Customer Reviews

Hoochie Coochie Man: Comp Chess Masters 2 1952-58

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4 star:		(2)
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I do have one complaint with this release from Hip-O Select, and it deals with the packaging. Although it LOOKS incredibly handsome on the surface, they have the discs fitting into these tight cardboard slots that are tailor-made to get the discs scratched up, and that's just ridiculous. In this day and age, these guys should really know better.

Still, I say hunker down and grab a couple spare jewel cases to put the two discs of this set in. Because they are truly incredible discs. Muddy was playing with a rhythm section by the time where this set begins--he was in absolute peak form, and innovating in ways that may go underappreciated nowadays but shouldn't be dismissed.

Due to the strict chronological sequencing and thoroughness of the set, there are cases where the same song appears twice in a row, but it's hardly a problem, because songs like the riffy "She's All Right" and the stomping "Baby Please Don't Go" are so great that you won't mind hearing them twice in a row, and the little differences between the two versions are intriguing.

A case can be made that Muddy Waters paved the way for rock & roll more than any other performer. Beyond that though, his music is simply timeless, and resonates in a way those who followed in his footsteps (i.e. the Rolling Stones) have been woefully unable to duplicate. Yes, Muddy's vocals are obviously the REAL DEAL. But also a key 'secret weapon' was Little Walter's brilliant, utterly natural and earthy harmonica playing--just listen for his absolutely hair-raising solo on "I Just Want To Make Love To You" to cite one example.

This wonderful two disc set piles up one soulful classic after another, whether it's the irresistibly swaggering "I'm Ready", "Don't Go No Farther", and "Rock Me", the mind-blowingly swinging-yet-gutsy "Trouble No More", or mournful slow blues numbers like "Standing Around Crying" or "Sad, Sad Day", just to name half a dozen more in addition to the ones mentioned previously.

A couple songs, particularly "Hoochie Coochie Man", have absolutely been done to death, both by Muddy's own endless re-recordings, not to mention all the other artists' covers, but that's a minor gripe.
Ultimately, this set is a treasure. Just buy it, it's beyond essential.

How do you argue with the tunes? Muddy at his peak, in chronological order, with great sound. The packaging is great to look at, but I wish they would have come up with a safer way to store the CD's. Also, where is the next volume of the series?

Do you need this? I guess it depends on how much Muddy you need. If you've got the Chess Box already and that's not enough of this time period for you, then there's your answer...

Muddy had a long and brilliant career, and much of what he recorded for Chess between 1947 and 1952 is seminal. Much of what he recorded for Chess between 1958 and 1975 is very good, some of it (Sings Big Bill Broonzy, Live at Newport, Folk Singer, Fathers & Sons) bordering on essential.

But the real deal is captured in this release. These are the recordings that define Chicago Blues. Great bands, great production, great songs, great singing. What more could you ask for? Little Walter does some of his best playing on these sides, and Dixon provides some of his best songs. All in all, this is Muddy's truly classic period, and this release captures all of it, in excellent sound. The packaging leaves a little to be desired. I'm sure it is meant to replicate an old 78 release, but the discs are housed in a pocket that will no doubt cause some scratching when the discs are removed and replaced. Slip covers would have solved the problem. Also, the package is oversized, which means it is clumsy to store.

That said, this collection is essential for the true Muddy Waters fan.

Wonderful collection, from top to bottom! Muddy's blues is deceptively complicated. The riffs are few notes, but the soul in them is deeper than the Mississippi. Almost anyone can play the notes, but the number of people who can genuinely get the groove is few and far between. This is the real deal!

Imagine, it is 1931 and Robert Johnson comes home to Robert Lockwood Jr.'s home in Helena bringing a young man who calls himself "W. M." (actually, if you pushed him young Alex "Rice" Miller would have told you that he was "Willie Miller" actually his brother's name. Robert, Robert Jr. and Sonny Boy live on the Helena, Arkansas side of the Mississippi River. By the late 1930s W. M. now calling himself "Sonny Boy" and Robert Jr. are playing electric guitar and harmonica through car radios and juke boxes. Later they would call it "Chicago Blues." In 1941, Sonny Boy began a radio show on a new radio station KFFA in Helena and soon invited the now recording artist Robert Lockwood Jr. to join him. King Biscuit Time took the delta by storm as it was the only radio show in the area featuring a local black artist. Sonny Boy would play Muddy Waters' wedding and a few years later Muddy would move to Chicago because Sonny Boy had all the good gigs. Robert Jr. would follow him and in the 1940s remind him of Robert Johnson's repertoire which Muddy would rewrite and record. In the mid-1940s Muddy Waters would buy his first electric guitar long after "Chicago Electric Blues" was "invented".Sonny Boy would stay in the delta where he ruled the roost and Robert Jr. would end up heading the house band at Chess/Checker studios. Sonny Boy would not record until 1950 for Trumpet and 1955 for Checker where he would be reunited with Muddy Waters and Robert Jr.When Sonny Boy went to Europe for the American Folk Blues Festival in 1963, Muddy Waters had not had a hit in America in eight years. Sonny Boy was the inspiration for more English blues rockers than any one and more tributes to him were written than any other blues man including Muddy Waters. He just died in 1965 and Muddy was blues king by default. One was not better than the other; they were both equally brilliant and unique as was Little Walter (who drank too much) and Howlin' Wolf (who was sitting down to play by then). Explore the whole history which is much deeper than just Muddy Waters who had the best promoter at the right time and outlived most of them.Enjoy this and hope they do the same for Sonny Boy Williamson II.