Muddy Waters
Folk Singer

An agonizing blues. That's what you'll find in this album. An accompanying drum, two acoustic guitars and a bass, and a voice of unprecedented intensity. Few, simple elements make this album a milestone in the history of music. Instead of virtuosity, put substance, and you're all set.

Alongside Waters are figures far from being mere supporting players, starting with Willie Dixon, passing through Buddy Guy and finally Clifton James: all the conditions for creating a good album are there.

The title is emblematic of a certain change in the bluesman's music: instead of the fiery blues escapades ("Got My Mojo Working") we find an acoustic, nocturnal blues, only marginally tied to the folk so popular at the time. The title, "Folk Singer", was warmly requested by the record label, which wanted to exploit the name of one of the most sought-after bluesmen of the time alongside the nascent folk movement that was gaining much approval. Contrary to what one might think, this is not an album of acoustic reinterpretations: a full seven of the nine songs that make up the album are original, with two beautiful covers to complete the puzzle.

The opening "My Home Is In The Delta" is the manifesto of the music contained in the LP, a timeless blues, few frills and a lot of pain; Muddy's voice is the protagonist of the entire session, sometimes whispered, sometimes painfully shouted, telling of a man's infinite love woes, from the declaration of the same love to the promised gifts ("I'm gonna buy you a brand new cadillac, if you only speak some good words about me") in exchange for sweet words, passing through the despair of being left, and closing with the proud outburst claimed in "Country Boy".

The songs are each more beautiful than the next, probably sublimated in the famous "Long Distance", and they all share certain slow rhythms typical of slow blues, with the exception of the amazing "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl", a 4/4 blues standard composed by Sonny Boy Williamson back in '37 and later recorded by dozens of artists. Placed at the center of the album, it marks a moment of discontinuity from the leaden atmosphere that permeates the remaining eight compositions, a ray of light with its brisk and cheerful rhythm to lighten the mood.

Released in April 1964, "Folk Singer" is a beautiful album where silence is paradoxically an important element, enveloping the few notes plucked by the musicians in its mantle in an almost surreal atmosphere.

An album not for everyone, perhaps. But for blues lovers, it will be a true delight.