MUDDY WATERS
The Lost Tapes [Enhanced CD] (Blind Pig Records)
Reviewed by Eric Steiner

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There's a lot of Muddy Waters reissues out there, but The Lost Tapes is the real deal. Recorded live in the Pacific Northwest in 1971, The Lost Tapes captures Muddy Waters and a great Chicago blues lineup that includes Pinetop Perkins on piano, Sammy Lawhorn and Pee Wee Madison on guitar, Calvin "Fuzz" Jones on bass, George "Harmonica" Smith on harp and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith on drums. This was Muddy's touring band featuring many veteran Chicago bluesmen, shortly before Johnny Winter and Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin' signed on. Muddy's slide guitar shines on "Honey Bee" and Pinetop's boogie on "Walking Through the Park" is infectious. These cuts have been heard before, but The Lost Tapes is truly a treasure. Just listen to Muddy's introduction to "She's Nineteen Years Old:" his passion shows through. Unfortunately, the producer of these sets, Link Wyler, died before the release of the CD, and he left behind a collection of blues tapes and films. If The Lost Tapes is any indication of the quality of Wyler's stuff, he was sitting on a blues goldmine. Blind Pig's Enhanced CD features over an hour of Muddy. As an Enhanced CD, it features a "Long Distance Call" video and a backseat interview with Muddy on the road. The multimedia portions of the CD are configured for Windows compatible computers with 24 MB of RAM, so it's not for the faint of RAM. The Lost Tapes is much more than a blues history lesson: it's a snapshot of one of the best blues players at his peak having a great time.

Track List:

Honey Bee * Hoochie Coochie Man * Walking Through the Park * Trouble No More * Just to Be With You * She's 19 Years Old * Long Distance Call * Mannish Boy * Crawlin' Kingsnake * Got My Mojo Working

© 1999 - Eric Steiner