The Chess Box

Muddy Waters

AllMusic Rating
10
User Ratings (0)
Your Rating

The Chess Box Review

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Chess Box does not contain all the great music Muddy Waters made. His talent and legacy are too large to be captured in a mere three discs, even one that spans from 1947 to 1972. This means, of course, that his legendary plantation recordings with Alan Lomax are not here, nor is his dynamic late-'70s comeback, Hard Again. But, truth be told, it doesn't feel like they're missing, since Waters' legend was built on the music that he made for Chess, and much of the greatest of that is here. Few box sets have chronicled an artist's best work as effectively as this; even the handful of rare, previously unreleased recordings sit perfectly next to the essential singles (this is particularly true of alternate takes of Fathers and Sons material). Sure, there are great Chess sides that aren't here, but those are great sides that the serious listener and aficionado need to seek out. For everybody else, this is a monumental chronicle of Waters at his best, illustrating his influence while providing rich, endlessly fascinating music.

Track Listing - Disc 1

	Title/Composer	Performer	Time	Stream
1	Gypsy Woman Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:32	Spotify Amazon
2	Good Looking Woman Otis Spann	Muddy Waters	02:41	Spotify Amazon
3	Mean Disposition Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:33	Spotify Amazon
4	I Can't Be Satisfied McKinley Morganfield / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:40	Spotify Amazon
5	I Feel Like Going Home McKinley Morganfield / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	03:07	Spotify Amazon
6	Train Fare Home McKinley Morganfield / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:45	Spotify Amazon
7	Mean Red Spider Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:15	Spotify Amazon
8	Streamline Woman Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	03:16	Spotify Amazon
9	Little Geneva McKinley Morganfield / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:45	Spotify Amazon
10	Rollin' and Tumblin', Pt. 1 McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	02:57	Spotify Amazon
11	Rollin' Stone Bob Dylan / McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	03:05	Spotify Amazon
12	Walking Blues Robert Johnson	Muddy Waters	02:55	Spotify Amazon
13	Louisiana Blues McKinley Morgan / McKinley Morganfield / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:32	Spotify Amazon
14	Evans Shuffle (Ebony Boogie) McKinley Morganfield / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:10
15	Long Distance Call John Lyon / McKinley Morganfield / Billy Rush / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:38	Spotify Amazon
16	Honey Bee M. Ledbetter / McKinley Morganfield / Don Robey / Melvin Steals / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	03:19	Spotify Amazon
17	She Moves Me Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:55	Spotify Amazon
18	Still a Fool Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	03:16	Spotify Amazon
19	Stuff You Gotta Watch Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:47	Spotify Amazon
20	Standing Around Crying McKinley Morganfield / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	03:20	Spotify Amazon
21	Flood McKinley Morganfield / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:38	Spotify Amazon
22	Baby Please Don't Go McKinley Morganfield / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	03:15	Spotify Amazon
23	Blow Wind Blow McKinley Morganfield / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	03:09	Spotify Amazon
24	(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man Willie Dixon	Muddy Waters	02:44	Spotify Amazon

