| Review by cafejeff February 27, 2003
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Performance:  Sonics:  |
I didn't want to buy this SACD as I already had it on vinyl and it's a personal rule of mine (much trespassed) not to buy copies in other formats of what I already own. Fortunately, my vinyl copy of Muddy Waters Folk Singer had a pressing glitch on the second side and the store I bought it from promised to take it back. With that in mind, I could rationalise the purchase.
Music: I don't have the expertise in blues and folks to write a really proper opinion about this other than to say that Muddy Waters (not his original name, that was McKinley Morganfield) is a real blues singer who came from the real delta before arriving in Chicago and was one of the few to be recorded using modern techniques but who was still a part of the old guard who got along just fine without acoustic guitar. Later, he was to adopt one for almost all his playing, but like John Lee Hooker, he was a bridge to the new Chicago sound and not the result. The music is authentic, gripping, spare and honest. If you want to know more, I would refer you to Alan Lomax's excellent 'The Land Where the Blues Began,' or better yet, the SACD.
Sonics: Excellent for its time and at least the equal if not better of my vinyl copy but without the glitch, colouration, noise or sheer vinyl hassle. I am sure it as good as the master tape which is understood to be very fine, but not exactly fresh off the Studer.
At $26 Canadian at the HMV in Toronto, I don't see how anyone could go wrong with this disc. If you have never heard real Delta blues it's a fine, non-electric introduction, and if you do know the blues and don't have the album you won't be dissapointed. If you already have it on cd or vinyl or eight track, it could serve as a fine re-introduction to a true classic. Jeff
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| Review by JW March 31, 2003
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Performance: Sonics: |
I can echo the comments made by the first reviewer, but I would go so far as to give this SACD the 5 out of 5 star rating. The blues on this album is original, heartfelt and acoustic but without the rawness that characterises some other 'original' delta blues albums. In that sense this is indeed a great introduction to the blues or the album for people who are not necessarily enamored of the blues. For friends of acoustic guitar and voice in an intimate setting this is a must-have in my view. But the SACD also offer tracks (such as Mr. John The Conqueror Root) with the full rythmn section. And you get Buddy Guy on second acoustic guitar as well.
This SACD contains 5 bonus tracks some of which have not been released before: The Same Thing, You Can't Lose What You Never Had, My John The Conqueror Root, Short Dress Woman, Put Me In Your Lay Away.
The original master tapes that fueled this SACD were recorded directly to two-track analog equipment in 1963 or 1964 (some tape hiss is audible on track 2 and 3 for example). It ranks right up there with the best the format can offer, hence my 5 star rating for sonics.
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| Review by mikek October 14, 2003 (1 of 3 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics:  |
| I'm sorry. I absolutely love this disc. One of the greatest blues performances ever recorded as far as I am concerned. However this SACD as far as I am concerned is sonically dull. I don't know if another master was used or if it was remixed, but the Mo Fi gold disc and the Chess remaster have more openness and clarity than this. My first great disappointment on sound quality of an SACD (and at this moment I can't think of any other).
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| Review by rsbeck February 13, 2004
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Performance: Sonics: |
| This is acoustic Muddy. Performance and recording are flat out great. Goosebumps. Just to correct a little history from an earlier review. The Blues began in the Mississippi Delta. Muddy Waters came to Chicago from Mississippi and it was there and then that the blues "went electric." So, it would be incorrect to say that Waters "adopted" an acoustic guitar for this or any other performance. In "unplugging" Muddy, you are stripping off the more modern electrical affectation and getting blues that are closer to the bone, so to speak. Certainly, closer to the Delta, if only they'd had this kind of recording capability in Mississippi. The Blues were often called the Devil's Music and on this disc, Muddy sounds almost menacing, a sound which I love. Muddy seems to be conjuring the devil himself. The sonics are so good you feel Waters move in his chair, pick move across the strings, you feel Waters' breath. IMO, these are some of the best performances of these songs I've heard and I have a large collection of Waters' music. That and the great sonics make this a must purchase for any fan of Waters, the Blues, music history, or SACD.
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| Review by FivePointOne September 15, 2004
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Performance: Sonics: |
| This sure sounds nice. Stereo sound. It's not as clean as the Analogue Productions' John Lee Hooker disc, but it's pretty damn good. Great balance between the vocals and the instruments (esp. the bass). And it is Muddy Waters playing with Buddy Guy and Willie Dixon. What are you waiting for?
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| Review by analogue February 20, 2009 (2 of 2 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
This landmark album has been called "spooky" blues and for good reason. I'm looking at the reviews regarding sound quality and perhaps the disparity is due to equipment rather than the actual quality of the sacd or the transfer. I also have the hdad from classic records and I prefer the sacd by alot. It seems more open and transparent and less or little compression. I can easily hear how Muddy Maters voice goes from soft to very powerful and loud quickly. On track 3 I can hear his soft breathing, the creaking of the chair and can place exactly where the bassist and 2nd guitasr player are in all tracks. This is a very good transfer and Muddy's performance is sublime. His voice is what blues is all about. This is truly a one of a king audiophile record that deserves it's place in history. The sacd does it justice I feel.
Note: universal owns the rights to this and is one of the largest if not the largest music company in the world. And yet they sit on a treasure trove of music (well over a million master tapes at one single facility)and ignore people like us that spend their hard earned dollars on music while everyone else caters to inferior sound quality. Go figure.
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