Muddy Waters- The Complete Plantation Recordings (1993)

This album, though releases in 1993, was recorded in 1941-42, and is a Library of Congress Recording.  A long time ago, a guy named Alan Lomax had the awesome job of traveling around the country and ultimately the world, to make audio documentations of different music; that would have been the best job in the world!  I have other Library of Congress releases that came from these Lomax recordings, and every single one of them are unreal and are absolutely great examples of field recordings/documentation of early musical culture. 

I have heard lots of Muddy Waters, and further his career progressed, time wise, the less I like the style of Blues being played.  This recording, done in '41-'42, is a great example of early Acoustic/Delta Style Blues.  When I think of Blues, or want to listen to Blues, I want this style.  There is something about the old recordings and the unique styles of guitar picking that just speaks to my innermost music fan.  The blues has progressed in so many ways, as time has gone on, but these early acoustic recordings withstand the test of time.

The Complete Plantation Recordings has 22 tracks and goes back and forth from songs to interviews.  In the other  Library of Congress Recordings that I have, this layout is not always duplicated.  If you are a blues fan, you will love this for the fact that the early delta style recordings, and interviews, shed light on the musician himself; which is a very intimate look in the life of a blues musician, from the south, during an early time in music history.   The songs have that old lo-fi recording quality to it that enhances all of the slides and picks from Muddy Waters to show where blues started and allows the listener to realize how it has progressed over time.   There are other equally good delta style recordings from this era, but none of them have the interviews that this does.

I would recommend this album to everyone, not just based on the songs and music itself, but also for the historical aspect of this recording.  If you like music, any type of music, you will really like this; but if for some reason you hear it think it's lame, then you should take a look at your music collection and try to figure out if you are an avid music fan or just some radio hit idiot.

Official score- 4/5