Fathers and Sons (album)
Encyclopedia
Fathers and Sons is an album by American blues
musician Muddy Waters
, originally released as a double
LP
by Chess Records
in August 1969
.
The album features both studio and live recordings recorded in April 1969 with an all-star band including Michael Bloomfield
and Paul Butterfield
of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Donald "Duck" Dunn of Booker T. & the M.G.'s
and Sam Lay
in Chicago
, Illinois.
The album was Muddy's biggest mainstream success, reaching #70 on the Billboard 200
, which was his only appearance in the top half of the chart. Muddy would not make another appearance on the 200 until Hard Again
in 1977.
, the idea behind Fathers and Sons came when Mike Bloomfield was at his house and said that he and Paul Butterfield wanted to do an album with Muddy Waters because they would be in Chicago for a charity concert. Chess then rounded up Donald "Duck" Dunn, Otis Spann
, and Sam Lay for the studio sessions.
While many blues purists criticized the Waters "psychedelic" album Electric Mud
at the time, Fathers and Sons was received more favorably since it avoided psychedelia, instead showcasing the "classic" Waters sound of the 50's. In many ways, the album anticipated the later, critically acclaimed Waters blues albums produced by Johnny Winter
.
by Ron Malo
and featured rhythm guitarist Paul Asbell, who did not play on the live songs.
The live songs were recorded on April 24, 1969 at the Super Cosmic Joy-Scout Jamboree. These sides were engineered by Reice Hamel
. Drummer Buddy Miles
played on the second part of "Got My Mojo Working
".
The producer on all sessions was Norman Dayron, who would go on to produce The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions
in 1970, among other items.
's design on the Sistine Chapel
. The original album's design was by Daily Planet and was packaged in a foldout sleeve. The 2001 MCA Records
expanded reissue featured a reissued design by Mike Fink.
, except where indicated.
Side B (studio)
Side C Live
Side D Live
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
musician Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, originally released as a double
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
LP
LP record
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
by Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
in August 1969
1969 in music
-Events:Perhaps the two most famous musical events of 1969 were concerts. At a Rolling Stones concert in Altamont, California, a fan was stabbed to death by Hells Angels, a biker gang that had been hired to provide security for the event...
.
The album features both studio and live recordings recorded in April 1969 with an all-star band including Michael Bloomfield
Mike Bloomfield
Michael Bernard "Mike" Bloomfield was an American musician, guitarist, and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, since he rarely sang before 1969–70...
and Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival...
of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Donald "Duck" Dunn of Booker T. & the M.G.'s
Booker T. & the M.G.'s
Booker T. & the M.G.'s is an instrumental R&B band that was influential in shaping the sound of southern soul and Memphis soul. Original members of the group were Booker T. Jones , Steve Cropper , Lewie Steinberg , and Al Jackson, Jr....
and Sam Lay
Sam Lay
Sam Lay is an American drummer and vocalist, who has been performing since the late 1950s.-Life and career:...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois.
The album was Muddy's biggest mainstream success, reaching #70 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, which was his only appearance in the top half of the chart. Muddy would not make another appearance on the 200 until Hard Again
Hard Again
Hard Again is a 1977 Chicago-style electric blues album by Muddy Waters. It was recorded by its producer, Johnny Winter, in a rough, bare-bones style...
in 1977.
Background
According to Marshall ChessMarshall Chess
Marshall Chess is the son and nephew of the founders of Chess Records, the Chicago-based independent record label that first recorded an unprecedented list of African-American, blues and early rock and roll artists such as: Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy...
, the idea behind Fathers and Sons came when Mike Bloomfield was at his house and said that he and Paul Butterfield wanted to do an album with Muddy Waters because they would be in Chicago for a charity concert. Chess then rounded up Donald "Duck" Dunn, Otis Spann
Otis Spann
Otis Spann was an American blues musician, who many consider the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist.-Career:Born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, Spann became known for his distinct piano style....
, and Sam Lay for the studio sessions.
While many blues purists criticized the Waters "psychedelic" album Electric Mud
Electric Mud
Electric Mud is a studio album by Muddy Waters. Released in 1968, it is a concept album which imagines Muddy Waters as a psychedelic musician...
at the time, Fathers and Sons was received more favorably since it avoided psychedelia, instead showcasing the "classic" Waters sound of the 50's. In many ways, the album anticipated the later, critically acclaimed Waters blues albums produced by Johnny Winter
Johnny Winter
John Dawson "Johnny" Winter III is an American blues guitarist, singer, and producer. Best known for his late 1960s and 1970s high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances, Winter also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters...
