Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live

This is the sho' nuff' blues baby, it's the bluesman Muddy Waters, his amplified bottleneck guitar is howling and his bold rhythmic voice is shouting the harsh realities of life and love from the Mississippi Delta and the cold urban experiences of Chicago. Pat your foot, shake your booty or just get down and do the boogie because Waters and his cohorts are laying down the natural born Mississippi blues in the tradition of his mentors Robert Johnson and Son House. Members of this live performance include guitarist Johnny Winter, the great James Cotton on harmonica, pianist Pine Top Perkins, bassist Calvin Jones and drummer Willie Big Eyes Smith among others.

The interaction between the band is virtually telepathic. These noted songs such as Mannish Boy, She's Nineteen Years Old, Nine Below Zero and Streamline Woman have become Waters' standards and serve as a measuring rod by which all others have been and continue to be measured. It was live performances like this that solidified Waters as one of the unparalleled musicians of modern blues and set the stage for such off-shoots as rock-and-roll and the great British invasion. This set demonstrates how Waters broadened the traditional base of his music to incorporate new instrumental sounds and textures.

-Ron Scott

Accompanied by Johnny Winter and his band, Muddy Waters turns in an enthusiastic performance on Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live. The set list contains most of his biggest hits, and the sound quality and performances are mostly energetic. Still, there's something faintly repetitive about this record. For one thing, there's only one song here, "Deep Down in Florida," that comes from any of Waters' recent albums. All of the others are old standards, which makes this album rather superfluous, since there are equally forceful performances of these cuts elsewhere. It doesn't help any that "Deep Down in Florida" isn't an especially noteworthy song, sounding more like a rewrite of Waters' older, better cuts. Without much in the way of new material, or anything especially notable about the performances, it sometimes comes off as little more than a set of Muddy Waters' greatest hits, with applause as the sole new ingredient. The addition of Johnny Winter is surprisingly unexceptional as well, since Winter fades into the background as much as any other bandmember. None of it is unlistenable, but it's hardly indispensable. Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live is a nice addition to the Muddy Waters catalog, but it's not nearly as essential as his earlier work. ~ Victor W. Valdivia, All Music Guide