I'm Ready (Muddy Waters album)

Last updated
I'm Ready
I'm Ready Muddy Waters.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 1978 (1978-01)
RecordedWestport, Connecticut, October–November 1977
Genre Blues
Length56:18
Label Blue Sky
Producer Johnny Winter
Muddy Waters chronology
Hard Again
(1977)
I'm Ready
(1978)
Muddy "Mississippi" Waters - Live
(1979)

I'm Ready is a studio album by the Chicago blues musician Muddy Waters. The second of his Johnny Winter-produced albums for the Blue Sky Records label, I'm Ready was issued one year after he found renewed commercial and critical success with Hard Again . The album earned Waters a Grammy Award in 1978. [1] It was reissued in 2004 by the Epic/Legacy, with three additional songs.

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Blender Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Christgau's Record Guide B [4]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [6]
The Village Voice B+ [7]

The Bay State Banner wrote that "the sharp distinctive tuning and chromatic slurs that mark his playing are still here, even though Waters now takes few slide guitar solos." [8]

Track listing

All tracks are composed by Muddy Waters (listed as McKinley Morganfield), except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I'm Ready" Willie Dixon 3:26
2."33 Years"Morganfield, Charles Edward Williams5:20
3."Who Do You Trust" 5:00
4."Copper Brown"Morganfield, Marva Brooks4:58
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man"Dixon3:59
2."Mamie"Morganfield, Jimmy Rogers 5:35
3."Rock Me" 3:54
4."Screamin' and Cryin'" 5:04
5."Good Morning, Little School Girl" Sonny Boy Williamson 3:27
2004 Epic CD reissue extra tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."No Escape From The Blues"Morganfield, Williams6:18
11."That's Alright"Rogers4:58
12."Lonely Man Blues"Morganfield, Bob Margolin 4:19

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Winter</span> American blues guitarist and singer (1944–2014)

John Dawson Winter III was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums, live performances, and slide guitar playing from the late 1960s into the early 2000s. He also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters. After his time with Waters, Winter recorded several Grammy-nominated blues albums. In 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and in 2003, he was ranked 63rd in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

<i>Still Alive and Well</i> 1973 studio album by Johnny Winter

Still Alive and Well is an album by blues rock guitarist and singer Johnny Winter. It was his fifth studio album, and his first since Johnny Winter And almost three years earlier. It was released by Columbia Records in 1973.

<i>Nothin but the Blues</i> (Johnny Winter album) 1977 studio album by Johnny Winter

Nothin' but the Blues is a 1977 album by guitarist and singer Johnny Winter.

<i>White, Hot and Blue</i> 1978 studio album by Johnny Winter

White, Hot and Blue is a 1978 album by Johnny Winter. Following on from the previous year's Nothin' but the Blues, it again focuses on blues music but moves back to Winter's traditional formula of mixing original tracks, of which there are three, with cover versions.

<i>Hard Again</i> 1977 studio album by Muddy Waters

Hard Again is a studio album by American blues singer Muddy Waters. Released on January 10, 1977, it was the first of his albums produced by Johnny Winter. Hard Again was Waters's first album on Blue Sky Records after leaving Chess Records and was well received by critics.

<i>I Am the Blues</i> 1970 studio album by Willie Dixon

I Am the Blues is the sixth studio Chicago blues album released in 1970 by the well-known bluesman Willie Dixon. It is also the title of Dixon's autobiography, edited by Don Snowden.

<i>Ice Pickin</i> 1978 studio album by Albert Collins

Ice Pickin' is a studio album by Albert Collins, released in 1978. It was Collins's breakthrough album. Ice Pickin' was nominated for a 1979 Grammy Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willie "Big Eyes" Smith</span> American drummer

Willie Lee "Big Eyes" Smith was an American electric blues vocalist, harmonica player, and drummer. He was best known for several stints with the Muddy Waters band beginning in the early 1960s.

<i>Midnight Believer</i> 1978 studio album by B. B. King

Midnight Believer is an album by the American musician B.B. King, released in 1978 on ABC Records. The album reached No. 27 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart.

