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At Newport [Bonus Track] (1960)
by Muddy Waters
For many back in the early '60s, this was their first exposure to live recorded blues, and it's still pretty damn impressive some 40-plus years down the line. Muddy, with a band featuring Otis Spann, James Cotton, and guitarist Pat Hare, lays it down tough and cool with a set that literally had 'em dancing in the aisles by the set closer, a rippling version of "Got My Mojo Working," reprised again in a short encore version. Kicking off the album with a version of "I've Got My Brand on You" that positively burns the relatively tame (in comparison) studio take, Waters heads full bore through impressive versions of "Hoochie Coochie Man," Big Bill Broonzy's "Feel So Good," and "Tiger in Your Tank." A great breakthrough moment in blues history, where the jazz audience opened its ears and embraced Chicago blues. This album was in print almost continuously on vinyl for 20-plus years, and MCA reissued it in a fair CD version in 1986. At least one enterprising European bootlegger issued their version in the early '90s, but the real edition of this album to get is the March 2001 remastering from MCA. Transferred in high-resolution digital audio, it brings up the bass overall and the details of just about every aspect of the playing, as well as moving Muddy's singing several layers forward in the mix, so that one gets a very vivid stage ambience, making the original CD seem very ragged. The reissue has been augmented by the presence of four studio sides cut by the same group a month prior to the concert -- none hold a candle to the live material, but they do fill in a few hole in Muddy's U.S. discography. The new notes by Mary Katherine Aldin also give a much better picture of the background of the show and Muddy's performance (so where's the film of the performance that she mentions?) [Chess' 2001 reissue featured one bonus track.] ~ Cub Koda & Bruce Eder, Rovi Hide synopsis
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