Muddy Waters - Hard Again Exp (10 tracks) +Album Reviews

Rock's "sound" hails from Muddy Waters

KIWRadioFREEblues | Omaha, Ne | 12/24/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"June 29, 2004

Title: Hard Again

Title: I'm Ready

Title: King Bee

Artist: Muddy Waters

Rate: Great

When it rains it pours...

Telling someone with even a modest interest in "GREAT" music to check out a Muddy Waters album is like telling a baseball fan the New York Yankees have had some good players. In an honest discussion Muddy Waters was the foundation that defined popular music in the 20th century.

If there is any question, allow me to erase it now, Muddy Waters, more than Elvis or Chuck Berry or ANYONE ELSE birthed the sound of rock n' roll. Oh yeah, Elvis made it sexy and Chuck gave it lyrics but Muddy birthed it and nurtured it. When the Beatles rolled off the boat in the early `60's all the great blues artists and many of the (white) rock artists got rudely shoved aside. When Johnny Winter got signed in the late `60's he was rumoured to have been the first "rock" solo artist to have received a million dollar recording contract. Go figure! Anyway, within a decade Winter was at the recording helm breathing new life into the great Muddy Waters recording career with these three albums.

In 1977 Johnny and Muddy would release the critically acclaimed album, Hard Again. It was on this album that Waters would re-record his older hits using a `modern' recording studio with one of his great bands including; Pinetop Perkins (piano), James Cotton (harp), Willie `Big Eyes' Smith (drums), `Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin (guitar) and Charles Calmese (bass). I can remember the buzz on this album being so strong that, as a high school senior, going in to purchase the brand new (and only) Sex Pistols album AND the Hard Again...which harkens me back to the time when it was the music that mattered!

So now, much to my own joy, Muddy's `Blue Sky Trilogy' have all been remastered and reissued; Hard Again ('77), I'm Ready ('78), King Bee ('81). No music collection is complete without a worthy sampling of Muddy Waters and no true music fan's knowledge is rounded unless they have developed a full appreciation for the greatness of Muddy Waters. Any of these three discs are worth the time and investment although I recommend beginning with Hard Again."

You must have this!

Samuel J. Williams | Georgia | 03/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a dumb teenager of 13 years, I first encountered Muddy Waters on the RISKY BUSINESS soundtrack, where buried between Jeff Beck and Bob Seger was "Mannish Boy" (the version found here, on HARD AGAIN). At that braindead age, I jumped the needle to get to "Old Time Rock&Roll". Man, was I dumb.

A few years later, I found that album and listened to the song I was skipping. I was blown away. I had to have more and bought HARD AGAIN. Best money ever spent, period. From the opening of "Mannish Boy" to the National Steel on "I Can't Be Satisfied" to the ultra funky "Cross-eyed Cat", this is the shizzle. Muddy's voice is ultra powerful, Johhny Winter and Bob Margolis interplay their guitars seamlessly and Pinetop Prking just about steals the show. Add Jerry Portnoy's harmonica and you get the most fantastic blues album ever.

If you like music, you must buy this."

Awesome blues classic

Denis | NJ, USA | 02/11/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I loved this CD. Muddy is back, swingin'. The sound quality is just wonderful, the band is full of energy, Muddy is howlin' at the top of his voice. The blues are played with great drive, strenth, and passion. But one unfortunate thing is - Muddy never picked up his guitar for this disc. As one of his band members writes, he had it all tuned and plugged in, but he just never picked it up. Muddy plays a guitar like no one else, and while his guitar-playing has some imperfections, it's what makes his guitar-playing beautiful, to me. I am hooked to listening how he does it. I missed that on this disc. All the guitars were done by Johnny Winter and Bob Margolin. The guitar work was really excellent, but obviously not quite Muddy himself. I must say, though, that Winter is quite the talented player. Another thing I thought could use a little more work was the way they mixed Muddy's voice. It's getting a little lost in all the guitar/harp work there on some tracks. Mannish Boy was perfectly done. But Bus Driver, while excellent and intense blues, doesn't make Muddy's voice loud enough to make it a real "Muddy" song. But these are fairly subtle and minor complaints. Overall, the disc is some of the best blues I own. Get it."

Excellent! But then again, it always was

Docendo Discimus | Vita scholae | 08/03/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Most artists in their 60s would just have rested on their laurels, being admired and cited as a major influence by legions of younger musicians.

But not Muddy Waters. He recorded and toured right up until the end of his life, and this gritty 1977 album, the first of three studio albums produced by Texas guitarist Johnny Winter, recharged his career as well as winning Muddy a Grammy (in the "Traditional Folk" category!).

This 2004 reissue has been remastered, but not remixed (there was no need, says former Muddy guitarist Bob Margolin, who has written the excellent, warm and informative anecdotal liner notes). And one bonus track has been added to the original nine songs, a great rendition of the classic "Walking Through The Park" which was omitted from the original album release - perhaps because of the limited playing time of the LP. It certainly can't have been a quality issue.

If you already own "Hard Again" on CD you don't need to run out and secure a copy right away...the sound on the first CD reissue was good enough, and if you're a Muddy fan you probably have "Walking Through The Park" somewhere in your collection already. This 1977 re-recording is not particularly different from the original.

But if you don't have "Hard Again", go get it right away. These recordings usually don't show up on the various Muddy Waters-compilations (most of them only chronicle his Chess years), and while some of the songs are "only" new versions of 50s and 60s numbers, the album as a whole remains one of the strongest Muddy Waters ever recorded. The band is magnificent...Waters himself only sings, according to Bob Margolin, so all the Muddy Waters-like slide guitar riffs are actually played by Johnny Winter.

But there's no mistaking the great James Cotton, Muddy's former harmonica player drafted to play on this album, or the supple, muscular groove laid down by the great Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, one of the best-ever blues drummers (alongside Fred Below, of course). He and bassist Charles Calmese form a top-notch rhythm section all the way through.

The album has a wonderful "live" feel, and literally everything is great, from the opening holler of the one-chord "Mannish Boy" over the magnificent acoustic slide guitar blues "I Can't Be Satisfied" (originally the flip side of Muddy's first single), and to the seven-minute slow grind of "Little Girl".

"Hard Again" (the origin of the title is explained in lurid detail by Bob Margolin) should not be missing from any collection of electric Chicago blues. It is one of Muddy Waters' finest moments, alongside the Newport album and 1969's "Fathers And Sons"."

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