Includes liner notes by Bill Dahl.
Digitally remastered by Francois Chicoine & Ian Terry.
This is the same package as one earlier released in England. It's Muddy with Otis Spann, playing England's Manchester Free Trade Hall in 1958 with the Chris Barber Jazz Band backing them. The Tomato version adds "Long Distance Call" and "Baby Please Don't Go" to the original ten-song lineup; overall, the sound is still rough, taken from the original -- and existing -- acetate. Muddy's guitar was deliberately turned down for this concert, making him nigh to inaudible, but he's in fine voice and Spann fills in all the missing holes nicely. Not essential, but an interesting sidebar to his recorded legacy. ~ Cub Koda
Many blues aficionados listen to Muddy Waters' classic Chicago blues sides of the '50s and '60s not only for his expressive vocals and searing slide guitar, but for pianist Otis Spann, who was almost without question the greatest pianist in the Chicago blues style. It was only his early death in 1970 at the age of 40 (when he was finally beginning to start his career as a bandleader in earnest) that kept Spann from becoming one of the best-known names in all of jazz. Equally at ease with tricky, jazz-inspired solos and two-fisted comping, Spann is a marvel to listen to, and although the emphasis of this live set is most often on Muddy Waters' vocals and guitar, Spann's barrelhouse rolls and inspired solos on blues classics like "Baby Please Don't Go," "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man," and "I Feel Like Going Home" more than justify his co-billing. minimize