The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues [MCA]

• Artist: Muddy Waters
• Rating:
• Release Date: March 10, 1999
• Type: Compilation (best of)
• Genre: Blues

Review

Waters' The Real Folk Blues and More Real Folk Blues, combined here onto one CD, were not exactly random collections of tracks -- the quality was too consistently high for them to just have been picked out of a hat. Still, it was a pretty arbitrary grouping of items that he recorded between 1947 and 1964. In fact, they hail from throughout his whole stint at Chess, virtually; at the time these albums were first issued, though, all of the material on More Real Folk Blues was from the late '40s and early '50s. They didn't exactly concentrate on his most well-known songs, but they didn't entirely neglect them either, including "Mannish Boy," "Walking Thru the Park," "The Same Thing," "Rollin' & Tumblin' Part One," "She's Alright," and "Honey Bee," amongst somewhat more obscure selections. So ultimately, this disc's usefulness depends on your fussiness as a collector -- if it's the only Waters you ever pick up, you'll still have a good idea of his greatness, and if you don't mind getting some tracks you might already have on more avowedly best-of sets, you'll probably hear some stuff you don't already have in your collection. On the basis of the music alone, it's fine material, representing his hardest-rocking electric blues ("Mannish Boy," "Walking Thru the Park"), his most rural down-home sides (particularly the earliest sides, on which his only accompanist is bassist Big Crawford), and more idiosyncratic cuts like "The Same Thing," with Willie Dixon's captivatingly out-of-tune bass. Incidentally, just to make matters confusing, Waters did record a folk-oriented album in the mid-'60s, but it's not one of the two records included here -- it's his entirely separate Folk Singer album, from 1964. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Mannish Boy	Mel London, Ellas McDaniel, McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(2:57)
Screamin' and Cryin'	McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(3:07)
Just to Be With You	Bernard Roth	Muddy Waters	(3:15)
Walking Thru the Park	McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(2:47)
Walkin' Blues	Robert Johnson	Muddy Waters	(2:57)
Canary Bird	McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(2:45)
The Same Thing	Willie Dixon	Muddy Waters	(2:44)
Gypsy Woman	McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(2:34)
Rollin' & Tumblin', Pt. 1	McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(3:00)
Forty Days and Forty Nights	Bernard Roth	Muddy Waters	(2:53)
Little Geneva	McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(2:47)
You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had	McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(2:56)
Sad Letter Blues	McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(3:01)
You're Gonna Need My Help I Said	McKinley Morganfield, Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	(3:07)
Sittin' Here and Drinkin' (Whiskey Blues)	McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(2:35)
Down South Blues	McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(2:53)
Train Fare Home Blues	McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(2:47)
Kind Hearted Woman	McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(2:36)
Appealing Blues (Hello Little Girl)	McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(2:49)
Early Morning Blues	McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(3:09)
Too Young to Know	McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(3:13)
She's Alright	McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(2:30)
Landlady	McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(2:38)
Honey Bee	McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	(3:20)

Credits

James Cotton (Harmonica), Willie Dixon (Bass), Willie Dixon (Producer), Willie Dixon (Liner Notes), Little Walter (Harmonica), Junior Wells (Harmonica), Johnny Jones (Piano), Marshall Chess (Producer), Phil Chess (Producer), Francis Clay (Drums), Ernest "Big" Crawford (Bass), Mike Fink (Design), Pat Hare (Guitar), Ransom Knowling (Bass), S.P. Leary (Drums), Andy McKaie (Producer), Muddy Waters (Guitar), Muddy Waters (Vocals), Muddy Waters (Main Performer), Odie Payne (Drums), Jimmy Rogers (Guitar), Sunnyland Slim (Piano), Otis Spann (Piano), Andrew Stephenson (Bass), Luther Tucker (Guitar), Mark A. Humphrey (Liner Notes), Elga Edmunds (Drums), Paul Williams (Liner Notes), Erick Labson (Digital Remastering), Don Bronstein (Cover Art), Beth Stempel (Production Coordination), Walter Horton (Harmonica)