Search - Muddy Waters :: Jukebox Hits 1948-1954

A Pure R&B Artist

03/21/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Anyone searching under artist will not find this Muddy Waters volume (or the ones covering Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday or Nat "King" Cole) brought to you by yet another excellent U.K. outlet, Acrobat Music & Media Ltd., as part of their excellent Jukebox Hits series of individual artists and multi-artist compilations focusing on the greats of R&B. These also include Lucky Millinder, The Clovers, Erskine Hawkins, Andy Kirk & His Clouds Of Joy, Ivory Joe Hunter, Johnny Otis, Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five (2 volumes), Buddy Johnson, T-Bone Walker, Jimmie Lunceford, Lionel Hampton, Ruth Brown, and Billy Eckstine.



With three exceptions, all of the above were prominent at one time or another on both the Pop charts and those devoted to R&B (introduced in October 1942 and initially called the Harlem Hit Parade). Those exceptions are T-Bone Walker, whose 9 registered hit singles all appeared from 1947 to 1950 only on the R&B charts, Billie Holiday, who only had one of her many hits make the R&B listings, and Muddy Waters, born McKinley Morganfield on April 4, 1915 in Rolling Fork, Mississippi.



This first-rate volume, with good sound quality and informative liner notes, covers the 10 of his 16 R&B-only hits up to, and including, 1954 along with 3 B-sides and several failed singles. The first, I Feel Like Going Home (# 11 in September 1948 b/w I Can't Be Satisfied, appeared on Aristocrat 1305, and the remainder for Chess, formed after Leonard and Phil Chess bought out their former partner at Aristocrat.



In 1950, Chess released Rollin' Stone b/w Walkin' Blues on Chess 1426 and, although it never made the national charts, the A-side is now regarded as a Waters classic. Then, in early 1951, Louisiana Blues reached # 10 b/w Evan's Shuffle (omitted here) on Chess 1441, followed that April by Long Distance Call. Now billed to Muddy Waters And His Guitar, and featuring Walter Horton on harmonica, it peaked at # 8 b/w Too Young To Know (also omitted here) on Chess 1452. The hits continued in July when Honey Bee, with the additional guitar work of Jimmy Rogers, made it to # 10 b/w Appealing Blues (omitted) on Chess 1468, and again in November/December with Still A Fool, a # 9 b/w My Fault on Chess 1480.



However, 1952 did not turn out to be as successful, although the first release, She Moves Me, his # 10 in February on Chess 1490 b/w Early Morning Blues (not here). But then, none among All Night Long b/w Country Boy (not here) on Chess 1509, Please Have Mercy b/w Looking For My Baby (not here) on Chess 1514, and Standing Around Crying b/w Gone To Main Street (not here) on Chess 1526, could crack the R&B charts. Listening to these, it's hard to understand why.



Much the same applied to 1953 as the otherwise great She'all Right b/w Sad, Sad Day on Chess 1537 (neither side here) and Turn The Lamp Down Low (Baby Please Don't Go) b/w Who's Gonna Be Your Sweet Man? (not here) on Chess 1532 failed to click with the record-buying public, DJs, and Juke Box listeners sufficiently enough to push either side onto the charts. Late that year, though, Mad Love did reach # 6 b/w Blow, Wind, Blow on Chess 1550.



In 1954 Muddy would see his best three hits, in terms of chart positioning, when I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man rose to # 3 in the spring b/w She's So Pretty on Chess 1560, Just Make Love To Me hit # 4 in early summer b/w Oh! Yeh (not here) on Chess 1571, and in November, I'm Ready also topped out at # 4 b/w I Don't Know Why (omitted here).



Muddy, who would go on to post 6 more hits to 1958 including his only two-sided smash, Trouble No More b/w Sugar Sweet (# 7 and 11 in 1955/56), was inducted into the Blues Hall Of Fame in its first year (1980) and the R&R Hall Of Fame in the Blues Pioneer category in 1987, passed away at age 68 on April 30, 1983. In terms of his early hit singles, you won't do much better than this volume."