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MUDDY WATERS
Fathers And Sons (MCA/Chess)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale
The sixties weren't the easiest time for Muddy Waters. The Delta native had established himself as one of the pre-eminent practitioners of the Chicago blues after his move north, but he'd never been a true crossover artist, and new R&B styles were capturing the charts, making his music sound dated. He drew upon his Mississippi roots to refashion himself as a folk-blues artist when that fashion came by, but his attempt to cross over and appeal to the audience that was so enthusiastic about the young, white and largely British bluesmen who had adapted his licks and lyrics in a more contemporary style were, for the most part, disastrous. Nothing epitomized Muddy's plight more than 1968's Electric Mud, a musical failure of historical proportions.
The decade couldn't end on such a sour note for such a great bluesman, and this is the album that turned it around. Fathers And Sons put Waters and his longtime keyboardist Otis Spann together with three members of the best young blues band Chicago produced in the sixties, the Butterfield Blues Band. Harp-meister Paul Butterfield himself, guitarist Michael Bloomfield and drummer Sam Lay were joined by Donald "Duck" Dunn, bassist for the MGs and the bottom end on countless Stax/Volt soul sessions. This group assembled in the studio and prepared ten tracks for release, which are supplemented here by four previously unreleased cuts from the same sessions. Bloomfield and Butterfield were sons of Muddy and Otis in a very real sense, having been schooled by the masters in the Southside clubs they began to frequent even before it was exactly legal for them to do so. Sam Lay had a bit of a jump on his old bandmates, having played the drums behind the legendary Howlin' Wolf before hooking up with Butterfield. With Butter and Bloomers, Duck Dunn was the third white player on the sessions, though there were only a few fans of his many recordings that even suspected that might be true.
When the studio work was over, the band assembled in front of an audience to cut six more tracks for the second half of the original double album release. The lineup shifted at the very end when Buddy Miles was brought out to close "Got My Mojo Working" in place of Lay. Miles, of course, was a member of Bloomfield's American Flag, enroute to his tenure with Jimi Hendrix in Band Of Gypsies. His spot in this august company was well deserved.
In the end, though, what really counts is that all the assembled musicians provided Muddy Waters with just the kind of sympathetic but contemporary backing he needed to put his music across to a new generation. While his legend was already secure, this music resurrected his career and led to a string of future live and recording successes. One listen and you'll know exactly why. This is one of the most welcome remaster/reissues in years.
Track List:
(Studio) All Aboard * Mean Disposition * Blow Wind Blow * Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had * Walking Thru The Park * Forty Days And Forty Nights * Standin' Round Cryin' * I'm Ready * Twenty Four Hours * Sugar Sweet * Country Boy * I Love The Life I Live (I Live The Life I Love) * Oh Yeah * I Feel So Good * (Live) Long Distance Call * Baby, Please Don't Go * Honey Bee * The Same Thing * Got My Mojo Working (Part One) * Got My Mojo Working (Part Two)
© 2002 - Shaun Dale