Album Reviews

This is crazy! Why did it take so long for this to be officially issued? Whatever. It's Muddy Waters and his band live in Chicago, 1981 at the tiny Checkerboard Lounge, with Mick, Keith, Ronnie and Stones pianist Ian Stewart in the audience. Oh, and Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and Lefty Dizz.

Of course while it looks spontaneous, obviously the plan was for the Rolling Stones to join in on stage, since a video crew was on hand and someone who knew what he was doing was on the mixing board recording the evening.

Consider this: Muddy was 68 years old at the time. Mick was 38. Mick is now a year older than Muddy was back then. Muddy passed away two years later. Mick appears to be going strong, but then Muddy was still rocking at 68, attested to by his spirited performance.

This package includes a double LP set containing the fourteen tunes performed that night anda very well produced Dolby Digital 4:3 DVD of the evening plus two bonus videos of the Rolling Stones shot at the Hampton Coliseum the same year.

How much more fun can you have than this? I'm not sure. It's fascinating watching Mick in the audience of the small club watching and looking like any other music consuming club attendee. After a few numbers by the band with vocals by pianist Earnest Johnson, the MC announces "star time" and "the talent" joins on stage, Telecaster around his neck. At some point Mick, Keith, Ronnie and Ian Stewart take their seats.

Though older, Muddy still had all of his powers including a Buddha-like knowing face, running through familiar tunes like "Baby Please Don't Go," "Mannish Boy," and "Got My Mojo Workin'". In the middle of "Baby, Please Don't Go" Muddy points to a somewhat sheepish looking Mick in the audience and then continues with the song. After a few more minutes he summons Mick, decked out incongruously in a bright red, two piece V-neck athletic uniform, to the stage. Muddy's waring a suit vest and tie.

Mick begins cool and quickly warms up, but at first he just looks out of place and at one point starts scratching his arm like he's going to cut himself. Muddy summons Keith, then Ron Wood, and MIck visibly loosens up and the set fires up. How often do you get to see The Rolling Stones play a tiny nightclub? How lucky were the folks in the audience who got to see this live? Were they all invited or just lucky? Who knows?

There's a long shot camera and two close up ones just off stage so you get a great view of everything. More importantly, the live sound is excellent, both on the DVD and especially on the double vinyl: one record white, one black (cute!).

Make no mistake: Muddy sees Mick and the boys as equals, even as he calls him "son" and he's having a great time! And so will you watching Muddy relish singing "Mannish Boy" with the zest and power of a much younger man.

The LP sound, almost surely cut from a digital transfer once Bob Clearmountain had finished editing and mixing, is remarkably transparent, full-bodied, spacious and to a lesser degree three-dimensionally "club like." It was mastered at Metropolis in the UK, but there are no mastering stamps or scribes on the vinyl. If you watch the video first, you'll "see" it just as clearly on vinyl, with Mick standing just to the left of Muddy, the drum kit behind and Keith and Ronnie off to the right. The anonymous recording engineer did a stupendous job overall. Wait until you hear the drums and bass. Highly recommended for every reason!