Muddy Waters (1913–1983) was an American blues artist who is considered a pioneer of the electric Chicago blues and a major influence on the development of blues and rock music. He popularized several early Delta blues songs, such as "Rollin' and Tumblin'", "Walkin' Blues", and "Baby, Please Don't Go", and recorded songs that went on to become blues standards, including "Hoochie Coochie Man", "Mannish Boy", and "Got My Mojo Working". During his recording career from 1941 to 1981, he recorded primarily for two record companies, Aristocrat/Chess and Blue Sky; they issued 62 singles and 13 studio albums.
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".
The Progressive Blues Experiment is the debut album by American blues rock musician Johnny Winter. He recorded it in August 1968 at the Vulcan Gas Company, an Austin music club, with his original trio of Tommy Shannon on bass guitar and John "Red" Turner on drums. The album features a mix of Winter originals and older blues songs, including the standards "Rollin' and Tumblin'", "Help Me", and "Forty-Four".
"Rollin' Stone" is a blues song recorded by Muddy Waters in 1950. It is his interpretation of "Catfish Blues", a Delta blues that dates back to 1920s Mississippi. "Still a Fool", recorded by Muddy Waters a year later using the same arrangement and melody, reached number nine on the Billboard R&B chart. "Rollin' Stone" has been recorded by a variety of artists.
Captured Live! is a 1976 album by Johnny Winter. The performances were recorded in 1975 at three California venues: Swing Auditorium, San Diego Sports Arena and Oakland Coliseum.
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.
Bob Margolin is an American electric blues guitarist. His nickname is Steady Rollin'.
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.
Third Degree is a 1986 album by Johnny Winter and the final one of the trilogy he made for Alligator Records. Following disagreements with Alligator's boss Bruce Iglauer during the production of Winter's previous album, Serious Business, the album was produced by Dick Shurman with Iglauer taking on an Executive Producer role.
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.
Raisin' Cain is an album by Johnny Winter, released in 1980 by Blue Sky Records. A retrospective album review for AllMusic by William Ruhlmann notes the mix of rock and roll, Chicago blues, and New Orleans rhythm and blues/New Orleans blues tunes lacks any compositions by Winter. Ruhlmann gave the album three out of five stars and concluded:
The water-treading of Raisin' Cain suggests that a new approach is in order, maybe an outside producer who can bring a different perspective or somebody to look for good songs, if the artist isn't going to write his own material.
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'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. It was reissued in 2004 by the Epic/Legacy, with three additional songs.
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.
The Real Folk Blues is a 1965 compilation album of Muddy Waters recordings, released on the Chess record label in January 1965. The album was the first release of The Real Folk Blues series and has since been re-released in multiple formats. The album features some of Waters' first recordings.
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.
True to the Blues: The Johnny Winter Story is a compilation album by blues rock guitarist and singer Johnny Winter. Comprising four CDs, and packaged as a box set, it contains songs selected from numerous albums – some recorded in the studio and some live – released over a 43-year period, from 1968 to 2011, as well as several previously unreleased tracks. The box set also includes a 50-page booklet of essays and photos. It was released by Legacy Recordings on February 25, 2014.
Serious Business is an album by guitarist and singer Johnny Winter. It was released in 1985 on vinyl and CD by Alligator Records.
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.
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.
