I'm Ready (Muddy Waters album)

I'm Ready
I'm Ready
Studio album by Muddy Waters
Released	January 1978
Recorded	Westport, Connecticut, October–November 1977
Genre	Blues
Length	56:18
Label	Blue Sky
Producer	Johnny Winter
Muddy Waters chronology

I'm Ready is a studio album by the Chicago blues musician Muddy Waters. The second of his Johnny Winter-produced albums for the Blue Sky Records label, I'm Ready was issued one year after he found renewed commercial and critical success with Hard Again. The album earned Waters a Grammy Award in 1978.^[1] It was reissued in 2004 by the Epic/Legacy, with three additional songs.

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]
Blender	^[3]
Christgau's Record Guide	B^[4]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings	^[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	^[7]
The Village Voice	B+^[5]

The Bay State Banner wrote that "the sharp distinctive tuning and chromatic slurs that mark his playing are still here, even though Waters now takes few slide guitar solos."^[8]

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are composed by Muddy Waters (listed as McKinley Morganfield), except where noted.

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"I'm Ready"	Willie Dixon	3:26
2.	"33 Years"	Morganfield, Charles Edward Williams	5:20
3.	"Who Do You Trust"		5:00
4.	"Copper Brown"	Morganfield, Marva Brooks	4:58

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man"	Dixon	3:59
2.	"Mamie"	Morganfield, Jimmy Rogers	5:35
3.	"Rock Me"		3:54
4.	"Screamin' and Cryin'"		5:04
5.	"Good Morning, Little School Girl"	Sonny Boy Williamson	3:27

2004 Epic CD reissue extra tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
10.	"No Escape From The Blues"	Morganfield, Williams	6:18
11.	"That's Alright"	Rogers	4:58
12.	"Lonely Man Blues"	Morganfield, Bob Margolin	4:19

Personnel[edit]

Muddy Waters – vocal, guitar
Johnny Winter – guitar (tracks 1, 3-5, 7, 9), production
Jimmy Rogers – guitar, vocals (track 11)
Bob Margolin – guitar, bass
Jerry Portnoy – harmonica (tracks 1, 4, 5, 7, 9)
Big Walter Horton – harmonica
Pinetop Perkins – piano
Willie "Big Eyes" Smith – drums

References[edit]

^ "Grammy Award Winners". The Recording Academy. 1978. Retrieved October 13, 2009.
^ Gordon, Keith A. "Review: I'm Ready". AllMusic. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
^ Christgau, Robert (2004). "Muddy Waters: 'Hard Again'; 'I'm Ready'; 'King Bee'". Blender (June/July). New York. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: W". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 22, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
^ Christgau, Robert (March 27, 1978). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved September 26, 2015 – via robertchristgau.com.
^ Russell, Tony; Smith, Chris (2006). The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin. p. 484. ISBN 978-0-140-51384-4.
^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. pp. 753, 755.
^ Wynn, Ron (6 July 1978). "Improvisation". Bay State Banner. No. 39. p. 15.

[1] "Grammy Award Winners". The Recording Academy. 1978. Retrieved October 13, 2009.

[AMG-2] Gordon, Keith A. "Review: I'm Ready". AllMusic. Retrieved 2009-10-31.

[3] Christgau, Robert (2004). "Muddy Waters: 'Hard Again'; 'I'm Ready'; 'King Bee'". Blender (June/July). New York. Retrieved September 26, 2015.

[CG-4] Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: W". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 22, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.

[5] Christgau, Robert (March 27, 1978). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved September 26, 2015 – via robertchristgau.com.

[Penguin-6] Russell, Tony; Smith, Chris (2006). The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin. p. 484. ISBN 978-0-140-51384-4.

[RS-7] The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. pp. 753, 755.

[8] Wynn, Ron (6 July 1978). "Improvisation". Bay State Banner. No. 39. p. 15.

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v t e Muddy Waters
Studio albums	1960 Muddy Waters Sings "Big Bill" 1964 Folk Singer 1966 Muddy, Brass & the Blues 1967 Super Blues With Bo Diddley and Little Walter 1968 The Super Super Blues Band With Howlin' Wolf and Bo Diddley Electric Mud 1969 After the Rain Fathers and Sons 1972 The London Muddy Waters Sessions 1973 Can't Get No Grindin' 1974 "Unk" in Funk 1975 The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album 1977 Hard Again 1978 I'm Ready 1981 King Bee
Live albums	1960 At Newport 1960 1969 Fathers and Sons 1971 Live at Mr. Kelly's 1979 Muddy "Mississippi" Waters – Live 2007 Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down 2012 Live at the Checkerboard Lounge, Chicago 1981
Compilations	1958 The Best of Muddy Waters 1966 The Real Folk Blues 1967 More Real Folk Blues 1971 McKinley Morganfield A.K.A. Muddy Waters 1993 The Complete Plantation Recordings 2000 Rollin' Stone: The Golden Anniversary Collection 2001 The Anthology (1947–1972)
Noted singles	1950 "Rollin' and Tumblin'" "Rollin' Stone" "Walkin' Blues" 1951 "Long Distance Call" 1953 "Baby Please Don't Go" 1954 "Hoochie Coochie Man" "I Just Want to Make Love to You" "I'm Ready" 1955 "Mannish Boy" 1956 "Trouble No More" "Forty Days and Forty Nights" "Rock Me" "Got My Mojo Working" 1962 "You Shook Me" 1963 "You Need Love"
Related articles	Discography Chicago blues Delta blues Willie Dixon Little Walter Jimmy Rogers Otis Spann Chess Records