At the time of his very first recordings in 1941, Muddy Waters was not yet called Muddy Waters, and he played acoustic guitar. It wasn't his guitar since he didn't own one, but one that was lent to him by Alan Lomax, the man who discovered him deep in Mississippi when he was a farmer and an amateur musician. A few years later, Muddy Waters went up to Chicago and became the boss of electric blues, no doubt possessing many of his own guitars at that stage. However, in 1963 he went into the studio to record Folk Singer, an album with acoustic guitar. Why this unplugged turn? Was there a powercut in Chicago? Nope, it was what the market dictated. And at that time, the black public turned to soul, while the buoyant market for blues musicians became that of young white folk lovers, who confused authenticity and acoustics. Muddy Waters played the game, and played it well. This album is very well produced, with a sound makes it feel like Muddy Waters is playing in your living room… and that your living room sounds like a cathedral! Plus, he brought some buddies along, including Buddy Guy and Willie Dixon. With his majestic and solemn voice, Muddy Waters plays zen, essential, with few notes and long pauses between each one. The record demands that you don’t move, just listen. The album is hardly representative of Muddy Waters’ electric style, but it’s still one of his best.
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