At Newport 1960
At Newport 1960 | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | November 15, 1960 | |||
Recorded | July 3, 1960 | |||
Venue | Newport Jazz Festival | |||
Genre | Chicago blues | |||
Length | 32:38 | |||
Label | Chess | |||
Producer | Leonard Chess | |||
Muddy Waters chronology | ||||
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At Newport 1960 is a live album by Muddy Waters recorded during his performance at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 3, 1960. With his longtime backup band, Muddy Waters plays a mix of his older popular tunes and some newer compositions. Chess Records released the album in the United States on November 15, 1960.
At Newport 1960 is sometimes referred to as the first live blues album and has received critical acclaim. Rolling Stone magazine included it at number 348 on its list of "500 Greatest Albums of all Time".[1] Along with the songs on The Best of Muddy Waters (1958), the album was an important influence on the emerging younger white blues scenes in the U.S. and U.K.
Background
Muddy Waters was one of the most popular blues artists of the 1950s.
Recording
The gig was scheduled for Sunday afternoon, July 3. The day before, performances by
Before Waters' performance, his band backed
Album cover
The album cover depicts Muddy Waters at the Newport Jazz Festival holding a semi-acoustic guitar. When the photographer, William Claxton, asked him to pose for the cover, Muddy left his Fender Telecaster (which he played during the concert) on the stage and instead held the semi-acoustic guitar, belonging to his friend John Lee Hooker.[10]
Legacy
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
All About Jazz | (favorable)[11] |
AllMusic | [8] |
Blues Access | (favorable)[12] |
fRoots | (favorable)[13] |
Southwest Blues | (favorable)[14] |
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings | [15] |
Record Mirror | [16] |
At Newport 1960 is generally praised for the upbeat performance by Waters and his band. Cub Koda, writing for AllMusic, says that Waters "lays it down tough and cool with a set that literally had [the audience] dancing in the aisles by the set close". Furthermore, he remarked that the opening track, "I Got My Brand on You", "positively burns the relatively tame (in comparison) studio take".[8] Matthew Oshinsky, in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, praises the "merciless refrain" in "Hoochie Coochie Man" and the "unvarnished moaning" in "Baby Please Don't Go". He also enjoys Muddy's powerful baritone, Cotton's harmonica playing, Spann's "pub piano"–like playing and the overall danceable music.[17]
Chris Smith, in 101 Albums That Changed Popular Music, praises Waters's "growly vocal presentation, energetic stage presence, and electrifying (literally and figuratively) performances".[18] The album is ranked number 348 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", in which the band's playing is described as "tough, tight and in the groove" and Cotton's harmonica jams are mentioned as "a special treat",[1][19] In Vibe magazine's "100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century", a critic calls the album "immortal."[20] The album is mentioned in The Rough Guide to Blues 100 Essential CDs.[21]
Many musicians and bands, such as the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, have been influenced by his electric sound and used this and his greatest hits album in creating a hard rock sound. At Newport 1960 was one of the first live blues albums.[6]
Track listing
Details are taken from the original 1960 Chess Records liner notes and may differ from other sources.[22]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "I Got My Brand on You" | McKinley Morganfield a.k.a. Muddy Waters[a] | 4:32 |
2. | "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" | Morganfield[b] | 3:00 |
3. | "Baby, Please Don't Go" | Morganfield[c] | 3:01 |
4. | "Soon Forgotten" | James Oden | 4:22 |
5. | "Tiger in Your Tank" | Willie Dixon | 4:30 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "I Feel So Good" | Big Bill Broonzy | 2:55 |
2. | "Got My Mojo Working" | Morganfield[d] | 4:30 |
3. | "Got My Mojo Working, Part 2" | Morganfield[e] | 2:48 |
4. | "Goodbye Newport Blues" | Langston Hughes, Morganfield | 4:50 |
Reissue
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
10. | "I Got My Brand on You" | Dixon | 2:22 |
11. | "Soon Forgotten" | Oden | 2:41 |
12. | "Tiger in Your Tank" | Dixon | 2:17 |
13. | "Meanest Woman" | Morganfield | 2:18 |
Personnel
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Footnotes
- ^ Willie Dixon is credited on some reissues.
- ^ Dixon is credited on some reissues.
- ^ Big Joe Williams is often credited on other releases.
- ^ Preston Foster is credited on some reissues.
- ^ Foster is credited on some reissues.
References
- ^ a b "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
- ^ Whitburn 1988, p. 584.
- ^ Whitburn 1988, p. 435.
- ^ Whitburn 1988, pp. 600–601.
- ^ Capace 2001, p. 315.
- ^ a b c d Smith 2009, p. 15–17.
- ^ a b Gordon 2003, pp. 197–199.
- ^ a b c Koda, Cub. "Muddy Waters: At Newport – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
- OCLC 046675856.
- ^ Adelt 2011, p. 30.
- ^ Comandini, Maurizo. "Lookin' 'round: Muddy Waters at Newport 1960". All About Jazz (in Italian). Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
- ^ Sinclair, John (May 22–23, 2001). "Blues & Roots". Bluesaccess.com. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
- ^ Froots 1996, p. 162.
- ^ Cole, Mark A. (November 2001). "SW Blues CD Review". Southwestblues.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-140-51384-4.
- ^ Jones, Peter; Jopling, Norman (27 November 1965). "Muddy Waters: At Newport" (PDF). Record Mirror. No. 246. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Lydon 2005, p. 53.
- ^ Smith 2009, p. 15-17.
- ^ "At Newport 1960". Rolling Stone. November 2003. Archived from the original on November 3, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
- ^ Vibe 1999, p. 100.
- ^ Ward 2000, p. 177-178.
- ^ At Newport 1960 (Liner notes). Muddy Waters. Chess Records. 1960. Back cover. LP 1449.
{{cite AV media notes}}
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- Bibliography
- Adelt, Ulrich (August 31, 2011). Blues Music in the Sixties: A Story in Black and White. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. OCLC 752962199.
- Capace, Nancy (December 1, 2001). Encyclopedia of Mississippi. Santa Barbara, California: Somerset Publishers. OCLC 46485566.
- Smith, Chris (April 14, 2009). 101 Albums That Changed Popular Music. New York City: Oxford University Press. OCLC 259266639.
- "The Vibe 100 – Judgement Day". Vibe. Vol. 7, no. 10. December 1999 – January 2000.
- "And The Rest: Muddy Waters – Live at Newport/Live (BGO)". fRoots. December 1996.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - Lydon, Michael (October 31, 2005). 1001 Albums: You Must Hear Before You Die. London: Cassell Illustrated. OCLC 224890343.
- Ward, Greg (November 23, 2000). The Rough Guide to Blues 100 Essential CDs (1st ed.). Rough Guides. OCLC 231873478.
- Gordon, Robert (June 1, 2003). Can't Be Satisfied – The Life and Times of Muddy Waters. Keith Richards (foreword). Back Bay Books. ISBN 978-0-316-16494-8.
- ISBN 0-89820-068-7.