| At Newport 1960 | ||||
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| Live album by | ||||
| Released | November 15, 1960 (1960-11-15) | |||
| Recorded | July 3, 1960 | |||
| Venue | Newport Jazz Festival | |||
| Genre | Chicago blues | |||
| Length | 32:38 | |||
| Label | Chess | |||
| Producer | Leonard Chess | |||
| Muddy Waters chronology | ||||
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At Newport 1960 is a live album byMuddy Waters recorded during his performance at theNewport Jazz Festival on July 3, 1960. With his longtime backup band, Muddy Waters plays a mix of his older popular tunes and some newer compositions.Chess Records released the album in the United States on November 15, 1960.
At Newport 1960 is sometimes referred to as the first live blues album and has received critical acclaim.Rolling Stone included it at number 348 on its list of "500 Greatest Albums of all Time".[1] Along with the songs onThe Best of Muddy Waters (1958), the album was an important influence on the emerging younger white blues scenes in the U.S. andU.K.
Muddy Waters was one of the most popular blues artists of the 1950s.[2] Beginning in 1948, he had fifteen singles that appeared on theBillboardRhythm & Blues Records chart.[3] His debut album,The Best of Muddy Waters (1958), contained twelve of his hits. However, by 1960, what had been the traditional blues audiences were moving away from Chicago-style blues towards the more polishedR&B andsoul sounds.[4] Chess releasedSings Big Bill Broonzy (1960), a collection of Muddy Waters' interpretations of songs by the blues musicianBig Bill Broonzy.[5] When he performed at theNewport Jazz Festival, his electric blues band consisted ofOtis Spann (piano, vocals),Pat Hare (guitar),James Cotton (harmonica), Andrew Stevens (bass) andFrancis Clay (drums).[6]
The gig was scheduled for Sunday afternoon, July 3. The day before, performances byRay Charles and singing groupLambert, Hendricks & Ross were met with unruly crowds. About 300 drunken revelers made a commotion during Charles' performance and the police responded withtear gas and water hoses. The riots became so out of control that theNational Guard was called in at midnight to calm the crowd. When Waters and his band arrived on the scheduled day, they intended to drive back on the next day, until driverJames Cotton sawJohn Lee Hooker standing at a corner, his guitar on his back without a guitar case. Cotton said Hooker should get into his car to get the musicians out of harm's way. At the same time, the city council decided to cancel the concert, but concert promoterGeorge Wein convinced the performers to stay when he said that theUnited States Information Agency (USIA) planned to film the festival to teach American culture in other countries.[7]
Before Waters' performance, his band backedOtis Spann, who was the band leader, and John Lee Hooker. At about 7 p.m., Muddy Waters entered the stage, wearing black, while the rest of the band wore white suits.At Newport 1960 opens with then-unreleased "I Got My Brand on You", which was recorded one month prior, and "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man", both written byWillie Dixon. Next are theBig Joe Williams cover "Baby Please Don't Go",Oden's "Soon Forgotten", Dixon's "Tiger in Your Tank" and Broonzy's "I Feel So Good". At the end of "I've Got My Mojo Working", every bluesman gathered at the stage to perform medleys ofblues standards. Jazz poet and directorate of NewportLangston Hughes spontaneously wrote a closing song, the slow "Goodbye Newport Blues", this time with Spann as singer, as Waters was too exhausted to perform.[6][7]
Chess Records released the album in the U.S. on November 15, 1960, which was produced by label ownerLeonard Chess.[6] Chess issued the album onCD in 1986.MCA Records, the successor to Chess,digitally remastered it in 2001.[8] The remastered version contains three bonus tracks recorded in Chicago in June 1960.[9]
The album cover depicts Muddy Waters at the Newport Jazz Festival holding asemi-acoustic guitar. When the photographer,William Claxton, asked him to pose for the cover, Muddy left hisFender Telecaster (which he played during the concert) on the stage and instead held the semi-acoustic guitar, belonging to his friend John Lee Hooker.[10]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| All About Jazz | (favorable)[11] |
| AllMusic |  [8] |
| Blues Access | (favorable)[12] |
| DownBeat |  [13] |
| fRoots | (favorable)[14] |
| The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings | [15] |
| Record Mirror | [16] |
| Southwest Blues | (favorable)[17] |
At Newport 1960 is generally praised for the upbeat performance by Waters and his band. Cub Koda, writing forAllMusic, says that Waters "lays it down tough and cool with a set that literally had [the audience] dancing in the aisles by the set close". Furthermore, he remarked that the opening track, "I Got My Brand on You", "positively burns the relatively tame (in comparison) studio take".[8] Matthew Oshinsky, in1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, praises the "merciless refrain" in "Hoochie Coochie Man" and the "unvarnished moaning" in "Baby Please Don't Go". He also enjoys Muddy's powerfulbaritone, Cotton's harmonica playing, Spann's "pub piano"–like playing and the overall danceable music.[18]
Chris Smith, in101 Albums That Changed Popular Music, praises Waters's "growly vocal presentation, energetic stage presence, and electrifying (literally and figuratively) performances".[19] The album is ranked number 348 onRolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", in which the band's playing is described as "tough, tight and in the groove" and Cotton's harmonica jams are mentioned as "a special treat",[1][20] InVibe's "100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century", a critic calls the album "immortal."[21] The album is mentioned inThe Rough Guide to Blues 100 Essential CDs.[22]
Many musicians and bands, such as theRolling Stones,Jimi Hendrix,AC/DC andLed Zeppelin, have been influenced by his electric sound and used this and his greatest hits album in creating a hard rock sound.At Newport 1960 was one of the first live blues albums.[6]
Details are taken from the original 1960 Chess Records liner notes and may differ from other sources.[23]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Got My Brand on You" | McKinley Morganfielda.k.a.Muddy Waters[a] | 4:32 |
| 2. | "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" | Morganfield[b] | 3:00 |
| 3. | "Baby, Please Don't Go" | Morganfield[c] | 3:01 |
| 4. | "Soon Forgotten" | James Oden | 4:22 |
| 5. | "Tiger in Your Tank" | Willie Dixon | 4:30 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Feel So Good" | Big Bill Broonzy | 2:55 |
| 2. | "Got My Mojo Working" | Morganfield[d] | 4:30 |
| 3. | "Got My Mojo Working, Part 2" | Morganfield[e] | 2:48 |
| 4. | "Goodbye Newport Blues" | Langston Hughes, Morganfield | 4:50 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10. | "I Got My Brand on You" | Dixon | 2:22 |
| 11. | "Soon Forgotten" | Oden | 2:41 |
| 12. | "Tiger in Your Tank" | Dixon | 2:17 |
| 13. | "Meanest Woman" | Morganfield | 2:18 |
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