I'm Ready (Muddy Waters album)

I'm Ready
Studio album by Muddy Waters
Released	January 1978 (1978-01)
Recorded	Westport, Connecticut, October–November 1977
Genre	Blues
Length	40:43
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.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Blender	[3]
Christgau's Record Guide	B [4]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings	[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[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.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"I'm Ready"	Willie Dixon	3:26
2.	"33 Years"	Morganfield, Charles Edward Williams	5:20
3.	"Who Do You Trust"		5:00
4.	"Copper Brown"	Morganfield, Marva Brooks	4:58

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man"	Dixon	3:59
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.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
10.	"No Escape from the Blues"	Morganfield, Williams	6:18
11.	"That's Alright"	Rogers	4:58
12.	"Lonely Man Blues"	Morganfield, Bob Margolin	4:19

Personnel

• Muddy Waters – vocal, guitar
• Johnny Winter – guitar (tracks 1, 3–5, 7, 9), production
• Jimmy Rogers – guitar, vocals (track 11)
• Bob Margolin – guitar, bass
• Jerry Portnoy – harmonica (tracks 1, 4, 5, 7, 9)
• Big Walter Horton – harmonica
• Pinetop Perkins – piano
• Willie "Big Eyes" Smith – drums

References

1. "Grammy Award Winners". The Recording Academy . 1978. Retrieved October 13, 2009.
2. Gordon, Keith A. "Review: I'm Ready". AllMusic . Retrieved October 31, 2009.
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 (July 6, 1978). "Improvisation". Bay State Banner. No. 39. p. 15.