoy's expressive harp solo is based on Little Walter's on the original, but Jerry interpreted it with his own signature style and sound. With playing like this, Jerry earned his world's-most-coveted harp sideman gig. "Champagne and Reefer" is Muddy's "My Favorite Things," set to the music for "Rock Me." Muddy recorded this song on his next album, King Bee, but on this prototype version, you can hear him actually developing the lyrics onstage, stumbling on some of them. The very next night, he had it all together, but I thought you'd want to hear how Muddy wrote songs. "Corrina" is a traditional blues though not really Chicago Blues. After the second vocal line, Muddy turns away from his mic and instructs the band, in time, "Down, down, down." Apparently he was hearing us louder than he cared to, and he wanted us to drop our volume under his voice. That wasn't always easy to do because Muddy did not use vocal monitors, just hearing himself in the distance from the house speakers. If it really bothered him, he would give the offending player a dirty look and stick a finger in his ear nearest the culprit. Muddy was not a grouchy guy most of the time, but if he felt the band was too loud for him, he'd tell us, "You guys are fucking up a million-dollar voice!" I'd pay a million dollars to have Muddy's voice, but I have neither and it's not for sale. "Hoochie Coochie Man" was one of Muddy's biggest '50s hits, written by Willie Dixon. You can hear him play the opening lick on the neck pickup (mellower) of his Telecaster, and then immediately switch to the more cutting bridge pickup, for the rest of the song. "She Moves Me." This slow blues vocal and slide guitar showcase is perhaps more fiery than the three similar slow blues song on the first CD. Muddy did not sing this often. "Kansas City." Pinetop Perkins used to sing this song by himself before or after Muddy came onstage, but in 1975 when Muddy recorded The Woodstock Album (his last for Chess Records, produced by Levon Helm and Paul Butterfield), Muddy told Pinetop he was going to share vocals with him on "Kansas City" as well as "Caledonia." From then on, Muddy and Pinetop traded vocals and Muddy added his bit at the end about gettin' all the crazy little women in Kansas City. It also turns into a showcase for solos by the band. On the first guitar solo that I take, I play two choruses that I developed and played close to the same way each time -- in '75, I played it in Macon, Georgia and when I finished it I saw Dickie Betts from the Allman Brothers standing in front of me, yelling and bowing. I figured I better keep that solo. The second solo I took is in the spirit of the late Luther "Georgia Boy" "Snake" Johnson, a guitar player who worked in Muddy's band in the late '60s. I played in Luther's band in late '71 and early '72, before I was in Muddy's band. "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie/Hold It." This was Pinetop's showcase song. The original was done by Pinetop Smith in the early part of the Twentieth Century and Willie Perkins was so inspired by it that he took the name "Pinetop" and first recorded his version of this song for Sun Records in the early '50s. Frankly, this boogie woogie speeds up like crazy in the heat and beat of the moment, but still grooves. "I Want You To Love Me." The original title of this song, first recorded in the '50s, was "Mad Love" and that's what Muddy called it. It's a hypnotic groove and as in "Trouble No More," Jerry Portnoy's harp creates it's own blues world, supporting Muddy's voice with warbles, and shooting out angry blue notes like lightning bolts. "Everything's Gonna Be Alright." Muddy used to use this song, originally done by his former harp player, Little Walter, as a break song and band introduction. Muddy sounds particularly lively and sharp and starts to really stylize his vocal after the introductions before handing the vocal over to Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson. Luther was a great singer and guitar player who had replaced Hollywood Fats in the band in December 1973. Muddy takes the vocal back from Luther for the classic delayed ending. "Got My Mojo Workin'." This version is strongly played but is distinctive for being extremely rapid. Muddy leaves out the verse, "I got a gypsy woman givin' me advice..." but delivers an aggressively romantic ending. * * * Did you ever see the end of a movie where they tell you what became of the characters years later? As of 2003: Muddy, sadly, began to suffer a decline in health in 1979 and passed away in 1983. These recordings are not his last, but they are his last that display him at full power. Johnny Winter did not go back to playing rock music, he stayed with the blues after working with Muddy. He continued to record and tour. His manager Teddy Slatus, who road managed Johnny's tours with Muddy, tells me Johnny's enjoying a recent improvement in his health and working on a new blues album. James Cotton has continued to tour and record almost constantly, winning Grammy Awards, every night earning his reputation as one of the all-time greatest harp players. Pinetop Perkins was born in 1913 yet continues to perform and record. His manager, Pat Morgan, guards his comfort and happiness and Pinetop enjoys recognition as a true blues legend. His youthful spirit, energy, and deep blue piano playing and singing are an inspiration. Willie "Big Eyes" Smith tours constantly both as a drummer and harp player/vocalist and records albums as a bandleader. He is considered to be the greatest Chicago Blues drummer alive today. Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson has overcome major health problems and still plays and records. He is a great West Side-style singer and guitar player, and always puts on a strong show. He lives in New Hampshire. Jerry Portnoy impressed Eric Clapton so much when they met a couple of months after these recordings, that Eric used him in his band whenever he was focusing on blues in the '80s and '90s. Still recording and playing as a bandleader, Jerry has produced a 3-CD harp lesson box set that is the ultimate blues harp educational tool. Calvin "Fuzz" Jones plays occasional gigs, sounding stronger than ever on bass and singing. He lives in Senatobia, Mississippi. Charles Calmese was James Cotton's bass player and performed on the "Evening of Blues with Johnny Winter, Muddy Waters, and James Cotton" tour. The youngest of us, only 24 when these recordings were made, Charles lost his life in a mid-'80s car wreck. Bob Margolin - I've had the honor and pleasure to produce this Deluxe Edition for you. I've led my own band since leaving Muddy's and recorded extensively as a leader and sideman. I still go all over the world to play my guitar, as I did when I was with Muddy. I also write a regular column for Blues Revue magazine. In 1993, Boston booking agent Jack Randall conceived The Muddy Waters Tribute Band, featuring all the musicians from Muddy's band that you hear on the second CD of this set. We play a few gigs or tours together each year, though Pinetop rarely tours with us any more, and we recorded a Grammy-nominated album together with big-name guests in '95 for Telarc Records. For the last few years, I've been putting together revues with some of my old friends, and The Bob Margolin All-Star Blues Jam, also on Telarc Records, can show you what Pinetop, Willie, and I sound like now.
Thanks for time-traveling with me, |
I am co-producing reissues of Muddy Waters' late-'70s Blue Sky
recordings, which include three Grammy Award-winning albums and
unreleased live recordings from clubs and concerts. I played guitar
on all of the recordings and it's an honor to bring them to modern
audiences. Featured with Muddy are Johnny Winter and James Cotton
as well as Muddy's legendary road band. The first release, on September 2, 2003, will be
the Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live Legacy Edition
which will include the original album, Muddy's best from that time,
re-mixed and re-mastered with a bonus CD of live recordings made by
Muddy and his band at a club in '78.