Audio CD review:
Muddy Waters - His Best: 1956 to 1964

Muddy Waters - His Best: 1956 to 1964

Band: Muddy Waters Title: His Best: 1956 to 1964 Rating: Release Date: 20 May, 1997 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: All Aboard 2: Forty Days And Forty Nights 3: Just To Be With You 4: Don't Go No Farther 5: Diamonds At Your Feet 6: I Love The Life I Live, I Live The Life I Love 7: Rock Me 8: Got My Mojo Working 9: She's Nineteen Years Old 10: Close To You 11: Walkin' Thru The Park 12: She's Into Something 13: I Feel So Good 14: You Shook Me 15: You Need Love 16: My Love Strikes Like Lightning 17: My Home Is In The Delta 18: Good Morning, Little School Girl 19: The Same Thing 20: You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had

Editoral Review Even more than the prior His Best collection, these recordings illustrate Waters's talent not only as a composer and performer (as usual, many of the songs were written by Willie Dixon), but also as a bandleader. Few blues artists covered as much territory as did Muddy Waters, and it's more than evident if you put this collection and The Complete Plantation Recordings side by side. The backing musicians--including several who were by now name artists in their own right, such as James Cotton, Buddy Guy, Earl Hooker, Little Walter, and A. C. Reed--are tight as a drum and smooth as a greased axle. This essential collection contains several classics, including but not limited to "Got My Mojo Working" (Waters's studio take on what has to be the most-covered blues song in existence), "She's Nineteen Years Old," "Good Morning, Little School Girl," "The Same Thing," "You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had," "You Shook Me," and "You Need Love" (which will sound oddly familiar to Led Zeppelin fans). It rocks, it rolls, it shakes, it's quintessential Chicago blues. --Genevieve Williams .. You can see a complete list of all Muddy Waters discography, or go back to the Muddy Waters tabs