29. Muddy Waters – Muddy Waters at Newport

You know how I said I’ve been listening ahead on these, so usually I’m about five albums ahead of what I’m writing about? Well this one I’ve been playing solid for the last couple of weeks because, damn it sounds good.

Muddy Waters had already put out his greatest hits by the time he recorded this, and it was a confident, experienced performance of real raw Chicago blues that he put out at the 1960 Newport Jazz Festival, to a mainly white audience. It clearly worked, because this album is often seen as the point where the blues kicked its way into white homes. This was the spark that got Clapton and Jimmy Page going, and as I mentioned earlier, damn it sounds good.

You’ll know what to expect when he gets going with “I got my brand on you” and “Hoochie Coochie Man”, and he keeps it going all the way through to the magnificent “I’ve got my mojo working”. If you love the blues, you must have this album. I actually paid money for it, which in these Spotified days is a major badge of honour.

Also, if after listening to this album, you don’t love the blues, you need a kick up the arse. But that’s another story.