Mud Morganfield is set to release his latest offering and debut on the Delmark record label on November 11^th. If this album sounds familiar, it should. Twelve of the fourteen songs were released back in 2012 as the album Son of a Seventh Son on Severn Records.

Industry folks are abuzz over how this record’s contents went from one label to another and have reappeared after ten years. You folks should be able to figure this out. As to the general listening public, you don’t care, nor should you. Some great music has been given some new life and is available on the oldest label in the blues field. 

Here Morganfield will put listeners in mind of his father, Muddy Waters. If you are a blues singer, you could do a lot worse and it’s hard to imagine striving for a higher mark. Of the numerous singers who have used Muddy Waters as a vocal template, if not as a subject for hackneyed mimicry, nobody comes anywhere near Mud Morganfield in terms of sounding like “Pops.” Of course, Mud has a distinct advantage in this realm.

Then it is a matter of choosing the right material and musicians to capture the sound he is trying to achieve. Check and check…

With Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith on drums and E.G. McDaniel on bass the rhythm section is in order. Billy Flynn shines on guitar.

The late Barrelhouse Chuck channeled the history of Chicago blues piano every time he sat down at the piano bench. This recording is no exception. Chuck of course plays in the spirit of his mentor and friend Little Brother Montgomery and to the granddad of the Chicago blues piano Sunnyland Slim but also, as expected, gives a nod to Otis Spann. This particular mix brings his playing to light that in many ways was absent on many of the original recordings from which this album takes its inspiration.

The album’s original producer Bob Corritore handles the harmonica duties on seven of the album’s fourteen tracks. A long-time resident of the Sonoran Desert, Corritore makes a good accounting of himself, as he has made a career out of paying tribute to the music from his hometown.

The twelve songs that made up the original 2012 album sit as tracks 2-13 here and have not been re-sequenced. The album’s final song is from John Lee Williamson aka Sonny Boy 1 and had been covered by Muddy and others, Good Morning Little School Girl. It is from those original sessions.

The only brand-new tune is a Mud Morganfield original, Praise Him. As the song title suggests, it is a gospel number. The song while listenable, doesn’t add anything to the album and in fact sets it off on the wrong track.

The album straightens itself out quickly with J.T. Brown’s Short Dressed Woman and chugs down the Chicago blues rails aided by seven more Mud Morganfield originals that are more suited to his unique pedigree in this field.

Few artists, if any, have cast a larger shadow on the blues field than Muddy Waters. In many ways that umbra follows the music everywhere. For Mud Morganfield it must feel like a total eclipse. I’m sure it is a natural instinct to follow one’s own muse and musical instincts. However, Mud Morganfield shines brightest when he embraces his legacy head on. He does that here and we are all the beneficiaries of that decision. On this new release the first son of the seventh son paints a portrait that is worth a second look.

-  David Mac