Search - Muddy Waters :: Live at Mr Kelly's

Good live Muddy from Chess

Docendo Discimus | Vita scholae | 06/18/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Chess records only recorded Howlin' Wolf live a single time, and late in his career at that, and most of the label's other main attractions never got a live album. But Muddy Waters was luckier, and this 1971 album was the third full-length concert recording of his career.



Cut in the summer of 1971 at Mr. Kelly's, a Chicago club on the Near North Side, "Muddy Waters Live (at Mr. Kelly's)" finds Muddy in fine form, working with his excellent early-70s band which included Joe "Pinetop" Perkins (piano), drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, bassist Calvin "Fuzz" Jones, and guitarists Samuel Lawhorn and James "Pee Wee" Madison.

The masterful James Cotton appears under a pseudonym, as he was under contract with another label, blowing the harp on three songs. On the remaining nine songs it is 21-year-old Paul Oscher playing fine, muscular harmonica parts.



The album opens with a predictable but quite enjoyable "Country Boy"-knockoff called "What Is That She Got" and a rendition of Jimmy Reed's "You Don't Have To Go" (which doesn't sound _quite_ right without Reed's drawling vocals). The slow blues "Strange Woman" is a bit monotonous, but then comes a swinging "Blow Wind Blow" with some great playing by Pinetop Perkins and Paul Oscher, a good "Country Boy" (the real one this time), the excellent instrumental "Mudcat", and a gritty "She's Nineteen Years Old". Also, this version of "Stormy Monday Blues" is significantly better than other Muddy Waters-renditions I've heard.



All in all, this album doesn't quite match the power and boldness of Muddy's best live albums, and you should seek out albums like "Muddy Waters At Newport", "Mojo: The Live Collection", "The Lost Tapes", and "Chicago 1979" before this one.

But "Live At Mister Kelly's" is not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination, and it is certainly worth a listen. It is the only live Muddy Waters album to feature Paul Oscher (who is a great harpist, even though he mostly plays the guitar these days), and these renditions of "Mudcat", "C.C. Woman", "Blow Wind Blow", T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday Blues", and John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom" deserve to be heard."

True Greatness

mike lewandowski | Lakewood, CO United States | 07/11/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a excellent CD. The sound Is very good, the music is solid. Here we have Mud is true form songs Like "Country Boy" is sung with such feeling you believe the words. John Lee's "Boom, Boom" is strong, And no one sings good ol' "Stormy Monday" Like Muddy does here. The band is tight and crowd noice is kept low enough so you are not blown out of your seat when they cheer. This was my first Muddy Water CD and It is still my favorite by him. This is blues at it's best."

Guitar and Harmonica at its finest

Jon Gerber | Houston, TX | 10/26/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Not only does Muddy Waters prove that he is the master of the blues but there is an added bonus of being able to hear James Cotton blow some of the sweetest harp on record. The whole band seems to gel just right to create the ultimate blues/lounge experience. If I was stranded on a desert island, this is the only album I would need."