Muddy Waters’ Muddy Waters at Newport 1960, a live album capturing the blues legend’s Newport Jazz Festival set of that year, is coming to Chess Records’ Acoustic Sounds series. Available for pre-order today, the new edition of the classic recording is remastered from the Chicago imprint’s original analog tapes, and remastered in high fidelity.
Recorded live at Newport Jazz Festival on July 3, 1960, the LP bottles Waters in rare form, accompanied by pianist Otis Spann, guitarist Pat Hare, bassist Andrew Stevens, drummer Francis Clay, and harmonica player James Cotton. It marked his first-ever live album and was also one of the first live blues albums ever made; over the years, it would stand strong as one of his most impressive showings.
The expansive set compiled both traditional standards and (at the time) modern fare, effectively setting in motion the birth of the electric blues. Waters would go on to earn a Grammy nomination for his performance on the album of “Got My Mojo Working.” The seminal recording, which arrived two years after Waters’ first time touring in England, also helped introduce blues to a much wider audience.
Additional highlights across the recording include “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man,” “Baby, Please Don’t Go,” and an interpretation of Langston Hughes’ “Goodbye Newport Blues.” Muddy Waters at Newport 1960 is just the latest entry in Waters’ discography to join the Acoustic Sounds series; albums already available through the collection include 1958’s The Best Of Muddy Waters, 1964’s Folk Singer, 1966’s The Real Folk Blues, and 1966’s Muddy, Brass and the Blues. Other artists represented in the series include Howlin’ Wolf, Little Milton, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Etta James.