Electric Mud

performed by Muddy Waters, 1913-1983 (Interscope, 1996), 37 mins

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Field of Interest: American Music
Content Type: Music recording
Duration: 37 mins
Format: Audio
Sub Genre: Country/Rural Blues
Label: Interscope
Performer: Muddy Waters, 1913-1983
UPC (Physical): 00076732936429
Release Date: 1996-11-27
Review: In an attempt to make Muddy more sellable to his newly-found White audience, Chess lumbered him with Hendrix-influenced psychedelic blues arrangements for Electric Mud. Commercially, actually, the results weren't bad; Marshall Chess claims it sold between 150,000 and 200,000 copies. Musically, it was as ill-advised as putting Dustin Hoffman into a Star Wars epic. Guitarists Pete Cosey and Phil Upchurch are very talented players, but Muddy's brand of downhome electric blues suffered greatly at the hands of extended fuzzy solos. Muddy and band overhaul classics like "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "Hoochie Coochie Man," and do a ludicrous cover of "Let's Spend the Night Together"; wah-wah guitars and occasional wailing soprano sax bounce around like loose basketballs. It's a classically wrongheaded, crass update of the blues for a modern audience. The 1996 CD reissue adds interesting historical liner notes. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
Subject: American Music, Music & Performing Arts, American Studies, African American Music, Blues, Música Afro-Americana, Música Afroamericana, Blues
Keywords and Translated Subjects: Música Afro-Americana, Música Afroamericana, Blues