fathers and sons

Muddy Waters went back to the blues with a new generation of hot young players to create this double album of studio and live tracks.  Waters had experimented with psychedelic blues on his previous efforts 'Electric Mud' and 'After the Rain'; but the albums were not well received in the blues community, even though they proved influential to psychedelic rock.  

Guitarist Mike Bloomfield came up with the idea to make a record with his idol Waters.    Marshall Chess recalled:   "Michael was at my house and he said he'd like to do a record with Muddy and Paul.  The title, 'Fathers and Sons', was his idea."  

Waters considered:   "That's a very good title, 'cause I am the daddy, and all these kids are my sons.  I feel there are so many kids tracking in my tracks that I'm the father out there...I think it was one of the greatest sessions we did since Little Walter's time and Jimmy Rodgers'.  We was close to the old sound."

The studio disc of  'Fathers and Sons' was recorded April 21–23, 1969 at Tel Mar Studios and engineered by Ron Malo, while the live songs were recorded on April 24, 1969 at the Super Cosmic Joy-Scout Jamboree and engineered by Reice Hamel.   The entire project was produced by Norman Dayron and featured Muddy Waters on  vocals and guitar;   Otis Spann on piano;   Michael Bloomfield on guitar;   Paul Butterfield on harmonica;   Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass guitar;   Sam Lay on drums;   and Paul Asbell on rhythm guitar;  with Buddy Miles on drums on "Got My Mojo Working, Part 2";   and Jeff Carp on chromatic harmonica and Phil Upchurch on bass guitar on "All Aboard".  

Butterfield revealed:   "Duck Dunn had never played this kind of music, really.  And most of the cats haven't been playing this type of music for a long while.  It really made me feel good to get back and really be playing some stuff on the harp that was what I came from, the thing that really turned me on to be playing in the first place.  Now I'm playing different things, different changes.  It made me feel so good to be playing something that wasn't just, 'Well, we'll get together and do this recording.'  We've been enjoying ourselves.  Really felt good...A lot of it had to do with Muddy's singing.  Muddy might not be a young cat anymore, but he's doing it.  He still gets an awful good feeling for me for playing.  He's the main cat; we're playing with Muddy.  It's his feeling, and the way he's doing the stuff is making us feel really good.  Feeling is 99 percent of it.  If you're not feeling the music, how can you expect the other cats who are playing to really feel it?"

Spann said:    "It did remind me of old times.  I had more feeling in the session than I've had in a long time.  It's a funny thing, the people say the white kids can't play blues, but that's wrong."

http://www.muddywaters.com/


http://www.mikebloomfield.com/

'Fathers and Sons'
full album:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1pEnapsr1k



All songs written by McKinley Morganfield, except where indicated.

Side A (studio)
00:00 "All Aboard" – 2:50
02:56 "Mean Disposition" – 5:42
08:42 "Blow Wind Blow" – 3:35
12:26 "Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had" – 3:03
15:32 "Walkin' Thru The Park" – 3:07

Side B (studio)
18:52 "Forty Days and Forty Nights" (Bernard Roth) – 3:04
22:02 "Standin' Round Crying" – 4:01
26:10 "I'm Ready" (Willie Dixon) – 3:33
29:52 "Twenty Four Hours" (Eddie Boyd) – 4:46
34:42 "Sugar Sweet – 2:16

Side C (live)
37:00 "Long Distance Call" – 6:35
43:30 "Baby, Please Don't Go" (Big Joe Williams) – 3:05
46:36 "Honey Bee" – 3:57

Side D (live)
50:32 "The Same Thing" (Dixon) – 6:00
56:36 "Got My Mojo Working, Part 1" (Preston Foster, Morganfield) – 3:39
1:01:00 "Got My Mojo Working, Part 2" (Foster, Morganfield) – 5:33