Label: Blue Sky Records.
Release Date: 1981.
Recording Time: 40 minutes.
Recording Date: May 1980.
Releases: 1989 (Blue Sky), 2000 (Sony Music Distribution), 2004 (Epic / Epic/Legacy), 2008 (Epic), 2014 (Friday Music).
Styles: Chicago Blues, Electric Blues, Electric Chicago Blues, Regional Blues, Slide Guitar Blues, Delta Blues, Electric Delta Blues.
This 1981 recording found Waters being produced by rocker Johnny Winter, who had brought Muddy back to form on the Hard Again album. Winter was smart enough to surround the great one with musicians who knew his music intimately -- regular band members like Calvin Jones, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson, and Bob Margolin dot the lineup -- and Johnny keeps his own excesses in check on a nice brace of tunes. While most of the tunes here are recuts of older Chess material, Muddy's versions of Slim Harpo's title track and his own "Champagne & Reefer" are worth checking out. Not the place to start a Muddy Waters collection, but a good one to add to the collection after you've absorbed the classics on Chess. - Review by Cub Koda.
His final studio release shows that Muddy Waters really lost no power in his music. The opening song, "I'm A King Bee" gets things started on the right track and it just keeps going from there. Muddy would pass away in less than two years after this release. Not as essential as "Hard Again" or the "Chess Box", this is a recommended album nonetheless. - by Bryan Adkins.
Personnel: Muddy Waters – vocals, guitar; Bob Margolin – guitar; Pinetop Perkins – piano; James Cotton – harmonica on "Deep Down in Florida" and "Clouds in My Heart"; Jerry Portnoy - harmonica; Willie "Big Eyes" Smith – drums; Charles Calmese – bass on "Deep Down in Florida" and Clouds in My Heart"; Calvin Jones – bass; Johnny Winter – guitar, producer.
Credits: Greg Calbi - mastering; Charles Calmese - bass; James Cotton - guest artist, harmonica; Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup - composer; Slim Harpo - composer; Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson - guest artist, guitar; Calvin "Fuzz" Jones - bass; Gregg Mann - mixing assistant; Bob Margolin - guest artist, guitar; J. Moore - composer; Pinetop Perkins - guest artist, piano; Jerry Portnoy - harmonica, harp; Willie "Big Eyes" Smith - drums; Dave Still - engineer, mixing, production consultant; Traditional - composer; H. Walker - composer; Muddy Waters - composer, guitar, primary artist, slide guitar, vocals; Johnny Winter - guest artist, guitar, mixing, producer, slide guitar.
Tracks: 1) I'm a King Bee; 2) Too Young to Know; 3) Mean Old Frisco Blues; 4) Forever Lonely; 5) I Feel Like Going Home; 6) Champagne & Reefer; 7) Sad, Sad Day; 8) (My Eyes) Keep Me in Trouble; 9) Deep Down in Florida #2; 10) No Escape from the Blues; 11) I Won't Go On (2004 bonus track); 12) Clouds in My Heart (2004 bonus track).