Muddy Waters - 20th Century Masters: The Best Of Muddy Waters (Millennium Collection)

Muddy Waters's entry in MCA's 20th Century Masters is as good as the budget-minded series gets. True, it's a little lacking in the amount of material--just 12 tracks over the span of 32 minutes--but every one of these songs is a stone blues classic. The set is well focused, too, sticking with some of the great singles Waters recorded for the Chess label between 1951 and 1956--"I Just Want to Make Love to You," "Mannish Boy," "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man," "Got My Mojo Working," and other tunes that are the very cornerstone of Chicago blues. There are other worthy Waters collections covering roughly the same period, notably His Best 1947-55, but this set is fine, too. It's short, yes, but very, very sweet. --Daniel Durchholz Amazon.com

Muddy's Best Goes Way Beyond 11 Tracks

I see that many of the entries in the vast 20th Century Millenium Collection series which first hit the market about a decade ago continue to be available. What I can't understand is, why would anyone pay the price being asked for 11 or 12 tracks when, for just a bit more, you can get upwards of 20 to 30 tracks for most of the artists covered in the series? And on CDs with extensive liner notes.

As far as this one goes it isn't bad as the sound quality is excellent and with the insert you get a discography of the contents [but no chart details], two pages of background notes by Joseph F. Laredo, and a couple of nice shots of Muddy, including one from his younger days.

But in terms of his best there's almost as much omitted as there is included. Also, two tracks [8 and 11] were the A- and B sides of the failed 1957 Chess single 1652, and with track 1 there seems to be a mistake in the title. According to my collection, Chess 1571 should be titled Just Make Love To Me [a # 4 R&B hit in July 1954], not I Just Want To Make Love To You. The remaining eight are correctly shown and all were among his best in terms of being R&B hits as each, with the exception of Sugar Sweet, made the Top 10. And that one, the B-side of Trouble No More [# 7 in February 1956], just missed, reaching # 11.

But rather than the two non-hit sides could they not have included his first from 1948, I Feel Like Going Home, which reached # 11 on Aristocrat 1305 before it became Chess, and then his first for Chess, Louisiana Blues, which made it to # 10 in January 1951? And, as they did with the Roger Miller volume in the series, why not go to an even dozen tracks and include one of the other many hits omitted? Take your pick from among: Still A Fool [# 9 in December 1951]; She Moves Me [# 10 in February 1952]; Mad Love [# 6 in December 1953]; Don't Go No Farther [# 9 in September 1956], and his last hit, Close To You [# 9 in December 1958].

Even his now classic Rolling Stone, his first release on Chess in 1950, would have been better even though it did not chart (a mystery in itself). Shop around. Don't be drawn in by the seemingly cheap price of each of the compilations offered. There is a lot available for around $14.00 to $18.00 each and if you are in doubt about whether the set you're looking at offers original cuts, check to see who is the distributor. If it's someone like Ace, Jasmine or Acrobat of the U.K., or Bear Family of Germany, you can be certain that they are originals and well-produced with hefty liner notes and discographies. August 11, 2007

Why all the complaining? This is the PERFECT introductory CD to that rolling stone force we still call Muddy Waters

McKinley Morganfield--better known as Muddy Waters--made invaluable contributions to the arts. Muddy Waters blended standard southern styles and sounds with the more modern, zesty, urgent flavors of that great city in the north, Chicago. As a result, Muddy also helped to pave the way for true rock and roll to arrive on the scene in the late 1950s and the early 1960s. This CD gives us a sampling of Muddy's greatest numbers. It runs shorter than I would like; but the quality of the material here is quite good. This would make an especially good introductory CD for anyone who wants to know Muddy's artistry better.

The CD starts with "I Just Want To Make Love To You;" Muddy sings his heart out as he plays his electric guitar to perfection. Muddy sings of how he wants nothing more in life than to spend romantic time alone with his woman. The bluesy beat emanates from his southern roots; but the beat also hints at a very embryonic rock and roll style that was to evolve with time. The harmonica bolsters the number to make it more powerful, too. Great! "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" was a signature song for Muddy; and he sings this passionately with excellent diction. The song rocks slowly but very well; the musical arrangement for "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" uses the harmonica and guitars well.

"I'm Ready" starts with some great drum playing at the very beginning; and by the time Muddy comes in you just know you're about to get another stunning performance. The song has a rock and roll flavor that works well with the bluesy feel added by the harmonica. Awesome! I also like the backup female chorus helping Muddy out on "Mannish Boy." "Mannish Boy" celebrates a young man's freedom now that he is 21 years old.

"Rock Me" from late 1956 clearly shows the increasing effect urban rock and roll was having on Muddy's music. The number rocks really well; although the harmonica is great the guitar and other instruments now dominate the arrangement to produce a distinct early rock flavor.

The CD ends with another Muddy Waters signature song entitled "Got My Mojo Working." The song rocks harder than all the others; and the beat along with the lyrics make "Got My Mojo Working" a strong ending to the album.

The liner notes have an essay about Muddy Waters by Joseph F. Laredo; and there are great photos of Muddy as well. The song credits are provided, too.

Overall, this is not the most complete Muddy Waters collection out there; and people are right to be annoyed with 20th Century Masters for not putting more music from Muddy on this CD. However, I would still recommend this CD--as a great introduction to Muddy's work for people just getting to know him. If you like this CD, then I would recommend other Muddy Waters CDs including the two CD set entitled The Anthology: 1947-1972 and the live recording called Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live.
June 22, 2007

All of the "20th Century" CD's are too expensive

Dollar for dollar, the Millennium Collection CDs are disappointing, and that is putting it nicely. I have absolutely nothing against the content on these CD's, but with how much was put on the CD by the powers that be. You can get almost twice as many songs for about three dollars more by purchasing Muddy Waters "His Best" CD's. And there is also the option of the Anthology or the box set. I see these "20th Century" CD's in the store and am always amazed that people buy them. Not just for Muddy Waters, but for numerous artists.

Dollar for dollar, this is simply the worst way to sample Muddy Waters. November 29, 2004

Excellent down home Delta Blues

This is an excellent sampler of this artists work. What is wrong with these previous reviewers rating the cd one and two stars because of lack of content? This isn't an anthology or a boxed set, it is a way to taste the wares to see if you want to spend bigger bucks for a more detailed collection. Don't shy away from this cd the remastering is amazing considering some of this stuff was recorded in the fifties. Excellent value. February 23, 2002

Where's the Content?

There should be twice as much music on a Best of CD like this. Flashy packaging masks a lack of content with less than half of the CD's capacity being used.

For shame MCA! October 6, 2000

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