.
Recording and production
The studio disc of the album was recorded in April 21–23, 1969 at Tel Mar Studios. Theses sides were engineeredAudio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
by Ron Malo
Ron Malo
Ron Malo was an engineer for Chicago's Chess Studios. He was the engineer for the first sessions the Rolling Stones did in the USA, in Chicago in June 1964, recording songs that wound up appearing on the albums 12 X 5, The Rolling Stones...
and featured rhythm guitarist Paul Asbell, who did not play on the live songs.
The live songs were recorded on April 24, 1969 at the Super Cosmic Joy-Scout Jamboree. These sides were engineered by Reice Hamel
Reice Hamel
Reice Hamel was an American Audio Recording engineer. He is considered, along with his colleague Wally Heider, to be the pioneer of complex live remote recording. He recorded under the company name, Reice Hamel Recording USA.- Early Years in New York :Reice Hamel was born in the lower east side of...
. Drummer Buddy Miles
Buddy Miles
George Allen Miles, Jr. , known as Buddy Miles, was an American rock and funk drummer, most known as a founding member of The Electric Flag in 1967, then as a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys from 1969 through to January 1970.-Early life:George Allen Miles was born in Omaha, Nebraska on...
played on the second part of "Got My Mojo Working
Got My Mojo Working
"Got My Mojo Working" is a 1956 song written by Preston Foster and first recorded by Ann Cole, but popularized by Muddy Waters in 1957. Waters' rendition of the song was featured on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time at #359 and was inducted in the Grammy Hall of...
".
The producer on all sessions was Norman Dayron, who would go on to produce The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions
The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions
The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions is an album by blues musician Howlin' Wolf, released in the summer of 1971 on Chess Records, catalogue CH 60008...
in 1970, among other items.
Artwork and design
The cover illustration for Fathers and Sons was created by Don Wilson and was based on MichelangeloMichelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
's design on the Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio...
. The original album's design was by Daily Planet and was packaged in a foldout sleeve. The 2001 MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
expanded reissue featured a reissued design by Mike Fink.
Track listing
All songs written by McKinley MorganfieldMuddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, except where indicated.
Vinyl version
Side A (studio)- "All Aboard" – 2:50
- "Mean Disposition" – 5:42
- "Blow Wind Blow" – 3:35
- "Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had" – 3:03
- "Walkin' Thru The Park" – 3:07
Side B (studio)
- "Forty Days and Forty NightsForty Days and Forty Nights"Forty Days and Forty Nights" is a blues song recorded by Muddy Waters in 1956. Called "a big, bold record", it was a hit, spending six weeks in the Billboard R&B chart where it reached number seven...
" (Bernard Roth) – 3:04 - "Standin' Round Crying" – 4:01
- "I'm ReadyI'm Ready (Blues song)"I'm Ready" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1954. It was a hit, spending nine weeks on the Billboard R&B chart where it reached #4...
" (Willie DixonWillie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
) – 3:33 - "Twenty Four Hours" (Eddie BoydEddie BoydEdward Riley Boyd known as Eddie Boyd was an American blues piano player, born on Stovall's Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States.-Life and career:...
) – 4:46 - "Sugar Sweet – 2:16
Side C Live
- "Long Distance Call" – 6:35
- "Baby, Please Don't GoBaby, Please Don't Go"Baby, Please Don't Go" is a blues song first recorded by Big Joe Williams in 1935. It is related to a group of early 20th century blues and work songs that include "I'm Alabama Bound", "Another Man Done Gone", and "Don't Leave Me Here", and "Turn Your Lamp Down Low".It has become a blues and rock...
" (Big Joe WilliamsBig Joe WilliamsJoseph Lee Williams , billed throughout his career as Big Joe Williams, was an American Delta blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, notable for the distinctive sound of his nine-string guitar...
) – 3:05 - "Honey Bee" – 3:57
Side D Live
- "The Same Thing" (Dixon) – 6:00
- "Got My Mojo Working, Part 1Got My Mojo Working"Got My Mojo Working" is a 1956 song written by Preston Foster and first recorded by Ann Cole, but popularized by Muddy Waters in 1957. Waters' rendition of the song was featured on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time at #359 and was inducted in the Grammy Hall of...
