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Part 1 started with Muddy Waters’ first recordings at the Stovall Plantation and left off in 1966; the last album covered was Muddy Waters, Brass and the Blues released in December of that year (see below).
One more time, here’s the complete Muddy Waters discography, a labor of love from the people at Blues and Rhythm magazine. This has been my source for when recordings were made, unfortunately, it gives us discography numbers, not titles, to show where they were released. Some of the recordings are beyond hard to find, so we don’t have them.
Because so many of these recordings were made with the entire Muddy Waters Band, including the guitarists Sammy Lawhorn, Luther “Snake” Johnson, James “Pee Wee” Madison, as well as the Man himself on guitar, I’m backtracking to include them, even though they were nominally, Big Mama Thornton’s, John Lee Hooker’s and Otis Spann’s records, and the songs usually aren’t ones we’d associate with Muddy Waters.
We’re going back a little from where we left off, to Monday, April 25, 1966, when the Muddy Waters Band with James Cotton (harp), Muddy Waters, Sam Lawhorn (guitars), Otis Spann (piano), Luther “Snake” Johnson (bass), Francis Clay (drums) backed Big Mama Thornton on her Big Mama Thornton and the Chicago Blues Band.
John Lee Hooker Live at the Café au Go-Go, recorded in New York City on Tuesday, August 30, 1966. John Lee Hooker (vocal, guitar) Muddy Waters, Sammy Lawhorn, Luther “Snake” Johnson (guitars), Otis Spann (piano), Mac Arnold (bass), Francis Clay (drums). These songs weren’t actually recorded at the Café au Go-Go. They were recorded in a studio with an audience present. There are 7 more songs on the commercial release, at the end, that were recorded at Soledad Prison, but they weren’t with the Muddy Waters Band, so they aren’t included here.
Otis Spann’s The Blues Is Where It’s At was also recorded in New York City on Tuesday, August 30, 1966, the same day as John Lee Hooker’s album with the same people except the main artist! George Smith also plays harp on here. What a Tuesday that was.
This November 1966 recording at the Fillmore East doesn’t correspond song-wise to the discography’s Saturday, November 25, 1966 recording in New York (except for “Watermelon Man”) but some of the same people are on it, and the description in the discography pertains here, “Muddy Waters probably does not play on all tracks.”
Muddy Waters, Brass and the Blues was released in December 1966 (also featured in part 1).
Around this time, in January 1967, the first Super Blues album with Little Walter and Bo Diddley was recorded. This album contains the last Little Walter recordings released while he was alive (released in June ’67, Walter Jacobs died February 15, 1968).
There was another Otis Spann recording session, but there are so many unknowns, I haven’t included it. If the info in the discography is correct, this would be the first appearance of Paul Oscher (harmonicist) with the Muddy Waters Band.
The first 8 songs from They Call Me Muddy Waters (released December 1970, tracks on YouTube playlist somewhat different from Discogs list of album) were recorded around this time (songs 1-4, 6,7, 9 and 10 on the following album/playlist), with Muddy Waters (vocals, guitar on song 3 only), Little Walter (harp), Otis Spann (piano), Pinetop Perkins (organ on songs 2, 9 & 10), James “Pee Wee” Madison, Sam Lawhorn (guitars), Sonny Wimberley (bass, 2, 3, 9, 10), Earnest Johnson (bass, 1, 4, 6, 7), Willie Smith (drums). Songs 5, 8 and 11 are from somewhere else.
The discography shows several live tracks from the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1967 that I’d like to include, but I haven’t been able to find them.
The next session Muddy Waters was on was the second Super Super Blues Band album also featuring Howlin’ Wolf and Bo Diddley (Buddy Guy was the other guitarist on the set).
Chicken Shack: Luther “Snake” Johnson featuring the Muddy Waters Band (recorded in New York City, 1967 and 1968; the first session falls here chronologically). Luther “Snake” Johnson (vocals and guitar), Muddy Waters, James “Pee Wee” Madison (guitar), Paul Oscher (harp), Otis Spann (piano), Sonny Wimberley (bass), S.P. Leary (drums); song list is at video.
See the section below for more of Luther “Snake” Johnson’s music.Otis Spann’s Heart Loaded With Trouble, recorded Monday, November 20, 1967 in New York City also features the full Muddy Waters Band guitar lineup, plus Otis Spann’s wife, Lucille Spann, singing on 4 songs, and St. Louis Jimmy Odom on the first song (he’s the author of “Going Down Slow”).
Next up is Electric Mud, released October 5, 1968. The first song, recorded in February of that year, was a cover of the Stones’ “Let’s Spend the Night Together”; the musicians on this song are unknown. The rest of the album was recorded in Chicago with a Chess studio band put together by Marshall Chess, Phil’s son (who was soon to manage the Rolling Stones’ record company). Muddy Waters sang, he didn’t play any instruments. The musicians whose identities are known are Gene Barge (soprano sax, flute), Phil Upchurch, Roland Faulkner, Pete Cosey (guitars), Charles Stepney (organ), Louis Satterfield (bass), Morris Jennings (drums), with lots of unknown musicians playing brass, woodwind and percussion instruments.
Following are a handful of the many reviews of this controversial album (there are more, way more): All Music, All About Jazz, Perfect Sound Forever, The Vinyl District and Julian Cope’s review from Head Heritage.
Jimi Hendrix loved it, particularly “Herbert Harper’s Free Press,” which he told Pete Cosey he listened to for inspiration. From what I’ve read, I have the impression that Muddy Waters never liked it.
Muddy Waters didn’t use the material in live performances, but here he’s seen playing the same Italian guitar from the photo shoot on Electric Mud, capoed at the fifth fret, in this live recording of “Long Distance Call” from October 27, 1968 in Copenhagen.
To be continued.
*********** LUTHER “SNAKE” JOHNSON ***********
There were three guitarists by the name of Luther Johnson. Two of them played in the Muddy Waters Band. Luther “Snake” Johnson (a/k/a Luther “Georgia Boy” Johnson) was with Muddy Waters in the period covered in this segment of Our Blues Roots, and there’s some good material on YouTube, so I thought I’d do a sidebar on him. The other two are Luther “Guitar Junior” Johnson, who was in the Muddy Waters Band from 1972 to 1980 (so he’ll be covered in part 3 or 4) and Luther “Houserocker” Johnson.
They Call Me the Snake (1970), track list at video
Born in Georgia (1972), with Johnny Shines on guitar on Robert Johnson’s “Walking Blues,” “My Daddy Told Me” and “Crawlin’ King Snake,” track list at video
Live in France, 1973 “Woman Don’t Lie” and “Somebody Loan Me a Dime.” Bob the Juke, who posted this video, and others below, was among the people who promoted this tour and others; his video collection is something else.
This is one of my favorites, from the 1975 Chicago Blues Fest tour of France with Luther “Snake” Johnson (vocals and guitar), Hubert Sumlin, Lonnie Brooks (guitars), Little Mac Simmons (harp), Dave Myers (bass), Fred Below (drums).
Get Down to the Nitty Gritty (1976), track list at video. This is also a favorite album.
Don D.
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