The Best of Muddy Waters

Greatest hits album by

Muddy Waters

Released

April 1958

Recorded

Chicago, April 1948 – September 1, 1954

Genre

Chicago blues

Length

35:40^[1]

Label

Chess

Producer

Leonard Chess, Phil Chess

Muddy Waters chronology

The Best of Muddy Waters
(1958)

Muddy Waters Sings "Big Bill"
(1960)

The Best of Muddy Waters is a greatest hits album by Muddy Waters released by Chess Records in April 1958. The twelve songs were originally issued as singles between 1948 and 1954 and most appeared in Billboard magazine's top 10 Rhythm & Blues Records charts.

The album is the first by Waters and the third by Chess on the long playing (or LP record) format.^[2] Chess re-sequenced the tracks and re-titled it Sail On for release in February 1969.^[3]

The album was re-released on compact disc in 1997 by Chess and MCA Records. The Blues Foundation Hall of Fame inducted it as a "Classic of Blues Recording" in 1983.^[4]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Record Mirror	^[5]

YouTube Encyclopedic

1/3
Views:
174 291
3 902
857

Transcription

Track listing

All tracks are written by McKinley Morganfield a.k.a. Muddy Waters, except where noted

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"I Just Want to Make Love to You"	Willie Dixon	2:49
2.	"Long Distance Call"		2:38
3.	"Louisiana Blues"		2:49
4.	"Honey Bee"		3:20
5.	"Rollin' Stone"		3:05
6.	"I'm Ready"	Dixon	3:01

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Hoochie Coochie"	Dixon	2:49
2.	"She Moves Me"		2:54
3.	"I Want You to Love Me"		3:01
4.	"Standing Around Crying"		3:19
5.	"Still a Fool"		3:14
6.	"I Can't Be Satisfied"		2:41

Personnel

Muddy Waters – vocals, guitar
Ernest "Big" Crawford – bass on "Long Distance Call", "Louisiana Blues", "Honey Bee", "I Want You To Love Me", and "I Can't Be Satisfied"
Willie Dixon – bass on "I Just Want To Make Love To You", "I'm Ready", and "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man"
Little Walter – harmonica on tracks A-1, A-2, A-3, A-6, B-1, B-2, and B-4; guitar on B-5
Walter "Shakey" Horton – harmonica on B-3 (as credited on LP – Little Walter is the harmonica player on all tracks on this collection where harmonica is present.)
Jimmy Rogers – guitar on tracks A-1, A-4, A-6, B-1, B-3, and B-4
Otis Spann – piano on A-1, A-6, B-1, B-3, and B-4
Fred Below – drums on A-1, A-6, and B-1
Elgin Evans – washboard on A-3; drums on B-3 and B-4
Leonard Chess – bass drum on B-2 and B-5
Studs Terkel – liner notes

Release history

Region	Label	Format	Catalog
United States	Chess	LP	LP 1427
Worldwide reissue	Chess	LP	LP CH-9255
US	Chess	Cassette	CHC-9255
US	Chess/MCA	CD	CHD-31268
Japan	MCA	CD	UICY-3199

References

^ ^a ^b Chadbourne, Eugene. "The Best of Muddy Waters [Chess] - Muddy Waters: Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
^ Howard Mandel, ed. (2005). The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues. Billboard Books. pp. 176, 182. ISBN 0-8230-8266-0.
^ Chess (1989). Muddy Waters: Chess Box (Box set booklet). Muddy Waters. Chess/MCA Records. p. 26. OCLC 154264537. CHD3-80002.
^ O'Neal, Jim (1983). "1983 Hall of Fame Inductees: The Best of Muddy Waters – Muddy Waters (Chess, 1958)". The Blues Foundation. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
^ "Muddy Waters: The Best Of Muddy Waters" (PDF). Record Mirror. No. 184. 18 September 1964. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.

v t e Muddy Waters
Studio albums	1960 Muddy Waters Sings "Big Bill" 1964 Folk Singer 1966 Muddy, Brass & the Blues 1967 Super Blues With Bo Diddley and Little Walter 1968 The Super Super Blues Band With Howlin' Wolf and Bo Diddley Electric Mud 1969 After the Rain Fathers and Sons 1972 The London Muddy Waters Sessions 1973 Can't Get No Grindin' 1974 "Unk" in Funk 1975 The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album 1977 Hard Again 1978 I'm Ready 1981 King Bee
Live albums	1960 At Newport 1960 1969 Fathers and Sons 1971 Live at Mr. Kelly's 1979 Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live 2007 Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down 2012 Live at the Checkerboard Lounge, Chicago 1981
Compilations	1958 The Best of Muddy Waters 1966 The Real Folk Blues 1967 More Real Folk Blues 1971 McKinley Morganfield A.K.A. Muddy Waters 1993 The Complete Plantation Recordings 2000 Rollin' Stone: The Golden Anniversary Collection 2001 The Anthology (1947–1972)
Noted singles	1950 "Rollin' and Tumblin'" "Rollin' Stone" "Walkin' Blues" 1951 "Long Distance Call" 1953 "Baby Please Don't Go" 1954 "Hoochie Coochie Man" "I Just Want to Make Love to You" "I'm Ready" 1955 "Mannish Boy" 1956 "Trouble No More" "Forty Days and Forty Nights" "Rock Me" "Got My Mojo Working" 1962 "You Shook Me" 1963 "You Need Love"
Related articles	Discography Chicago blues Delta blues Willie Dixon Little Walter Jimmy Rogers Otis Spann Chess Records

This page was last edited on 6 June 2023, at 18:44