Breakin' it up, breakin' it down

By Tony Watts - Editor - 09/07/2007

Any recording by Muddy Waters is an essential part of every blues lover’s collection, but “Breakin’ It Up, Breakin’ It Down” is something very special indeed. Not only does Muddy have some of the very finest blues players supporting him, but this album is from a 1977 concert that has never before been released.

It’s hard to believe that Muddy was playing for years before he really started to receive the global recognition he deserved, and the man that helped him achieve that – Johnny Winter – is one of the other big names on this album. Blues harmonica king James Cotton (veteran of Muddy’s band from 1955-’65, but then – as today – a world-class bandleader in his own right) is another. But on here also are Pinetop Perkins on vocals and piano, and the superb guitarist Bob Margolin, who has long helped preserve Muddy’s reputation through his remastering of old material and insightful sleeve notes.

As Bob writes of where Muddy was at the time of this recording: “Though he had found worldwide fame and acclaim, Muddy Waters, the man, still faced his own blues inside and still could not be satisfied, but his already supreme ability to sing his blues had grown. Almost thirty years after Muddy’s original breakout hit, I believe that this ‘Can’t Be Satisfied’ is Muddy’s most soulful blues singing.”

In February 1977, Muddy released his first album for Blue Sky/Epic, Hard Again, produced by Johnny Winter, who was using his considerable rock-star status to expose his mentor to a huge new audience. In March, Muddy set out on his first tour as a Blue Sky artist, accompanied by the men who played on the LP, among them Winter and Cotton.

For the first time, an entire album’s worth of music recorded during those March ’77 shows – music that was almost lost forever – will now see light-of-day.  The album crackles and snaps with all the ferociousness and finesse of a new blues masterpiece as the trio jams, tease and cajole watch other, finishing each other’s lines, and generally burning up the stage.  

The 60-minute, 11-track live album includes a transcendent version of his premiere 1948 hit “Can’t Be Satisfied”, which he rarely performed or recorded. Dust My Broom may have been recorded by anyone with pretensions to be a blues singer, but this is a stand-out version. And, as brilliant as Waters is, Winter is also on the very top of his form in this album: Mama Talk to Your Daughter is a superb rendition of a classic blues track, with Margolin letting rip with some classic blues guitar.

If you, or someone you know, loves the blues, this is a banker of an album. Brilliant.

Track list:

1. Black Cat Bone/Dust My Broom (vocals: James Cotton, Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter)
2. Can’t Be Satisfied (vocals: Muddy Waters)
3. Caledonia (vocals: James Cotton, Muddy Waters, Pinetop Perkins)
4. Dealin’ With The Devil (vocals: James Cotton, Johnny Winter)
5. Rocket 88 (vocals: James Cotton)
6. I Done Got Over It (vocals: Johnny Winter)
7. How Long Can A Fool Go Wrong (vocals: James Cotton)
8. Mama Talk To Your Daughter (vocals: Johnny Winter)
9. Love Her With A Feeling (vocals: Johnny Winter)
10. Trouble No More (vocals: James Cotton, Muddy Waters)
11. Got My Mojo Workin’ (vocals: James Cotton, Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter)