Search - Muddy Waters :: Muddy Brass & Blues

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Docendo Discimus | Vita scholae | 06/29/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This 1967 Chess album finds Muddy Waters stripped of his guitar, but his usual backing band is there, although they mostly take a back seat to the overdubbed brass ensemble which lends a distinct almost soul-like R&B flavour to the music.There are some nice, tight renditions of songs like "Corine, Corina", "Sweet Black Angel", and "Piney Brown Blues" here, and Muddy proves to be a pretty good R&B-crooner, but these songs lack the grit of Muddy's "regular" recordings, and they often seem stiff and a little too mannered for their own good. "Brass And The Blues" is an experiment which works pretty well, but it's never really interesting, partly because of the stale arrangements, and partly because of too much weak material. Fans will probably want a listen, but casual listeners don't need to bother."