MUDDY WATERS PERFORMS MANNISH BOY LIVE (WITH JOHNNY WINTER)

In recent times, over the past six months or so, my perspective on life has changed quite a lot to what it had been for well over a decade. Physically and mentally i was burnt out and needed a re-charge, since February i have lost a lot of weight, got fit, and consequently, my mental approach is diffrent. My love of blues music was born during the period of time in my life during the late 90`s when things started to go haywire, on countless occasions during the last 14 years i considered the blues to be one of my best friends, it always seemed to represent but at the same time quell the disillusionment and depression which was always nipping at my heels from 1998 to 2011. The paradox for me now is that because i have cured myself of depression and anxiety, am physically fit as i was when i was a teenager and now have a completely diffrent outlook on the future, a lot of blues music no longer resonates with me anymore, almost as if my physical and mental recovery has made a lot of blues music anyway appear to be self indulgent mush where before it had been my saviour. Dont get me wrong, i still like heaps of blues music, it's just now i like less than i did in my 'previous life' and i probaly would place a lot more importance now on the unique talent and individuality of a certain blues artist than i did when i was an overweight burnt out has-been who listened more to blues for the lyrical content rather than for sheer instrumental skill. That's what has changed, rather than listening to 100 diffrent blues artists/bands who are mediocre in the instrumental department, i think now i am more inclined to stick to around 25 of the best in the business. Blues music is no longer an emotional cushion for me, it is just another genre of music that depending on the artist i still admire quite a lot. There is no arguing that MUDDY WATERS was one the great bluesmen of all time, personally Muddy is who i regard as the KING OF THE BLUES, the best of the best. More people would probaly annoint B.B. KING or JOHN LEE HOOKER with that title, i guess Muddy's more rowdy and less refined Chicago sound was always more up my alley than B.B's very cute and elegant guitar picking and John Lee's eccentric bottleneck guitar style, not that i'm saying both these guys aren't in my lucky top 25. It might not be a lost treasure but it certainly ain't being played on australian FM radio, so be up standing, and let's make a toast to the late MUDDY WATERS by playing his signature tune - MANNISH BOY. This version comes from the latter years of his life when he recorded three absolutely brilliant albums, re-recordings of his songs throughout his whole career, with crack white blues guitarist JOHNNY WINTER and backing band. WINTER also produced this classic trilogy of albums for Muddy Waters in the late 70`s and early 80`s before the big fella's death in 1983 at the age of 70.