"...Got My Mojo Working..."
Muddy Waters was a
formidable thing in the Chess Studios – but let loose in a live environment
with his red-hot band cooking, his deep Mississippi voice growling and his
ebullient persona effortlessly enthralling the audience – Morgan McKinleyfield
could slaughter all in his path.
Some albums deserve their
legend and "Muddy Waters At Newport 1960" is one of them. This superb
2001 Reissue/Remaster expands that Stereo masterpiece with four studio tracks
from the same year (one a rarity in the USA). And even though this CD is short
(just over 44 minutes) – you only have to hear five minutes of it and the word
'essential' immediately jumps to mind. Here are Mojo Working details with some
Hoochie Coochie Men thrown in...
US released March 2001 – "Muddy
Waters At Newport 1960" by MUDDY WATERS on MCA/Chess 088 112 515-2
(Barcode 008811251529) is an Expanded Edition CD reissue (part of their Blues Classics – Revisited & Remastered
Series) and plays out as follows (44:41 minutes):
1. I Got My Brand On You
[Side 1]
2. (I'm Your) Hoochie
Coochie Man
3. Baby, Please Don't Go
4. Soon Forgotten
5. Tiger In Your Tank
6. I Feel So Good [Side 2]
7. I’ve Got My Mojo Working
8. I’ve Got My Mojo Working,
Part 2
9. Goodbye Newport Blues
Tracks 1 to 9 are the album
"Muddy Waters At Newport 1960" – released November 1960 in the USA on
Chess LP 1449 in Stereo (recorded and partially filmed Sunday afternoon, 3 July 1960 at
the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island). The album was released
September 1961 in the UK on Pye Jazz NJL 34.
BONUS TRACKS (all Studio
versions):
10. I Got My Brand On You –
first appeared on the 1994 Muddy Waters 2CD Set "One More Mile: Chess
Collectibles Volume 1" on Chess CHD2-9348
11. Soon Forgotten –
Previously Unreleased in the USA
12. Tiger In Your Tank
13. Meanest Woman – Tracks
12 and 13 are the A and B-sides of Chess 1765, a 7" single released in the
USA in October 1960
Muddy sang Lead Vocals and
played Electric Guitar, James Cotton was on Harmonica, Otis Spann on Piano, Pat
Hare on Guitar, Andrew Stephenson on Bass and Francey ‘Francis’ Clay hit the
Drums. The MC for the show was Langston Hughes – a noted Black Poet of the day.
Otis Spann famously improvised "Goodbye Newport Blues" on the day -
takes lead vocals initially and is later joined by all the Blues Men who were
playing on the bill that day (including John Lee Hooker).
It starts out rather
sedately – the audience probably not knowing what to expect. We get a
workmanlike version of his 'new' song "I Got My Brand On You" which
sets the scene. You also notice the fantastic 'Stereo' mix adding so much space
and body to the overall sound. But then something kicks in halfway through
"(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man" - you can literally 'feel' the
atmosphere and especially the crowd's abandon being to grow and loosen as Track
2 progresses. In the center of "Baby, Please Don't Go" – James Cotton
rips into a wild Horn solo and things are now cooking rather than simmering.
The crowd-cheers are now enthusiastic and real - like they've stumbled onto
something fantastic and can't believe their luck (it was a sunny Sunday
afternoon in 1960 - this kind of thing didn't happen every day of the week).
Muddy then slows it right down with the melancholy Blues of James Oden's
"Soon Forgotten" – another 'new' single for 1960 on Chess (it's
really, really good too). But Side 1 ends with a total winner – another new 45
that's aimed to please – the bopping "Tiger In Your Tank" penned by
the mighty Chess tunesmith Willie Dixon. It's on "Tiger In Your Tank"
that the fluid piano playing of Otis Spann comes to the fore. At the end of it -
there's an explosion of wolf whistles and cheers – and you can just see all
those students and hip people getting down and letting go (it's a wonderful
moment).
