Muddy Waters - King Bee

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. ~ Cub Koda, All Music Guide

Name Credits Bob Margolin Guitar Calvin "Fuzz" Jones Bass Charles Calmese Bass Dave Still Mixing, Engineer, Production Consultant Greg Calbi Mastering Gregg Mann Mixing Assistant James Cotton Harmonica Jerry Portnoy Harmonica, Harp Johnny Winter Guitar, Slide Guitar, Mixing, Producer Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson Guitar Muddy Waters Guitar, Vocals, Slide Guitar Pinetop Perkins Piano Willie "Big Eyes" Smith Drums