Happy birthday to me. Forever alone.
You know something? The late, great Muddy Waters was also born during the month of April (4/4/15). He also died five days after I was born, on April 30th, 1983. I tell ya, if I could live to be 68 I don’t think I’d be disappointed. When I was growing up and people would ask me what I saw myself doing with my life when I was older, I couldn’t even picture how I would look when I reached my 30s. I don’t know if it was because that seemed so far away, or I didn’t think I’d make it that long, but considering I couldn’t envision myself being 30 years old, I think 68 would be a huge success for me. Also taking into account the fact that no one in my mother’s family has lived through their 70s (and her genes are partially my genes) I’m probably not destined to break any longevity records.
Wow, this big birthday post sure has gotten off to a strong start, hasn’t it?
I absolutely love this record. It’s not the rarest “holy grail” in my collection — it’s not even close — but I still listen to it and enjoy it even after all these years. It was purchased originally at Princeton Record Exchange back in New Jersey on June 22nd, 2006. I was living at home after college and I don’t think I’d entertained the notion of moving to Los Angeles yet. That’s why I could afford to take a day to drive down to Princeton on a Thursday afternoon by myself and roam around the store for a few hours looking for buried treasure. By the way, in those days? PREX was rife with treasures. I wouldn’t touch a Beatles or a Kinks or a Zeppelin record there with a ten-foot pole, but you could find so many deals on indie and alternative records that were worth ten times what they charged. And the CDs were even more ridiculous. You’d find scarce out-of-print titles in their 99-cent bins that you could easily turn around and mark up and sell on eBay or Amazon, thus providing you with more money to spend on your next trip. That place is an institution so I don’t think they were ever really doing themselves a disservice by under-pricing rare titles, but I’m sure by now they’ve gotten hip to doing more research before they sell certain titles.
The only thing you really need to know about Muddy & The Wolf is that its technically a compilation of earlier Chess albums like Fathers And Sons and The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions. Oh, and one side of the gatefold features what might be the greatest photograph of any musical icons ever in the history of the medium:
Look upon my works ye mighty and despair!
That’s pretty much it. It’s late and I’ve got to get some rest.
Did you know that according to my Record Collection spreadsheet, the only albums I’ve ever purchased/received on my birthday since I started collecting back in 2oo2 are:
Minutemen – Paranoid Time
90 Day Men – To Everybody
Calexico – Black Heart
Miles Davis – Blue Haze
Gang Of Four – Solid Gold
Matt Johnson – Burning Blue Soul
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Orange
King Kong – Funny Farm
Labradford – Mi Media Naranja
Low/Dirty Three – In The Fishtank Vol. 7
Cliff Martinez – Drive
And before you say anything, YES, I know I mentioned Muddy Waters as being an April birthday before, and YES, I know the sample song that I’ve provided was recorded by Howlin’ Wolf. I’m not a fucking moron.
(I’m a fucking moron)
Muddy Waters / Howlin’ Wolf
Muddy & The Wolf
(Chess – CH8200, 1982)
A1. All Aboard
A2. Blow Wind Blow
A3. Can’t Lose What You Ain’t Never Had
A4. Walkin’ Thru The Park
A5. I’m Ready
A6. Long Distance Call
B1. Rockin’ Daddy
B2. What A Woman
B3. Who’s Been Talking?
B4. Red Rooster [MP3]
B5. Highway 49
B6. Do The Do
