Audio CD review:
Muddy Waters - The Definitive Collection

Muddy Waters - The Definitive Collection

Band: Muddy Waters Title: The Definitive Collection Rating: Release Date: 23 May, 2006 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: I Can't Be Satisfied 2: I Feel Like Going Home 3: Rollin' & Tumblin', Part One 4: Rollin' Stone 5: Louisiana Blues 6: Long Distance Call 7: Still A Fool 8: Turn Your Lamp Down Low (Baby Please Don't Go) 9: (I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man 10: I Just Want To Make Love To You 11: I'm Ready 12: Mannish Boy 13: Trouble No More 14: Forty Days And Forty Nights 15: Don't Go No Farther 16: Got My Mojo Working 17: Rock Me 18: Walkin' Thru The Park 19: Take The Bitter With The Sweet 20: You Shook Me 21: My Home Is In The Delta 22: The Same Thing 23: You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had 24: Crosseyed Cat

Customer Reviews Not quite definitive, but some great, great music here Opening with the classic 1948 single "I Can't Be Satisfied", this CD takes you through (most of) the highlights from the 1950s and 60s. There is a huge amount of Muddy Waters-compilations out there, and while MCA/Chess's two-disc, 50-track "Anthology 1947-1972" is certainly more definitive than this Geffen compilation, it does offer a very good overview of Muddy Waters' career. "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I'm Ready", "I Just Wanna Make Love To You", "Mannish Boy", and "Got My Mojo Working" are here, of course, and in the original versions, too, but it's a shame that some slightly lesser known (but equally fine) singles like "I Love The Life I Live, I Live The Life I Love", "She's Nineteen Years Old" and "I Want To Be Loved" are missing. But there is certainly enough great music here to satisfy the casual fan, and if you do want more, there is always the impressive "Chess Box" and the late-70s/early-80s albums produced by Johnny Winter (only one track out of these 24 is from those sessions). This album is not the definitive word on McKinley Morganfield, but it's a good introduction for the uninitiated. Excellent Highlights I saw a TV biography and was motivated to get a "greatest hits" CD. I do not pretend to be an expert on Muddy Waters. There was a 2 disc option at Amazon, but then I saw this one. I checked it out with various reviewers, and it met the bill. All the songs are well done, and the whole CD seems like a great overview of the blues from this specific artist. From all I can tell, this would be an excellent highlight collection for anybody who wants just one CD of Muddy Waters. Excellent for cramming it all onto one disc. Sometimes these single-disc collections fail to make the grade because of so much essential material that ends up being left off for reasons of space alone and the rest of it is the same predictable fare. Ever notice that you're seeing more and more of these "best of" collectons out there now? Now there is UMVD's "The Definitive Collection" of numerous artists from that same unforgettable era featuring 20 or more top tunes of the featured artist crammed onto one disc. An exception in this case would be this: Muddy Waters' Definitive Collection. This collection runs through Muddy's premiere years featuring his swampy, slide guitar sound and musical style then continues through the '50s and early '60s when he began to make his significant impact on blues music and eventually would be regarded as one of the most highly respected names in blues music. So many of his best tunes like "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I'm Ready", "Forty Days and Forty Nights" and "Got My Mojo Working" were covered by so many bands so many times that these tunes are really timeless and have becomes standards in blues. You really do get and stay interested for the entire length of the album. It is a little slow to start, but it picks up quickly and the bulk of the action happens with tracks 8-18. "Crosseyed Cat", recorded in 1976, is something you really got to hear. It is swampy, raw and tough. A 6 minute jam session, basically. This "Definitive Collection' lives up to its name overall, and is absolutely essential for the blues fan if the 2-disc anthology is a bit much. . . You can see a complete list of all Muddy Waters discography, or go back to the Muddy Waters tabs