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Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter & James Cotton
Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down
Epic/Legacy (2007) 072832
11 tracks, 59 minutes, highly recommended. There should be little doubt that Muddy Waters played a major role in setting blues on a new path in the late 1940s. While often credited as being solely responsible for causing a large shift in the way blues was presented, Muddy was among a number of artists who moved with the times and saw amplifiers as a newer beginning for blues. Some thirty years later, Waters began enjoying a resurgence in his career by recording with Johnny Winter at the helm. In recent years, the material Muddy recorded for Winter's Blue Sky label has been remastered with a handful of bonus tracks, including the fabulous Muddy "Mississippi" Waters - Live, formerly a single disc, now an expanded 2-CD set with the second disc being previously unissued material. Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down now offers another look at Muddy Waters in a 'live' setting with a crack band that featured talent across the board. As much as this adds to the legacy of Muddy, it also details how potent an outfit Winter, James Cotton, and Waters made sharing the stage. In addition to the trio of dangerous frontmen, the band has Bob Margolin, Pinetop Perkins, Charles Calmese, and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith in tow providing superb rhythmic support. All previously unreleased and recorded at three venues in March of 1977, Muddy, Johnny and James split vocal chores with Waters handing in a brilliant Can't Be Satisfied as well as sharing the duties for Black Cat Bone/Dust My Broom, Caldonia, Got My Mojo Workin' and Trouble No More. Cotton steps up on Dealin' With The Devil, Rocket 88 and How Long Can A Fool Go Wrong with Winter front and center for Guitar Slim's I Done Got Over It, J.B. Lenoir's Mama Talk To Your Daughter and Tampa Red's Love Her With A Feeling. Missing is Muddy's slashing slide guitar work but Winter adds plenty of flash while Cotton blows some seriously strong harp throughout. As Bob Margolin points out in his liner notes, these were special times for Muddy and the band. For those who missed seeing this powerful aggregation during their 1977 tour, Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down is indeed special. Don't miss this.
Legacy Recordings
© 2007 by Craig Ruskey
Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter & James Cotton
Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down
Epic/Legacy (2007) 072832
11 tracks, 59 minutes, highly recommended. There should be little doubt that Muddy Waters played a major role in setting blues on a new path in the late 1940s. While often credited as being solely responsible for causing a large shift in the way blues was presented, Muddy was among a number of artists who moved with the times and saw amplifiers as a newer beginning for blues. Some thirty years later, Waters began enjoying a resurgence in his career by recording with Johnny Winter at the helm. In recent years, the material Muddy recorded for Winter's Blue Sky label has been remastered with a handful of bonus tracks, including the fabulous Muddy "Mississippi" Waters - Live, formerly a single disc, now an expanded 2-CD set with the second disc being previously unissued material. Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down now offers another look at Muddy Waters in a 'live' setting with a crack band that featured talent across the board. As much as this adds to the legacy of Muddy, it also details how potent an outfit Winter, James Cotton, and Waters made sharing the stage. In addition to the trio of dangerous frontmen, the band has Bob Margolin, Pinetop Perkins, Charles Calmese, and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith in tow providing superb rhythmic support. All previously unreleased and recorded at three venues in March of 1977, Muddy, Johnny and James split vocal chores with Waters handing in a brilliant Can't Be Satisfied as well as sharing the duties for Black Cat Bone/Dust My Broom, Caldonia, Got My Mojo Workin' and Trouble No More. Cotton steps up on Dealin' With The Devil, Rocket 88 and How Long Can A Fool Go Wrong with Winter front and center for Guitar Slim's I Done Got Over It, J.B. Lenoir's Mama Talk To Your Daughter and Tampa Red's Love Her With A Feeling. Missing is Muddy's slashing slide guitar work but Winter adds plenty of flash while Cotton blows some seriously strong harp throughout. As Bob Margolin points out in his liner notes, these were special times for Muddy and the band. For those who missed seeing this powerful aggregation during their 1977 tour, Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down is indeed special. Don't miss this.
Legacy Recordings
© 2007 by Craig Ruskey
