Woodstock Album
WhenThe Band's drummer Levon Helm set up a Woodstock-based recording studio and production company in 1975, his first client was the legendary bluesmanMuddy Waters. Surrounding him with familiar sidemenPinetop PerkinsandBob Margolin, plus such simpatico rock and blues stalwarts as The Band's Garth Hudson on accordion and organ,Paul Butterfieldon harp, and Howard Johnson on saxophone, the 60-year-old Waters responded with the smoothest and most supple singing of his career. These two sessions are as delightful as any in his long association withChess Records, and they signify his last album with that label. Among this Grammy Award-winning work's highlights are Muddy's original composition "Born with Nothing," featuring his stinging signature slide; his joyful R&B; covers of "Let the Good Times Roll,"Wilbert Harrison's "Kansas City," andLouis Jordan's "Caledonia," this last graced by a looping Hudson accordion solo; and the previously unreleased bonus track, "Fox Squirrel".--Alan Greenberg