Three of the songs on the album – "Mannish Boy", "I Want to Be Loved", and "I Can't Be Satisfied" – were re-recordings of songs for Chess Records. One of the songs recorded, "The Blues Had a Baby and They Named It Rock and Roll, Pt. 2", was co-written by Brownie McGhee and another song, "Bus Driver", was co-written by T. Abrahamson.
An outtake from the recording sessions, "Walking Through the Park", appeared on the 2004 Legacy Recordings reissue CD, while several more unused tracks appeared on "King Bee" in 1981.
The album has been well received by several critics. Dan Oppenheimer of "Rolling Stone" magazine said that "Mannish Boy" sounded like it was recorded live while both Oppenheimer and Daniel Gioffre of Allmusic state how powerful Willie "Big Eyes" Smith's drumming is. Oppenheimer, Gioffre, and Robert Christgau all share the opinion that "Hard Again" is Muddy Waters comeback album.
"Hard Again" peaked at #143 on the "Billboard" 200, which was his first appearance on the chart since "Fathers and Sons" in 1969.
All songs written by McKinley Morganfield, except where others are noted.
The following people contributed to "Hard Again":
First Boer War
In the 19th Century Scramble for Africa, the British Empire tried to control all of southern Africa. They won control of the Cape of Good Hope in 1815 at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Many Boers (Dutch, German and French farmers) did not like Britain controlling the area. The British taxed them, made English the official language, and in 1834 abolished slavery. Some of the Boers moved north in the Great Trek and made a new country called the Orange Free State. In 1877 the British Army moved in to control the Orange Free State in pursuit of diamonds, one of the Orange Free State's rich natural resources. On 16 December 1880 the First Boer War began. It took ten weeks in 1880 and 1881. The British were defeated.
From 1896 to 1899 Governor of the Cape and High Commissioner for South Africa, Alfred Milner made preparations for another war in order to gain the wealth of the Orange Free State and in September 1899 British troops arrived in South Africa. Paul Kruger president of the Transvaal sent Britain an ultimatum asking strongly for their departure.
Boer farmers from Sandspruit, Volksrust, the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal fought in the war. As the Boers lost men in battle they recruited young boys and old men to fight. Black people also fought alongside the Boers in the war and they made up 20 to 25 percent of total Boer manpower. The German Empire was friendly to their cause, and the Boers used Krupp guns. Much of the fighting was on horseback. As the Boers lost battle after battle they were eventually forced to make peace on the 23rd of March, 1902, and surrender to British authority.
Lilly Ledbetter
Lilly Ledbetter (born Lilly McDaniel April 1938) was the plaintiff in the American employment discrimination case "Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co." She has since become a women's equality activist.
Goodyear paid Ledbetter significantly less than men holding the same job. This violated the Equal Pay Act of 1963 which said that she could sue to get the pay difference. Her lawsuit eventually reached the Supreme Court. The court said that she waited too long to sue Goodyear. In response to the court decision, Congress passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which is named after her. Under the new law, other women will be able to get backpay after employers keep pay discrimination secret.
United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg stated:Lilly
Ledbetter was a supervisor at Goodyear Tire and Rubber’s plant in Gadsden, Alabama, from 1979 until her retirement in 1998. For most of those years, she worked as an area manager, a position largely occupied by men. Initially, Ledbetter’s salary was in line with the salaries of men performing substantially similar work. Over time, however, her pay slipped in comparison to the pay of male area managers with equal or less seniority. By the end of 1997, Ledbetter was the only woman working as an area manager and the pay discrepancy between Ledbetter and her 15 male counterparts was stark: Ledbetter was paid $3,727 per month; the lowest paid male area manager received $4,286 per month, the highest paid, $5,236.
On August 26, 2008 (Women's Equality Day), Ledbetter spoke at the Democratic National Convention, on the topic of pay equity.
In June 2011, she dined with New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who introduced the Equal Rights Amendment the previous month, and Eleanor Smeal.
East Germany at the Olympics
The German Democratic Republic (GDR), or East Germany, sent athletes to the Olympic Games from 1956 until 1988. They have taken part in both the Summer and Winter Games. From 1956 through 1966, East German athletes were a part of a combined team from both East and West Germany. After 1966, the East Germans were a separate team. They won a total of 519 medals at the Olympics.
Germany was divided after World War II. Three separate states were created. German athletes tried to take part in the 1948 games but the Allies did not let this happen. Finally, in 1949, the National Olympic Committee for Germany was founded in the Western Federal Republic of Germany. The IOC accepted it as both of the larger two larger German states. The small, French-occupied Saarland and its NOC were separate until after 1955.
East German authorities of the "Nationales Olympisches Komitee für Ostdeutschland" did not send their athletes to the 1952 games in an all-German team. The wanted a team of their own. This was not allowed by the IOC.
East Germany agreed to take part in the 1956 Games. German athletes from the East and West Germany took part in the games in 1956, 1960 and 1964 as the United Team of Germany. This team was just called Germany at the time.
The GDR renamed their NOC to "Nationales Olympisches Komitee der DDR" in 1965. It was accepted by the IOC in 1968. At this point East Germany sent its own team to the Games. They did not take part in the in 1984 Summer Olympics due to the Soviet boycott.
Although East Germany had a small population of about 16 million, they did very well. From 1976 to 1988, they won the second most medals in each of their three summer Olympics, behind the Soviet Union. They did much better than the West Germany. In five winter games, they placed second four times and first in the 1984 Winter Olympics.
Many think that doping (mainly anabolic steroids) allowed East Germany to a world leader in sports for two decades. They won many Olympic and world gold medals but many athletes failed doping tests or were believed to be taking performance enhancing drugs. In many cases where doping was believed to happen, no proof was found so most of records and medals won by East German athletes still stand. Aside from doping, East Germany soent a lot of money on sporta - mainly Olympic sports. They did this for prestige, propaganda and rivalry with West Germany. The government did a lot of work to find and train athletes and coaches that they believed would do very well. This made it hard say that it was doping rather than very good performance that was the reason for them winning so much.
In 1990, the German reformed back into Germany. The "NOC of the GDR" joined the "NOC of Germany" on 17 November 1990. The German athletes took part in the Olympic Games in a single team again from 1992 forward. During the first decade after this, athletes from the Eastern part of Germany still won many of Germany's medals. This shows that doping was not the only reason East Germany did so well in the Olympics. It shows that their training conditions were also very important. As trainers and athletes started to move freely around the country, this difference between east and west became smaller.
Sonar