I began listening Muddy Waters in July 2022 and wrapped up the albums below in early August of the same year. Although the albums are list out of order in terms of release date, this is the order I recommend listening to his discography to get a strong historical understanding of his career.
The Complete Plantation Recordings (1993): B
His Best: 1947 to 1955 (1997): A
His Best: 1956 to 1964 (1997): A-
Folk Singer (1964): A
Muddy Waters: The Complete Plantation Recordings (1993):
In 1941, folk archivist Alan Lomax, who was working with the Library of Congress to document African American blues, went to the Mississippi Delta for one of his many field studies and discovered Muddy Waters, who worked as a tractor driver on a 4,500 acre farm he had lived on for all his life. Lomax recorded this first encounter in Waters's living room, which resulted in two fabulous solo blues recordings "Country Blues" and "I Be's Troubled" as well as a few highly informative interview segments with Waters. Lomax was so enthused with the result that he came and recorded with Waters later the next year. With a few other instrumentalists and vocalists joining the session, this second session is not very interesting and insightful into Waters as a Delta blues guitarist. Fortunately, Lomax also recorded Waters solo, which resulted in "Take a Walk with Me," "Burr Clover Blues," "I Be Bound to Write to You," "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone," "You Got to Take Sick and Die Some of These Days," "Why Don't You Live So God Can Use You," and "32-20 Blues." The Complete Plantation Sessions is no doubt a wildly important historical document but with the inclusion of several alternative takes as well as a few cuts with other players and singers, it's not highly engaging as a full listen--just listen to the solo cuts. B
Muddy Waters: His Best, 1947 to 1955 (1997):
After getting a taste of recording in the early 1940s, Muddy Waters left Mississippi in 1943 and ventured to Chicago where he hoped to sign a recording contract. Although many blues artists were in the city at the time, very few had contracts and even fewer had commercial success. After a few years of struggling to find his place, Waters pioneered the burgeoning genre Chicago blues when he began recording the Delta blues with an electric guitar and a backing band. He signed with the Chess brothers in 1947 and saw his first glimpse of success in 1948 when "I Can't Be Satisfied"--a rewriting of "I Be's Troubled"--hit the charts. Soon enough, he was recording hit songs left and right and compiled an impressive catalog with his talented band. Because of the amount he recorded at his peak, Chess wisely split his best recordings into two separate compilations. Although the twelve cuts of The Best of Muddy Waters perhaps document this first period more concisely, this twenty song track-list has many of the most important recordings in blues history and it establishes him as the best blues interpreter since Robert Johnson. A
Muddy Waters: His Best: 1956 to 1964 (1997):
Although still collecting from an essential period of Waters's career, there's not as many stone cold blues classics on the second installation of his greatest hits. The first few tracks begin right where 1947 to 1955 left off but Waters quickly loses some inspiration and it's only towards the end with "You Shook Me," "You Need Love," and two songs from Folk Singer that this compilation picks up again. A-
Muddy Waters: Folk Singer (1964):
It was not until the folk revival was in full swing and many blues legends (most notably Son House, Skip James, and Mississippi John Hurt) brought back the popularity of acoustic blues that Waters recorded his first and only acoustic album. Because of the simple and emotionally powerful idiom of acoustic blues, these sessions help focus Waters the emotional interpreter and it just so happens to feature the best guitar work of Waters's career, which is helped in no small part thanks to the assistance of a young Buddy Guy. But the positives don't stop there. Unlike many genres, the blues is best sung by its grizzled veterans and at the age of 51, Waters's voice is at unparalleled heights: his boastful songs the more persuasive; his moans, hums, and sighs the more expressive; and his legendary status fully cemented. A
