The Real Folk Blues

Once Chess clocked that there was a white folk-blues audience ready to connect with the real thing, they launched the Real Folk Blues series. This is one of the strongest records in that run: a rich selection of early Chess sides from 1949 to 1954 that shows just how much ground Muddy Waters could cover.

Some of these tracks reach back to Muddy's first recordings for Aristocrat, with only Big Crawford on strings beside him, and they carry all the directness and tension of those early sessions. Elsewhere, the fuller band cuts open things up and round out the set beautifully, giving the wider picture of an artist already shaping the sound of modern blues.

There are a couple of real standouts here. Walkin' Through the Park moves with a cha cha shuffle strut that feels irresistible, while Mannish Boy brings the hard-edged, I'm a Man-derived nastiness that still hits exactly right.