Recorded live at the legendary Bottom Line club in New York City during his tenure with Texas bluesman Johnny Winter, this is one of several Muddy Waters shows recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour during the three years the two artists worked together. The two blues greats had come together in 1977 when Winter and his then-manager Steve Paul wooed Waters away from Chess Records to Paul's new Blue Sky Records, a division of CBS/Sony Music. The…entire summary
Muddy Waters - guitar, vocals
Johnny Winter - guitar, vocals
Calvin "Fuzzy" Jones - bass, vocals
"Guitar Junior" Johnson - guitar, vocals
Jerry Portnoy - harmonica
Bob Margolin - guitar, vocals
Willie "Big Eyes" Smith - drums
Pinetop Perkins - piano, vocals
Duke Robillard - guitar, vocals
Greg Piccollo - tenor sax, vocals
Rich Lataille - alto sax
Doug James - baritone sax
Recorded live at the legendary Bottom Line club in New York City during his tenure with Texas bluesman Johnny Winter, this is one of several Muddy Waters shows recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour during the three years the two artists worked together. The two blues greats had come together in 1977 when Winter and his then-manager Steve Paul wooed Waters away from Chess Records to Paul's new Blue Sky Records, a division of CBS/Sony Music. The result was Hard Again, which revitalized Waters' career and helped introduce him to Winter's younger rock-based audience. Winter and Waters continued their collaborations through the end of 1979, but also maintained their respective solo careers.
This recording features mostly Waters' touring band with Winter sitting in, and includes not only recent songs he had cut with Johnny, but several classic blues standards from his 25 year affiliation with Chess. Once Muddy takes the stage he opens with a soulful fragment of "Stormy Monday." Immediately the band cuts loose on "Walking In The Park," featuring a duet with Waters and Winter and some smoking guitar work, followed up by a classic take on "Mannish Boy."
Another highlight is a rockin' version of the Wilbur Harris classic, "Kansas City." There is also a version of "Long Distance Call" which Waters first cut for Chess in 1952. Unfortunately, this song is cut a little short on the recording but is a highlight nonetheless.
A live album from this tour was released in 1979 called Mississippi Live. This is among the last live recordings of the famous blues artist, although Waters continued recording and touring until his death in 1983. After his work with Muddy Waters, Winter abandoned his rock persona for good and focused only on playing blues music, which he still does today.
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