<i>Showdown!</i> 1985 studio album by Albert Collins, Robert Cray and Johnny Copeland

Showdown! is a collaborative blues album by guitarists Albert Collins, Robert Cray and Johnny Copeland, released in 1985 through Alligator Records. The album is mostly original material, with cover versions of songs like T-Bone Walker's "T-Bone Shuffle", Muddy Waters' "She's into Something" and Ray Charles' "Blackjack". Collins, Cray and Copeland were supported by Johnny B. Gayden and Allen Batts, who at the time were members of Collins' Icebreakers, and Alligator's household artist Casey Jones. In the album's sleeve notes, producers Bruce Iglauer and Dick Shurman wrote that Copeland and Cray were both supported by Collins early in their careers, and how the three musicians often crossed paths since, making this collaborative effort a "thirty years in the making" project. Showdown! was one of Alligator's most successful albums, peaking at #124 on the US charts and selling over 175,000 units worldwide. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Recording in 1986. It was re-released on CD by Alligator in 2011.

<i>The Earthshaker</i> 1978 studio album by Koko Taylor

The Earthshaker is a blues album by Koko Taylor, released in 1978 by Alligator Records. The album has since been released on CD by Alligator.

<i>Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live</i> 1979 live album by Muddy Waters

Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live is a live album by Muddy Waters, released in January 1979. It was recorded during the 1977–78 tour to support Muddy Waters' album Hard Again (1977) and features the same musicians, including James Cotton and Johnny Winter, who had produced the album.

"I'm Ready" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1954. It was a hit, spending nine weeks on the Billboard R&B chart where it reached number four. The song became a blues standard and has been compared to "Hoochie Coochie Man", the standard also written by Dixon that Waters recorded earlier in 1954.

<i>Guitar Slinger</i> (Johnny Winter album) 1984 studio album by Johnny Winter

Guitar Slinger is an album by guitarist and singer Johnny Winter. Released in 1984, it was his first studio album in four years, and his first album for Alligator Records. It was the second consecutive album to feature no original Winter compositions.

<i>Edgar Winters White Trash</i> (album) 1971 studio album by Edgar Winters White Trash

Edgar Winter's White Trash is the second studio album by Edgar Winter, and his first with his group White Trash. The album reached #111 on the Billboard charts, and produced the single "Keep Playin' That Rock 'n' Roll", which went to #70 on Billboard's Top 100. The album was prepped for quadraphonic sound, but was left unreleased in this format. The album was produced by Rick Derringer. In Canada, the album reached #82. The track "Dying to Live" is sampled in 2Pac's posthumous release Runnin' .

<i>King Bee</i> (album) 1981 album by Muddy Waters

King Bee is the fourteenth and final studio album by blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters. Released in 1981, it is third in a series of records done for the label Blue Sky Records under producer/guitarist Johnny Winter. Recorded in three days some of the band members, namely Winter and guitarist Bob Margolin, were not happy with the result. As his health deteriorated, Muddy was forced to cancel an increasing number of shows. He died of a heart attack on April 30, 1983.

<i>Fathers and Sons</i> (album) 1969 studio album / Live album by Muddy Waters

Fathers and Sons is the seventh studio album by the American blues musician Muddy Waters, released as a double LP by Chess Records in August 1969.

<i>The London Muddy Waters Sessions</i> 1972 studio album by Muddy Waters

The London Muddy Waters Sessions is a studio album by Muddy Waters, released in 1972 on Chess Records. A follow-up to 1971's The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions, the concept was to combine American bluesmen with British and Irish blues/rock stars. The album was an attempt to capitalise on the increasing popularity of traditional blues music and blues artists in Britain.

<i>Breakin It Up, Breakin It Down</i> 2007 live album by Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter, James Cotton

Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down is a blues album by Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter, and James Cotton. It was recorded live in 1977, and released in 2007. It reached number 3 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart.

<i>Too Wet to Plow</i> 1977 studio album by Johnny Shines

Too Wet to Plow is an album by the American musician Johnny Shines, released in 1977.

References

  1. "Grammy Award Winners". The Recording Academy . 1978. Retrieved October 13, 2009.
  2. Gordon, Keith A. "Review: I'm Ready". AllMusic . Retrieved 2009-10-31.
  3. Christgau, Robert (2004). "Muddy Waters: 'Hard Again'; 'I'm Ready'; 'King Bee'". Blender (June/July). New York. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  4. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: W". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved March 22, 2019 via robertchristgau.com.
  5. Russell, Tony; Smith, Chris (2006). The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings . Penguin. p. 484. ISBN   978-0-140-51384-4.
  6. The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. pp. 753, 755.
  7. Christgau, Robert (March 27, 1978). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice . New York. Retrieved September 26, 2015 via robertchristgau.com.
  8. Wynn, Ron (6 July 1978). "Improvisation". Bay State Banner. No. 39. p. 15.