Muddy Waters

After churning out radio hits in the '50s and before his resurgence in the '70s, Muddy Waters spent the 1960s in semi-obscurity. That means this set, recorded at the Fillmore West in 1966, finds the monumental figure playing with veteran blues dudes rather than the rock stars he would play with later in his career. You get the harmonica chugging of George Smith, guitarist Luther Johnson and the backing electrified Delta blues rhythm that ultimately became the blueprint for rock music. A big draw here is simply hearing the way a blues band is supposed to sound.