Yep, thats him very underrated Chess blues session guitar player turned Avant-garde jazz guru.
Rumor has it he might have influenced Hendrix at some point.
Some say you influenced Hendrix.
Pete Cosey: I didn't even remember that until some of my guys from Phoenix brought it back to me. One of the persons was Bernard Williams - he played saxophone in my band. He also played with Jimi later I left Phoenix. It didn't dawn on me until I heard the name of the band Hendrix had come with: Johnny Jenkins and the Casuals. As soon as he said that I remembered the band and I remembered Jimi Hendrix would come over and listen to us in the club.
Just 'cause they're your songs doesn't necessarily mean you'll be playing on them, sadly enough.
Fenton Robinson found this out first-hand when his label recorded an Electric Mud-styled album on him. According to Living Blues magazine at the time (1970), he was "not permitted" to play guitar during the sessions.
(Monday Morning Blues & Boogie on the Seventy-Seven label, if you're morbidly curious...)
I supposed I should just check, but is there live footage of fuzz guitar era Muddy Waters ?
There is, but you won't hear any fuzz. Muddy pointedly didn't do any songs from his "psychedelic" albums in concert. If it was a remake of an older song, he did it the older way.
Was it really pointedly?
I thought Muddy was kinda pissed that his road band couldn't play some of those songs. I think they woulda if they coulda.
On the other hand, Muddy was a great a band leader, and it was one of the few times he wasn't in control of the band in the studio.
He did at least 2 other records for the hippies. Both are much better.
Father and Sons with members of both Muddy's band and Butterfield Blues Band.
The Woodstock Album, which is one of my favorites, members of Muddy's band and Levon Helms, Garth Hudson and friends.
All Muddy Waters records are great (except Muddy and Brass). Muddy's singing on EM is great, the studio band is great, the exploito effects are great. Marshall Chess seems like an egotistical ass, but he managed to blenderize all this stuff and create a record that still stands.
He did at least 2 other records for the hippies. Both are much better.
Father and Sons with members of both Muddy's band and Butterfield Blues Band.
The Woodstock Album, which is one of my favorites, members of Muddy's band and Levon Helms, Garth Hudson and friends.
It helped that neither one of those LPs tried to psychedelicize his sound,.
The "Muddy Waters Twist" doesn't sound that bad! Matter of fact, by 2012 standards it sounds almost traditional! Younger bluesmen like Junior Wells, Buddy Guy and Magic Sam had records that sounded similar to this!
The song itself, BTW, is a rocked-up remake of "Use That Spot" by J.T. Brown, who was a prominent sax player on the Chicago blues scene back then. He's on that Fleetwood Mac In Chicago album...
To be sure, I like Muddy's Twist. Just sayin, Electric Mud wasn't unprecedented.
These two were both attempts to update Muddy's sound, or package him for the masses.
If I recall they just recorded a standard set then added brass, and perhaps increased the tempo.
And I almost forgot this one.
Which is pretty forgettable.
The point being that trying to update Muddy Waters was nothing new when EM and ATR were recorded.
Comments
There was no fuzz guitar era of Muddy Waters. The real secret of Electric Mud is Phil Upchurch, Pete Cosey and a Jordan Bosstone.
You might remember him from Electric Miles.
Yep, thats him very underrated Chess blues session guitar player turned Avant-garde jazz guru.
Rumor has it he might have influenced Hendrix at some point.
- spidey
Essential viewing.
- spidey
I'm wondering if Muddy was playing any guitar on that album at all. Can't really hear him.
Even though photos from the session clearly show him holding a guitar, they must have mixed him down or something.
Let us also not forget to stress how much Phil Upchurch's sound is responsible for the Electric mud sound.
- spidey
Just 'cause they're your songs doesn't necessarily mean you'll be playing on them, sadly enough.
Fenton Robinson found this out first-hand when his label recorded an Electric Mud-styled album on him. According to Living Blues magazine at the time (1970), he was "not permitted" to play guitar during the sessions.
(Monday Morning Blues & Boogie on the Seventy-Seven label, if you're morbidly curious...)
Was it really pointedly?
I thought Muddy was kinda pissed that his road band couldn't play some of those songs. I think they woulda if they coulda.
On the other hand, Muddy was a great a band leader, and it was one of the few times he wasn't in control of the band in the studio.
He did at least 2 other records for the hippies. Both are much better.
Father and Sons with members of both Muddy's band and Butterfield Blues Band.
The Woodstock Album, which is one of my favorites, members of Muddy's band and Levon Helms, Garth Hudson and friends.
All Muddy Waters records are great (except Muddy and Brass). Muddy's singing on EM is great, the studio band is great, the exploito effects are great. Marshall Chess seems like an egotistical ass, but he managed to blenderize all this stuff and create a record that still stands.
It helped that neither one of those LPs tried to psychedelicize his sound,.
The song itself, BTW, is a rocked-up remake of "Use That Spot" by J.T. Brown, who was a prominent sax player on the Chicago blues scene back then. He's on that Fleetwood Mac In Chicago album...
These two were both attempts to update Muddy's sound, or package him for the masses.
If I recall they just recorded a standard set then added brass, and perhaps increased the tempo.
And I almost forgot this one.
Which is pretty forgettable.
The point being that trying to update Muddy Waters was nothing new when EM and ATR were recorded.