BEST OF/20TH CENTURY

Personnel includes: Muddy Waters (vocals, guitar); Jimmy Rogers (guitar); Little Walter (harmonica). Recorded between April 13, 1954 and December 1, 1956. Includes liner notes by Joseph F. Laredo. Digitally remastered by Erick Labson (MCA Music Media Studios, No Hollywood, California). This is part of MCA's 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection series. Waters' contributions to the electric blues-and, by extension, to the advent of rock & roll-are inestimable. He was one of the first musicians to meld the traditional Delta blues aesthetic with the harder edged sound of contemporary urban music. An innovative stylist and powerful performer, Waters' beautifully soulful vocals and slashing slide guitar work are the stuff of which legends are made. This set collects 11 sides from the man's finest and most important period-his work for the Chess label in the early '50s. Each of the 11 tracks is phenomenal, including such classics as "I Just Want To Make Love To You," "I'm Ready," "I'm Your Hootchie Cootchie Man," and "Got My Mojo Working." The players are a who's who of Chicago blues-with such musicians as harmonica player Little Walter, bassist Willie Dixon, and guitarist Jimmy Rogers adding fuel to Waters' fire. While not as comprehensive as the Chess Anniversary edition, THE MILLENNIUM COLLECTION's superior, remastered sound gives it an edge over the older, well known BEST OF disc. In all, THE BEST OF is a superb sampler of Waters' most fertile period. This is some of the finest blues ever recorded.