On the second time through, I was relieved to realize that Cotton throws himself so fully into his solo that the whole thing wildly accelerates. (My rough guess, using "Metronome Online," is that it jumps from 135 to about 140 or so.) Even the pros do that. Hah!
Muddy is fantastic here. And Cotton's sound is awesome. Pure distillate of Cotton.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Jan 03, 2016 8:31 PM
High energy ! ! Muddy foolin/jukin in front of the mic .. and him and Cotton dancing together ... the guy's in the crowd jukin is also too cool …
Last Edited by mastercaster on Jan 03, 2016 10:39 PM
I just had to share this, even though it doesn't quite abide by the/my rule: Mud Morganfield with Kim Wilson on harp. Great singing, GREAT harp playing--and, on the "Mud Morganfield Official" channel, clearly the most....attractive blues video you're likely to see. Maybe evocative is a better word. The man's got the ladies on his mind. Muddy would be proud.
Not a live performance but awesome all the same, this version of "Walkin through the Park" by Waters , with Paul Butterfield on harp, is my standard for how an uptempo blues song should be performed. The band, also featuring Mike Bloomfield, is tight as it gets and provides that extra "push" that' s hard to come by these days. Waters vocal is the thing of timeless beauty, a deep and knowing soulfness as he climbs and lowers his register and attacks the lyrics with a sweetly chewed off assertivness. Butterfield, in turn, makes me think here of the one guy at a jam session who had waited it out it out , until all the other worthy harmonica players had had their star turn on the band stand, who then comes on and demonstrates true greatness. Phrase by phrase, riff by riff, Butter's tone, tightness, control and speed is a thing of combined wonder. It is one of those solos you play over and over and still wonder decades later what kind of inspiration possessed him when the tape was running. ---------- Ted Burke tburke4@san.rr.com
Cotton and Walter are clearly the best harp sidemen that Muddy has ever played with, but I absolutely love Portnoy's 3rd position on "Kansas City". Simple and in the pocket.
