The Real Folk Blues (Muddy Waters album)

The Real Folk Blues is a 1966 compilation album of Muddy Waters recordings, released on the Chess record label in January 1966. The album was the first release of The Real Folk Blues series and has since been re-released on multiple formats. The album features some of Waters' first recordings.

The Real Folk Blues
Compilation album by
Muddy Waters
ReleasedJanuary 1966 (1966-01)[1]
RecordedSeptember 1947 – 1964[2][3][4][5] in Chicago, Illinois
GenreChicago blues, folk blues
Length34:02[5]
LabelChess
ProducerMarshall Chess[6]
Muddy Waters chronology
The Best of Muddy Waters
(1957)		 The Real Folk Blues
(1966)		 Muddy, Brass & the Blues
(1966)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[5]

Artwork and packaging

The cover art photography and design on The Real Folk Blues was done by Don S. Bronstein and the sleeve notes for the original album were done by Willie Dixon. On a reissue of the album, new liner notes were authored by Cary Baker.[6]

Recording background

Muddy Waters started out recording for Aristocrat Records in 1947, somehow a predecessor of Chess Records. Those early recording only features Ernest "Big" Crawford backing Muddy.[5] Later when Leonard and Phil Chess took over the record label, Muddy used a more electric backing band featuring members such as Little Walter. PopMatters Marshall Bowden explained "Muddy's last R&B chart hit with Chess came in 1958 ... he was no longer a popular recording artist. Chess looked about for a way to promote the singer to a young generation, and hit upon the folk music craze that was taking place. Muddy Waters, Folk Singer was released in 1964, and in 1966 The Real Folk Blues came out. The tracks included were a collection of Muddy's work, including his very first single for Aristocrat, "Gypsy Woman" (1947) as well as things he had recorded in the early '60s. This meant that some of the songs came from the deep rural blues tradition (the "folk" aspect) while others were much more urban, demonstrating the influential sound that Waters had been spreading around since his arrival in Chicago".[7]

Awards

In 2017, the album was inducted in to the Blues Hall of Fame in the category of 'Classics of Blues Recordings – Album'.[8]

Track listing

All tracks written by Muddy Waters, except when indicated.

  1. "Mannish Boy" (Muddy Waters, Mel London, Ellas McDaniel) – 2:54
  2. "Screamin' & Cryin'" – 3:04
  3. "Just to Be with You" (Bernard Roth) – 3:13
  4. "Walkin' Thru the Park" – 2:40
  5. "Walkin' Blues" (Robert Johnson) – 2:54
  6. "Canary Bird" – 2:42
  7. "Same Thing" (Dixon) – 2:37
  8. "Gypsy Woman" – 2:31
  9. "Rollin' and Tumblin'" – 2:57
  10. "Forty Days and Forty Nights" (Roth) – 2:50
  11. "Little Geneva" – 2:45
  12. "You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had" – 2:55

Personnel

The following people contributed to The Real Folk Blues[2][3][4][6]

References
  1. Ackerman, Paul, ed. (January 15, 1966). "New Release Inventory Checklist". Billboard. 78 (3): 52. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  2. Robert L. Campbell; Robert Pruter; George R. White; Tom Kelly. "The Aristocrat Label". Robert Campbell. Clemson, South Carolina: Clemson University. Retrieved March 13, 2011.
  3. George R. White; Robert L. Campbell; Tom Kelly. "The Chess Label Part I (1950–1952)". Robert Campbell. Clemson, South Carolina: Clemson University. Retrieved March 13, 2011.
  4. George R. White; Robert L. Campbell; Tom Kelly. "The Chess Label Part II (1953–1955)". Robert Campbell. Clemson, South Carolina: Clemson University. Retrieved March 13, 2011.
  5. Cub Koda. "The Real Folk Blues > Overview". Allmusic Guide. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  6. "The Real Folk Blues > Credits". Allmusic Guide. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  7. Bowden, M. PopMatters: Muddy Waters: The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues, accessed September 16, 2019
  8. "BLUES HALL OF FAME - ABOUT/Inductions - Blues Foundation". Blues.org. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
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