Tag Archives: Muddy Waters

February 1, 2017

Revealed! The Top 3 Album Recommendations for Jan 2017

By pbistyping

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31 album recommendations made in January, and now, as of February 1, the Top 3 recommendations—based on a combination of total views, social shares, and social media engagement—can be revealed!

3rd place: Muddy Waters – Rare and Unissued!

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The snap and snarl of it. The muscularity. The gritty poetry of it. The groove. The everything. It just grabs your face and says, I am real.

2nd place: Beverly “Guitar” Watkins – Don’t Mess With Miss Watkins

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“…real Lightnin’ Hopkins lowdown blues. I would call that hard classic blues, hard stompin’ blues, you know… railroad smokin’ blues!”

That’s how Beverly “Guitar” Watkins describes her sound. And that’s about all you need to know.

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And now, the #1 most popular album recommendation (so far!) for January 2017 …

Manifesto Mix Tape Vol. 1

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This, the 3rd annual compilation from legendary DJ Greg Lonesome—host of The Rock n’ Roll Manifesto—is a celebration of those days when creating a custom mix tape was exactly that, a Manifesto. A personal statement of belief.

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Thank you for your interest and engagement so far, congratulations to our winners, and let’s get ready for 28 days of #AlbumRecommendations in February!

 

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January 31, 2017

365 Days of Album Recommendations – Jan 31

By pbistyping

Muddy Waters – Folk Singer

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Put aside any feelings you may have about WHY this record was made, and just revel in the glory of a very-well-recorded ACOUSTIC Muddy Waters album.

Muddy Waters was so bloody good it’s frightening, and you hear why here—no distortion, no amps, no big band, no shitty sound system, no macho posturing, no ghastly shuffles or idiotic solos. Just Muddy, here and there tastefully backed by Willie Dixon, Clifton James, and Buddy Guy. Muddy, just bein’ powerful. Lethal. His presence is just enormous. His voice is a a cavern you crawl into, where you sleep on shadows, dine on gravel, and dream of rocking chairs and cypress groves.

By the way, yes, THAT Buddy Guy. Here, young, and acoustic. Buddy Guy. (For the record, these are the best recordings Buddy Guy ever made.)

I first heard this on vinyl, when it was just the 9 original tracks. I like it best that way.

Recommended track to start with: Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl

Why this track? Cuz it’s spry as fuck, that’s why. This thing just bounces. So tough. So cool. This is how you make acoustic music badass.

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January 1, 2017

365 Days of Album Recommendations – Jan 1

By pbistyping

Muddy Waters – Rare and Unissued

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This was the first Muddy Waters album I ever heard, and I was staggered by it. At that point in my life—not much past 16 years of age—I had little psychic context to understand music of this caliber, but I’d worked my way back via a right enough path that I think I got it. I’d gone from Clapton, to Cream, to the Yardbirds, to John Mayall. I dug Chuck Berry. I dug Bo Diddley. And then along come Muddy.

Jesus, what a ferociously raw sound this was.

Recommended track to start with: Feel Like Goin’ Home

Why that track? The snap and snarl of it. The muscularity. The gritty poetry of it. The groove. The everything. It just grabs your face and says, I am real. You hear this, or I’ll fuck you up. And then I’ll fuck you up. It’s just so … tough. His voice was incredible. The vibrato, the hums, the mumbles, the tonal changes, the shouts, the grunts … I loved the language of it all … well, it’s late over in the evenin’, and I feel like goin’ on home. I didn’t want to talk like that. I wanted to be someone who talked like that.

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