" (Preston Foster, Morganfield) – 3:39 - "Got My Mojo Working, Part 2" (Foster, Morganfield) – 5:33
CD version
- "All Aboard" – 2:52
- "Mean Disposition" – 5:42
- "Blow Wind Blow" – 3:38
- "Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had" – 3:06
- "Walkin' Thru The Park" – 3:21
- "Forty Days And Forty Nights" (Roth) – 3:08
- "Standin' Round Cryin'" – 4:05
- "I'm Ready" (Dixon) – 3:39
- "Twenty Four Hours" (Boyd) – 4:48
- "Sugar Sweet" – 2:18
- "Country Boy" – 3:20
- "I Love the Life I Live (I Live the Life I Love)" (Dixon) – 2:45
- "Oh Yeah" (Dixon) – 3:38
- "I Feel So Good" (Big Bill BroonzyBig Bill BroonzyBig Bill Broonzy was a prolific American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s when he played country blues to mostly black audiences. Through the ‘30s and ‘40s he successfully navigated a transition in style to a more urban blues sound popular with white audiences...
) – 3:00 - "Long Distance Call" – 6:37
- "Baby, Please Don't Go" (Williams) – 3:03
- "Honey Bee" – 3:56
- "The Same Thing" (Dixon) – 5:59
- "Got My Mojo Working, Part 1" (Foster, Morganfield) – 3:22
- "Got My Mojo Working, Part 2" (Foster, Morganfield) – 2:54
Personnel
- Muddy WatersMuddy WatersMcKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Otis SpannOtis SpannOtis Spann was an American blues musician, who many consider the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist.-Career:Born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, Spann became known for his distinct piano style....
– pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - Michael BloomfieldMike BloomfieldMichael Bernard "Mike" Bloomfield was an American musician, guitarist, and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, since he rarely sang before 1969–70...
– guitar - Paul ButterfieldPaul ButterfieldPaul Butterfield was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival...
– harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes... - Donald "Duck" Dunn – bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Sam LaySam LaySam Lay is an American drummer and vocalist, who has been performing since the late 1950s.-Life and career:...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Paul Asbell – rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
- Buddy MilesBuddy MilesGeorge Allen Miles, Jr. , known as Buddy Miles, was an American rock and funk drummer, most known as a founding member of The Electric Flag in 1967, then as a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys from 1969 through to January 1970.-Early life:George Allen Miles was born in Omaha, Nebraska on...
– drums on "Got My Mojo Working, Part 2" - Jeff Carp – chromatic harmonicaChromatic harmonicaThe chromatic harmonica is a type of harmonica that uses a button-activated sliding bar to redirect air from the hole in the mouthpiece to the selected reed-plate desired. When the button is not pressed, an altered diatonic major scale of the key of the harmonica is available, while depressing the...
on "All Aboard" - Phil UpchurchPhil UpchurchPhil Upchurch is an American jazz and R&B guitarist and bassist.Upchurch started his career working with The Kool Gents, The Dells, and The Spaniels before going on to work with Curtis Mayfield, Otis Rush and Jimmy Reed. He then returned to Chicago to play and record with Woody Herman, Stan Getz,...
– bass guitar on "All Aboard" - Norman Dayron – producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
- Ron MaloRon MaloRon Malo was an engineer for Chicago's Chess Studios. He was the engineer for the first sessions the Rolling Stones did in the USA, in Chicago in June 1964, recording songs that wound up appearing on the albums 12 X 5, The Rolling Stones...
– engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
Release history
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America North America North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas... |
August 1969 | Chess Records Chess Records Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases.... |
mono Monaural Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path... double LP LP record The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry... |
LP-127 |
| stereo Stereophonic sound The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective... double LP |
LPS-127 | |||
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
September 1969 | Chess Records | double LP | CRL 4556 |
| North America | 1972 | Chess Records | stereo double LP | 2CH-50033 |
| North America | 1989 | MCA MCA Records MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003... /Chess Records |
Cassette Compact Cassette The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel... |
CHC-92522 |
| CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... |
CHD-92522 | |||
| North America | October 30, 2001 | MCA/Chess Records | extended CD | 088 112 648-2 |
| Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... |
August 22, 2007 | Chess Records | mini-LP Mini-LP A Mini-LP or Mini-album is a short album, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered "full-length".-History:... CD |
UICY-93295 |