Chess Records Stereo 1974 Cover shows sign of wear, vinyl near mint (NM)
While no lost masterpiece, this vault-scrounging job still contains some interesting leftovers from Muddy Waters' and Howlin' Wolf's British rock star-studded London recording sessions respectively from 1971 and 1970. Back in the days before CDs and bonus tracks, labels would often throw together LP's made up of previously unreleased material that had initially been deemed unsuitable for public consumption. Such albums are typically hit-or-miss affairs, but record labels have misjudged the work of their artists frequently enough that it is still possible to come across some hidden gems on these kinds of records. Although The London Muddy Waters Sessions is the lesser of these two British supergroup-backed LP's, it is the outtakes from that album which are, strangely enough, more interesting. The supporting musicians here include Carey Bell on harmonica, Steve Winwood or Georgie Fame on keyboards, Sam Lawhorn and Rory Gallagher on guitars, Rick Grech on bass, and Mitch Mitchell on drums. "Hard Days" resurrects one of Muddy's earliest pre-Chess recordings from 1946, while the drum-less "Highway 41" allows the elder Chicago bluesman to stretch out on slide guitar during its seven-minute duration. He doesn't sound entirely comfortable doing Ivory Joe Hunter's "I Almost Lost My Mind" (which would have not sounded out of place on the Brass and the Blues LP from 1966), but it still can be appreciated as a novelty if nothing else. "Lovin' Man" is a fine update of a song that Waters had originally recorded in 1953. As far as I know, the only other place where you can find these songs is on the Blues Blood LP on the German Bellaphon label.
Side 1.
1. Muddy Waters – Hard Days 3:15
2. Muddy Waters – Highway 41 7:19
3. Muddy Waters – I Almost Lost My Mind 4:50
4. Muddy Waters – Lovin' Man 4:35
Side 2.
1. Howlin' Wolf – Goin' Down Slow 5:50
2. Howlin' Wolf – The Killing Floor 5:15
3. Howlin' Wolf – I Want To Have A Word With You 4:05
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