Muddy Waters: Folk Singer (Chess 75 series) [CHESS]

Why you'll love it

This Chess 75 edition was cut from the original analog tapes by Matthew Lutthans and pressed at Quality Record Pressings. Folk Singer is Muddy's all-acoustic album, and Rolling Stone placed it at No. 280 on its 2003 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

This edition

• Chess 75 series
• Mastered from the original analog tapes
• 180g vinyl
• Tip-on gatefold jacket
• Mono
• Pressed at Quality Record Pressings
• Remastered

About the album

The man who electrified the Delta blues in Chicago spent one session in September 1963 doing the exact opposite. Chess Records had noticed the folk boom sweeping America, so they sat Muddy Waters down at Ter Mar Studios with an acoustic guitar, Willie Dixon on string bass, Clifton James on drums and a young Buddy Guy on second acoustic guitar.

Most of the nine songs move at a slow, deliberate pace, which leaves room for every hum and sigh in Muddy's voice. "My Home Is in the Delta" and "You Gonna Need My Help" are hushed and heavy, "Good Morning School Girl" picks up the tempo, and Guy sits out the closing "Feel Like Going Home." Dixon produced, and the closeness of the recording has made it a favourite with audiophiles for decades.

A month after the session Muddy was off touring Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival, playing quiet versions of his songs from London to Copenhagen. Sixty-odd years on, it's still the most persuasive case we know for leaving the amplifier switched off, which is not something we say often in this shop.

Also at Kops: more Muddy Waters on vinyl · browse Blues

Tracklist

Listen

On Chess (cat# LP-1483), a reissue of the 1964 album.