Track Listing

1. Honey Bee
2. Hoochie Coochie Man
3. Walking Thru the Park
4. Trouble No More
5. Just to Be with You
6. Intro to "19 Years Old"
7. She's 19 Years Old
8. Long Distance Call
9. Mannish Boy
10. Crawlin' Kingsnake
11. Got My Mojo Working

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #212289 in Music
• Released on: 1999-06-22
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Enhanced, Live
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.com
Recorded on the road in 1971--right in the middle of a creative dearth in Muddy Waters's recording career--this live album shows that the seminal bluesman never lost his spark. Out of the studio and onstage, with partners in crime that included Pinetop Perkins and George "Harmonica" Smith, Waters performs with all of the fire and finesse one would expect from a topnotch artist. The recording is obviously incomplete--there are several breaks in the crowd noise between tracks--but what's present on this CD is pure gold. Favorites like "Hoochie Coochie Man," "She's 19 Years Old" (complete with humorous introduction), "Mannish Boy," and "Got My Mojo Working" are as tight and energetic as one could wish for. There are plenty of special moments, including the slide work on "Honey Bee," Smith's harmonica on "She's 19 Years Old," and the sheer evocativeness of "Walking Thru the Park." Like many of Waters's better recordings, it's hard to describe this one without using superlatives. Sure, the material's all familiar and can be found elsewhere, but that's not the point. The point is, if anyone needs further proof that Waters was The Man, they need look no further than this. --Genevieve Williams

Customer Reviews

Awesome visit with the master!!!
Muddy Waters helped create the dynamic postwar Chicago blues. His talent and personality influenced many performers to play their best and to stretch themselves, seeking the limits of their instruments and souls. It is so nice to listen to these sessions, recorded in 1971, at Washington and Oregon Universities, because they capture some of the essence of what truly made Muddy Waters so terrific; his live performances and kinship with his audience and fellow performers. Joined by greats George "Harmonica" Smith, Pinetop Perkins on piano, Sammy Lawhorn and Pee Wee Madison on guitar, Calvin "Fuzz" Jones on bass, and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith on drums, Waters and co. rock the house on standards like "Crawling Kingsnake" "Hoochie Coochie Man," and "Got My Mojo Working," through a bunch of his own tunes like "Honey Bee," "Walking Thru The Park," "Trouble No More," and "She's 19 Years Old." My favorite cut has got to be "Long Distance Call." On this song, Muddy attacks his guitar neck with his slide, making it scream out hard and soulful blues. This is an enhanced CD as well, and contains a video interview with Waters as well as a video performance of "Long Distance Call," which brings the greatness of this performer through to the viewer even stronger. All in all, this is a great CD, and I'd recommend it to anybody.

****1/2- great early-70s recordings, superb sound
Muddy Waters' numerous live albums range from "pretty good" to "magnificent", with "Take A Walk With Me" and "The Muddy Waters Blues Band Featuring Dizzy Gillespie" at one end of the scale, and the magnificent "Muddy Waters At Newport", "Chicago 1979", "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Mojo: The Live Collection" at the other end. This one is at the almost-five-stars end of the scale, featuring a top-notch combo, excellent production, and some of the best sound you're ever likely to hear.

All of these ten songs have been available in official live versions for a long time, and most of them are on virtually every live Muddy album from the 70s. "The Lost Tapes" may not be a revelation, excactly, but it is top-notch electric blues from one of the genre's greatest, and compared with similar albums this one is perhaps the very best from this particular period.

Recorded at the universities of Washington and Oregon, "The Lost Tapes" features Muddy's stellar early-70s band, Sammy Lawhorn and James "Pee Wee" Madison on guitars, the great George "Harmonica" Smith, bassist Calvin Jones, Joe "Pinetop" Perkins on the piano, and veteran drummer Willie "Big Eyes Smith. George Smith and Pinetop Perkins are particularly delightful to hear, and of course Muddy Waters himself, his big, confident voice possesing both power and nuance.

It doesn't really make sense to talk about highlights here...everything is great, from the rather slow but very gritty renditions of "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Mannish Boy" to the superbly swinging "Crawlin' Kingsnake" and "Walking Thru The Park". And the band delivers a cracking performance all the way through.
If your collection is lacking a little in the "live Muddy Waters from the early 70's" department, this is the CD for you.
And if it isn't, pick it up anyway. It's great.

muddy waters
I bought this album for my husband who loves the blues. He couldn't have been happier with it. He listened to it all night with his eyes closed and a smile on his face. Awesome.