Muddy maintains the pace and
momentum with a rip-roaring version of Big Bill Broonzy's "I Feel So
Good" – the crowd now wild and vocal to the max. He tells them there’s one
more (but they clearly want more) and the band launches into a brilliant
"I Got My Mojo Working" – boogieing along like a goodun – the
handclaps steady and furious. Cotton warbles that harmonica as Francis Clay
lays into the drums and cymbals – it builds and builds in excitement and that
sedate opener is now years away. By the time he does his "Mojo"
word-mumbling routine – the day is won – and how. Muddy then hits them with an
Encore Reprise of "Got My Mojo Working" where he sings "...I
want to love you so bad...I don't know what to do...". He gives it a witty
call-and-response with the band after which Cotton stumps up a fantastic Harp
solo - followed by a clearly inspired Otis Spann on the piano. We slow down
then to a crawl and Otis Spann takes over Vocals for the final track
"Goodbye Newport Blues" - joined at the end by all the Blues voices
of the day (including we are told John Lee Hooker).
The four Bonus Tracks are
all studio efforts – a cool outtake of the Newport opener "I Got My Brand
On You" from a 1994 2CD compilation called "One More Mile: Chess
Collectibles Volume 1" – Cotton playing a wicked Harp solo. Uber slow
Blues follows with a haunting version of "Soon Forgotten" (a great
inclusion) while "Tiger In Your Tank" ups the boogie pace as it did
at the concert. The R&B shuffle of "Meanest Woman" is a total gem
– a B-side – the kind of Little Walter warbler that sends me over the edge.
Absolutely brilliant...
So there you have it – a masterclass
live LP that you wish there was more of (it broke him through to a wider
audience) and a cluster of great studio additions. Muddy Waters has his brand
on the hearts of millions – let him make his mark on yours. Buy this and
enjoy...
Titles in the
"Blues Classics - Remastered & Revisited" CD Series
All are
US releases
1 and 2 are SUHA GUR
remasters
3 to 11 are ERICK LABSON (I've reviewed most)
1. Bad News Is Coming -
LUTHER ALLISON
(1972 Gordy LP, 2001 CD
Remaster + Four Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks) - Universal 440 013 407-2
(Barcode 044001340727)
2. Luther’s Blues - LUTHER
ALLISON
(1974 USA 9-track LP with 3
Previously Unreleased bonuses, 70:28 minutes)
Universal 440 013 409-2
(Barcode 044001340925)
3. Two Steps From The Blues
- BOBBY BLAND
(1961 USA 12-track LP on
Duke with 2 bonuses, 35:12 minutes)
MCA 088 112 516-2 (Barcode
008811251628)
4. The Real Folk Blues/More
Real Folk Blues - JOHN LEE HOOKER
(October 1966 and September
1991 LPs on Chess, 2LPs on 1CD, 79:44 minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 821-2
(Barcode 008811282127)
5. The Real Folk Blues/More
Real Folk Blues - HOWLIN' WOLF
(January 1966 on Chess and
January 1967 on Chess, 2LPs on 1CD, 66:45 minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 820-2
(Barcode 008811282028)
6. Tell Mama: The Complete
Muscle Shoals Sessions - ETTA JAMES
(January 1968 US 12-Track LP
on Cadet - 13-22 being bonuses, 57:11 minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 518-2
(Barcode 008811251826)
7. Live At San Quentin -
B.B. KING
(1990 13-Track Compilation
on MCA, no extras, 64:09 minutes)
MCA America 088 112 517-2
(Barcode 008811251727)
8. At Newport 1960 - MUDDY
WATERS
(1960 US 9-Track LP on Chess
with 10-13 being 4 Mono Studio Tracks from June 1960 as bonus tracks, 44:41
minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 515-2
(Barcode 008811251529)
9. Fathers & Sons -
MUDDY WATERS (with Paul Butterfield, Otis Spann, Mike Bloomfield, Donald 'Duck'
Dunn and Buddy Miles)
(Tracks 1-10 and 15-20 is
the August 1969 2LP set on Chess in Full with Tracks 11, 12, 13 being
previously unreleased - and 14 previously unreleased in the USA). (77:38
minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 648-2
(Barcode 008811264826)
10. The Real Folk Blues/More
Real Folk Blues - MUDDY WATERS
MCA/Chess 088 112 822-2
(Barcode 008811282226)
11. The Real Folk Blues/More
Real Folk Blues - SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON
(January 1966 and January
1967 LPs on Chess, 2LPs on 1CD, 65:28 minutes)
MCA/Chess 088 112 823-2
(Barcode 008811282325)
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