MUDDY WATERS 100 featuring
JOHN PRIMER, GARY CLARK, JR., JOHNNY WINTER, JAMES COTTON, KEB’ MO’,
DEREK TRUCKS, SHEMEKIA COPELAND, BOB MARGOLIN
“Primer is a terrific singer; strong, strutting and just enough like his
mentor Muddy to make these songs authentic but not a mirror image.
The performances are spirited without a dud in all 15. And, perhaps most
impressively, the sumptuous hardcover package with 48 heavy stock pages
of rare photos and a beautifully penned essay from veteran music writer
Robert Gordon is the definition of classy.” (American Songwriter)
“a worthy tribute and a must for anyone who’s ever appreciated Waters’
sweeping influence. Meaning everybody.” (Gatehouse Newspapers)
Chicago, IL – Raisin’ Music Records proudly announces the release of
“MUDDY WATERS 100” on JULY 24, 2015.
This officially authorized centennial tribute to Muddy Waters, “MUDDY
WATERS 100” is a once-in-a-lifetime CD that celebrates, commemorates
and contributes to the musical legacy of this American icon. Produced by
2X Grammy nominated producer Larry Skoller (“Heritage Blues
Orchestra”/ “Chicago Blues: A Living History”), the CD is
contained in a collectible CD-sized hard-cover book with 48 pages illustrated
with black and white photography by some of the greatest photographers of
Muddy’s time. Also included is an original essay by Robert Gordon,
Grammy-winning author of the definitive Muddy Waters biography “Can’t
Be Satisfied – The Life and Times of Muddy Waters”.
“MUDDY WATERS 100” includes 15 newly recorded tracks featuring Muddy
Waters Band alumni and many of today’s most preeminent American blues and
roots artists including JOHN PRIMER, GARY CLARK JR., JAMES COTTON, KEB’ MO’,
JOHNNY WINTER, DEREK TRUCKS, BOB MARGOLIN, BILLY BRANCH and SHEMEKIA
COPELAND backed by some of the greatest musicians on the Chicago blues scene
including The Living History Band featuring Kenny “Beedy Eyes”
Smith (drums — son of longtime Muddy drummer Willie ‘Big Eyes’ Smith), Johnny
Iguana (keyboards), Felton Crews (bass) and Billy Flynn (guitar).
Vocalist/guitarist JOHN PRIMER, who played with Muddy until his death in 1983,
is recognized as one of today’s most crucial keepers of the Chicago blues
flame. For “MUDDY WATERS 100”, Primer gives a deeply personal tribute
to the man he knew so very well. Other distinguished Muddy Waters alumni
on this recording include harmonica legend JAMES COTTON and guitarist BOB
MARGOLIN (who played alongside Muddy for 7 years and was very close to the
man and his music. The late great blues guitarist/producer JOHNNY WINTER played
on the song “I’m Ready” for this album just a few weeks before
he passed away in July 2014. (“I’m Ready” is the title track from
Muddy’s Grammy-winning album produced by Winter back in 1978 — one of two
albums that Winter produced for Muddy in the late ’70s. Cotton & Margolin
also played on the Winter-produced “I’m Ready” album). Along
with Muddy alumni, this gathering of some of the most preeminent blues and
roots artists of today makes this tribute truly a landmark celebration.
Billy Branch, Gary Clark, Jr., Shemekia Copeland, Keb Mo’ and Derek Trucks
embody the spirit of this project: that for a tradition to survive, it
must be passed on through generations and must remain in a constant state of
evolution by redefining itself in a contemporary context. By pushing the
boundaries of this music, as Muddy did in his time, and with their own original
voices and stories, these artists are helping to give the blues its
future.
It could be argued that Muddy Waters has had more influence on the sound of
American popular music than any other single artist of the 20th century.
“MUDDY WATERS 100” is a centennial celebration of his musical legacy,
his iconic sound and his immeasurable contribution to and influence on
American music. Driven by a deep respect for this master of the blues and for
the blues traditions that spawned his talent, “MUDDY WATERS 100”
tributes the past, embraces the present and recognizes the bright future of the
blues for which Muddy paved the way. In the spirit of his legacy,
“MUDDY WATERS 100” puts the spotlight on the inextricable mix of old
and new school that Muddy left in his wake. The newly recorded songs on
this album represent the various periods and styles of Muddy’s musical path,
from his 1941 recordings on Stovall plantation in Mississippi to his
arrival in Chicago and subsequent evolution during the 1940s and 1950s,
including his pioneering electric guitar sound at the Chess
Records studios. By design, this album has not taken a strictly archival approach
in its treatments of Muddy’s songs. Some tracks are handled
traditionally; there are also contemporary treatments and new arrangements
that focus on today’s sounds. Whether it be rock, pop, rap, hip-hop, the
tube electronics of the earliest five-watt amplifiers or digital samples,
drum loops and electronica — in one way or another these sounds all lead back
to Muddy Waters.
“Muddy Waters would be a hundred years old today…The whole story of the
blues can be heard, felt, and learned in the life of Muddy
Waters…Born April 4, 1915…in the soggy part of Rolling Fork, Mississippi,
this mannish boy would soon move north in the delta with his grandmother to
Stovall Farms, near where the train lines crossed in Clarksdale, and from
there to Chicago. He absorbed the rhythm and feel of the south until it was
part of his bones, electrifying that sound in the industrial north. His
1958 trip to England planted ideas there that would awaken America to its
indigenous sounds. Muddy’s music ignited a cultural revolution…from the
brutal and fertile fields of Mississippi, he changed the world. The tiller of
the soil became the definer of a nation, the symbol of freedom. Muddy’s
achievement is emblematic of American democracy, the ultimate triumph of the
dirt farmer, bringing respect to the disrespected. He did it with his
guitar and with his voice, touching emotions that touched traditions. A century
has passed, but we are still building on the foundation that Muddy Waters
established, his sound and style still going strong. His influence is
everywhere around us.” (from Robert Gordon’s liner notes essay)