Muddy Waters had spent most of the 1950s on the R&B charts. After seeing his sales begin to dip by the end of the decade, Chess Records decided to market its greatest talent to the mostly white mainstream audience, and brought a recorder to his performance at the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival.Neither Muddy nor his audience knew what to expect, but he had the kids literally dancing in the aisles by the set-closer, "I've Got My Mojo Working." This gamble of introducing the mainstream to live blues music paid off, as this album has consistently sold well for almost 50 years.
One of my favorite blues songs ever is "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man" and this version is outstanding. Before I heard this album, I think the BB King version was my favorite, but now Muddy Waters gets that honor. Did you know that Steven Seagal (yes, THAT Steven Seagal) even recorded a version in 2006 with his band, Thunderbox (groan).
You definitely need to own this if you want to have any kind of respectable blues collection. And if you own anything by Thunderbox, I give up.
Favorite Tracks: "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man," "Tiger in Your Tank" and "I've Got My Mojo Working"
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