Customer Reviews

Honey Bee

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This album was recorded in "Europe, early 80s", according to the cover (that probably means 1979 or 1980), and the band is the same one that backed Muddy Waters on almost all of his recordings between 1973 and 1980.

"Honey Bee" (which is sometimes advertised as "Sail On") doesn't really add anything new and radical to Muddy's legacy; almost all of these 16 songs have been available live for a long time, and often in several different versions. But it's still a fine album, of course, live Muddy is almost always very good.
The sound is not truly stellar, but the Muddy Waters Band was the best in the business at that time. Pianist Joe "Pinetop" Perkins is excellent all the way through, and he sounds particularly inspired on "Garbage Man", "Long Distance Call" and on a great, swinging rendition of "Blow Wind Blow". Wonderful guitar solos by Bob Margolin and Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson on "Hoochie Coochie Man" as well.

Many of these numbers are a little more laid-back than on most other live recordings, and a few songs, such as "Trouble No More", "Baby Please Don't Go", and "Can't Get No Grindin'" have been released in significantly better live renditions. But the excellent rhythm section always contributes a deep, swaggering groove, and this cool version of the title track is among the best I have heard.
"Honey Bee" (the album) even includes a few rarities, such as a great band-backed version of the early Muddy-single "Train Fare Home", a rendition of saxist J.T. Brown's soulful "Goin' Home", and the jazzy "After Hours", a smoky slow instrumental in the vein of T-Bone Walker. "Off The Wall" is harpist Jerry Portnoy's muscular take on another instrumental number, this one by Muddy's former harpist Little Walter Jacobs.

Casual blues fans won't need to rush out and secure themselves a copy of this album...as long as you have "Muddy Waters At Newport 1960" and "Mojo: The Live Collection", you'll be alright. And Muddy Waters couldn't control the slide like he used to after a seruous traffic accident, which means that his solos aren't all that they could have been (he sounds pretty good on "Train Fare Home", though).
But serious fans will certainly want a copy of this enjoyable live recording from the Austrian Wolf label - their second, following the equally enjoyable "Live Recordings 1965-1973".
Not an essential purchase, but a nice listen all the same.

This is one of the few CD's that I have enjoyed every song on i