Track Listing - Disc 2

	Title/Composer	Performer	Time	Stream
1	I Just Want to Make Love to You Willie Dixon	Muddy Waters	02:50	Spotify Amazon
2	I'm Ready Willie Dixon	Muddy Waters	03:02	Spotify Amazon
3	Smokestack Lightning Chester Burnett / Howlin' Wolf	Muddy Waters	03:06	Spotify Amazon
4	Young Fashioned Ways Willie Dixon	Muddy Waters	02:59	Spotify Amazon
5	Mannish Boy Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:55	Spotify Amazon
6	Trouble No More Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:39	Spotify Amazon
7	Forty Days and Forty Nights Bernard Roth	Muddy Waters	02:50	Spotify Amazon
8	Just to Be With You Bernard Roth	Muddy Waters	03:13	Spotify Amazon
9	Don't Go No Farther Willie Dixon	Muddy Waters	02:54	Spotify Amazon
10	Diamonds at Your Feet McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	02:24	Spotify Amazon
11	I Love the Life I Live, I Live the Life I Love Willie Dixon	Muddy Waters	02:48	Spotify Amazon
12	Rock Me McKinley Morganfield / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	03:10	Spotify Amazon
13	Look What You've Done McKinley Morganfield / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:21	Spotify Amazon
14	Got My Mojo Working Preston Foster / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:50	Spotify Amazon
15	Good News Shirley Eikhard / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:47	Spotify Amazon
16	Evil Willie Dixon / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:17	Spotify Amazon
17	She's Nineteen Years Old Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	03:16	Spotify Amazon
18	Close to You Aris / Burt Bacharach / Toni Cottura / John Densmore / Willie Dixon / Al Hoffman / Kesselbauer / Robby Krieger / Carl G. Lampl / Jerry Livingston / Ray Manzarek / Jim Morrison	Muddy Waters	03:04	Spotify Amazon
19	Walkin' Thru the Park McKinley Morganfield / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:44	Spotify Amazon
20	Blues Before Sunrise John Lee Hooker	Muddy Waters	03:51	Spotify Amazon
21	Lonesome Road Blues Big Bill Broonzy / M. Christian	Muddy Waters	03:02	Spotify Amazon
22	Take the Bitter With the Sweet James Burke Oden / James Oden	Muddy Waters	03:50	Spotify Amazon
23	She's into Something Carl Wright	Muddy Waters	02:44	Spotify Amazon
24	Southbound Train Big Bill Broonzy	Muddy Waters	02:53	Spotify Amazon
25	Double Trouble H. Melka / Harriett Melka / Otis Rush	Muddy Waters	02:45	Spotify Amazon

Track Listing - Disc 3

	Title/Composer	Performer	Time	Stream
1	I Feel So Good Big Bill Broonzy / Richard Thompson	Muddy Waters	02:56
2	You Shook Me Willie Dixon / J.B. Lenoir	Muddy Waters	02:44	Spotify Amazon
3	You Need Love Dennis DeYoung / Willie Dixon	Muddy Waters	02:41	Spotify Amazon
4	Twenty-Four Hours Eddie Boyd	Muddy Waters	02:30	Spotify Amazon
5	Elevate Me Mama Sonny Boy Williamson II / Sonny Boy Williamson I	Muddy Waters	03:03	Spotify Amazon
6	So Glad I'm Living Sonny Boy Williamson II	Muddy Waters	02:52	Spotify Amazon
7	My Love Strikes Like Lightning McKinley Morganfield / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:43	Spotify Amazon
8	You Don't Have to Go Jimmy Reed	Muddy Waters	02:49	Spotify Amazon
9	The Things That I Used to Do Eddie "Guitar Slim" Jones / Guitar Slim	Muddy Waters	03:12	Spotify Amazon
10	My Home Is in the Delta Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	03:58	Spotify Amazon
11	Good Morning Little Schoolgirl Sonny Boy Williamson II / Sonny Boy Williamson I	Muddy Waters	03:12	Spotify Amazon
12	The Same Thing Willie Dixon	Muddy Waters	02:43	Spotify Amazon
13	You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:55	Spotify Amazon
14	Short Dress Woman J.T. Brown	Muddy Waters	02:47	Spotify Amazon
15	Making Friends McKinley Morganfield / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:36	Spotify Amazon
16	Black Night Jessie Mae Robinson	Muddy Waters	03:17	Spotify Amazon
17	Bird Nest on the Ground Maurice Dollison / Monk Higgins	Muddy Waters	02:53	Spotify Amazon
18	Country Boy Muddy Waters / Margaret Whitfield	Muddy Waters	04:48	Spotify Amazon
19	Sugar Sweet Mel London	Muddy Waters	02:16	Spotify Amazon
20	All Aboard McKinley Morganfield / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	02:38	Spotify Amazon
21	Going Down Slow James Burke Oden	Muddy Waters	04:07	Spotify Amazon
22	Who's Gonna Be Your Sweet Man When I'm Gone [Original Hornless Londo McKinley Morganfield / Muddy Waters	Muddy Waters	05:05	Spotify Amazon
23	Can't Get No Grindin' (What's the Matter With the Meal) McKinley Morganfield	Muddy Waters	02:45	Spotify Amazon

blue highlight denotes track pick

The Chess Box Review

Track Listing - Disc 1

Track Listing - Disc 2

Track Listing - Disc 3

Muddy Waters Discography Browser