Muddy Waters – The Montreux Years (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

The magnificent and incomparable Muddy Waters performed 3 legendary concerts at the Montreux Jazz Festival throughout the 1970s. Each of these historic concerts were recorded. Muddy Waters name is synonymous with the authenticity, excellence and individuality of the festival and this collection is a celebration of his unique talent.

The Montreux Years collection will bring together for the first time, some of the finest moments from Muddy Waters’ celebrated performances alongside rare material, unheard since the original recording.

The first time Claude Nobs, the future founder of the Montreux Festival, went to the United States was in 1965 to Chicago, where as soon as he got off the plane, he found himself immersed in a tour of the local blues clubs. His night ended in a daze, after concerts by Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters with shots of whisky served by Willie Dixon. A great moment in his personal history, a memory that must have resurfaced a few years later when the stages of Montreux were honoured by the presence of Muddy Waters in 1972, 1974 and 1977. This best-of selection of the three concerts in 16 tracks begins sublimely with the unarguable Nobody Know Chicago Like I Do. The father of modern Chicago blues, he is, as so often, at his best accompanied by the cream of musical talent (Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Bill Wyman, Pinetop Perkins…), faithful to the style he created twenty years earlier. Muddy Waters performs all his hits (Mannish Boy, I’m Ready, Got My Mojo Workin’, Rollin’ And Tumblin’, I’m Ready…) and other lesser-known numbers with all the class of an old cat that has not lost any of its sensual suppleness nor its wild instinct. Muddy Waters must have sung these songs a thousand times, but he still manages to give them a magical dimension. The interpretation is profound, the recording perfect in its clarity and density: this monster compilation of the Montreux years goes immediately to the top 5 of Muddy Waters’ best live albums. – St’ephane Deschamps

Tracklist:
1-1. Muddy Waters – Nobody Knows Chicago Like I Do (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1977) (03:44)
1-2. Muddy Waters – Mannish Boy (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1974) (05:23)
1-3. Muddy Waters – Long Distance Call (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1972) (06:52)
1-4. Muddy Waters – Rollin’ and Tumblin’ (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1972) (04:16)
1-5. Muddy Waters – County Jail (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1972) (06:17)
1-6. Muddy Waters – Got My Mojo Working (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1977) (02:43)
1-7. Muddy Waters – I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1977) (03:25)
1-8. Muddy Waters – I’m Ready (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1974) (03:48)
1-9. Muddy Waters – Still a Fool (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1977) (04:26)
1-10. Muddy Waters – Trouble No More (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1977) (02:26)
1-11. Muddy Waters – Rosalie (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1972) (04:43)
1-12. Muddy Waters – Rock Me Baby (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1972) (05:07)
1-13. Muddy Waters – Same Thing (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1974) (06:47)
1-14. Muddy Waters – Howlin’ Wolf (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1977) (06:52)
1-15. Muddy Waters – Can’t Get No Grindin’ (What’s the Matter With the Meal) (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1977) (04:21)
1-16. Muddy Waters – Electric Man (Live – Montreux Jazz Festival 1974) (03:43)