Live at Rockpalast (2 Vinyles LP) / Muddy Waters

Description

Muddy Waters had a good eye for talent and therefore almost always had an excellent band behind him, but his backing band from 1974 to 1980, which can be heard on these recordings, was one of his best: pianist Pinetop Perkins joined the band already in 1970 after Otis Spann's death, along with drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, who had been working with Muddy since 1964. Bassist Calvin Jones joined in 1971, and in 1973, guitarists Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson and Bob Margolin entered the band. The lineup was completed in 1974 by the excellent harmonica player Jerry Portnoy, who later became, among other things, Eric Clapton's first choice for blues harp. The constant touring made this lineup a very well-rehearsed group, which optimally supported the charismatic frontman when they entered the stage of Dortmund's Westfalenhalle for the Rockpalast recording on December 10, 1978. Muddy Waters himself was still at the peak of his career at that time, his powerful vocals and great stage charisma captivating the audience. Muddy's guitar playing came across particularly well during his typical slow blues slide guitar solos on the Fender Telecaster played in standard tuning – and Muddy rarely sounded as warm as on these WDR television recordings. The song selection of the evening consisted of some of his biggest hits, which were probably part of the nightly mandatory repertoire ("Hoochie Coochie Man", "Walkin' Thru The Park", a formidable version of the macho anthem "Mannish Boy" and of course the immortal "Got My Mojo Workin'"), but also more rarely heard tunes like "Soon Forgotten" by St. Louis Jimmy Oden or "Country Boy", both atmospheric slow blues with slide.