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Cduniverse.com:
The title and cover photo of this 1963 recording were an attempt to cash in on the burgeoning American folk revival, but this is pure acoustic blues. Muddy began his career as a Robert Johnson-style solo acoustic performer, and the tunes on FOLK SINGER hark back to those days. He's accompanied sparsely by Willie Dixon, drummer Clifton James and a young Buddy Guy, who provide a stark, deliberate backdrop for Muddy's rich vocal and expressive bottleneck guitar work. The richness of Muddy's baritone is showcased effectively here, with more room than usual for his voice to resonate.

The low-key setting allows Muddy to explore a fuller dynamic range as well. From the romantic yearning of "Long Distance Call" to the fatalism of the chain gang song "My Captain," Muddy's voice expresses entire worlds of emotion with only subtle dynamic changes. On FOLK SINGER's more downhearted cuts, there's a doomy, ominous quality that rivals the deepest emotional journeys of John Lee Hooker. By scaling down, Muddy managed to make his songs, guitar and voice seem exponentially magnified. Though it's one of his quietest albums, FOLK SINGER screams with naked emotion.

Amazon.com:
Muddy Waters started out playing acoustic blues in the Delta, and it shows on this return to his roots, designed to appeal to the mid-1960s surge of interest in folk music. The back of the CD includes a photo of Waters with bassist and songwriter Willie Dixon, as well as a very young Buddy Guy, gathered around a single microphone. This particular CD reissue includes five bonus tracks, among which are "The Same Thing" and "Short Dress Woman," which take advantage of the longer CD running time. All of the other reasons to hear this one remain--Waters's strong, confident voice, the relaxed smoothness of the material, and the surprisingly clean recording, made even cleaner by the digital remastering. --Genevieve Williams

Reviewer:
This is not a folk album; it's a blues album. And it's one of the best blues albums anybody ever recorded. I have a lot of Muddy Waters' CDs, and this one makes me stop and listen to how great his voice was, how well he could tell a story, how deeply he could hook you. You get that "back porch blues" feeling, like he's there with you on a hot summer night strummin' and singin' with a couple of friends he brought along. This album is a must for any Muddy Waters--or blues--lover. The remastered recording is quite clear and fresh, a great sounding album

Reviewer, Venezuela:
Este album llego a mi por simple curiosidad en el 2000. Nunca imagine que alguien pudiese juntar tal talento en sus manos y voz como lo hizo Muddy para este album. La seccion de musicos que le sirven de soporte son nada mas y nada menos que. Buddy Guy y Willie Dixon. No hay palabras que puedan describir la magia que emanan de estas grabaciones, tan solo blues en su mas puro estado... es como trasladarse al delta de los 1930. Sonido puro y llanamente acustico con un entramado de guitarras magistral entre Muddy y Buddy Guy que sirven de fondo a la ya famosa interpretacion vocal de Muddy y eso sin contar con el solido sonido de Willie Dixon al bajo. Recuerdo que en una vieja revista de blues apuntaba sobre la existencia de este disco como una muestra de musica folk interpretada por quien se supone fue, es y sera la mejor voz y guitarra del blues americano... pero aqui no hay nada de folk, es blues delta en su estado mas primitivo. Maravilloso y dotado de una sencillez total que asombran por el resultado; PURA MAGIA. Se agregan una serie de bonus tracks que no deslucen del contenido inicial de la edicion original...pero los temas grabados en acustico son y seran la parte central de esta obra unica en su genero. Las fotografias que se incluyen en el inserto y en la propia caja del cd demuestran por su elegancia el disfrute de tres maestros del blues que nunca imaginaron que al juntarse para esta sencilla grabacion, crearian una de las mejores muestras del espiritu del blues delta. El album recoje algunos de los temas mas interesantes de la discografia del Mudddy;
Captain captain, Good morning little school girl, long distance callin'... ademas de otras gemas cargadas de sentimiento y la belleza del blues en un estilo unico donde predomina la improvisacion y la tecnica espontanea de dos de los grandes guitarristas bluseros de todos los tiempos.
Puede y debe catalogarse de grabacion escencial para todo amante de la musica y el blues... No dudes en obtenerla... nunca dejaras de escucharlo, de lo contrario no sabes de lo que te pierdes.

Personnel: Muddy Waters (vocals, guitar); Buddy Guy, James "Pee Wee" Madison, Sam Lawhorn (guitar); James Cotton (harmonica); J.T. Brown (tenor saxophone, clarinet); Otis Spann (piano); Willie Dixon, Milton Rector (bass); Clifton James, S.P. Leary (drums).

Recorded at Tel Mar Recording Studios, Chicago, Illinois in September 1963. Originally released on Chess (1483).

Tracks:
1. My Home Is In The Delta
2. Long Distance
3. My Captain
4. Good Morning School Girl
5. You Gonna Need My Help
6. Cold Weather Blues
7. Big Leg Woman
8. Country Boy
9. Feel Like Going Home
10. Same Thing, The - (bonus track)
11. You Can't Lose What You Never Had - (bonus track)
12. My John The Conqueror Root - (bonus track)
13. Short Dress Woman - (bonus track)
14. Put Me In Your Lay Away - (bonus track)