There are a handful of landmark albums in any genre. In the blues, one of the best is Muddy Waters Folk Singer. Originally released in 1964, Folk Singer was the only acoustic album Waters ever recorded, thus becoming the first and perhaps best blues concept album ever. Muddy of course started out playing acoustic blues in the Delta, and he's clearly very comfortable in this return to his roots.

The Audio Beat Rated 4.5/5 Music and 4.5/5 Sound
The Absolute Sound 40th Anniversary Best Sounding Music
The Absolute Sound Rated 4/5 Music and 4/5 Sonics

Rated 9/10 Music and 10/10 Sound by Michael Fremer (Analog Planet)

Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rated 282/500

Featured in Vinyl Gourmet Audiophile TOP 100

• Limited Edition
• Double 45rpm LP
• 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl
• Mastered by Bernie Grundman
• Cut from Original Analog Master Tapes
• Plated and pressed at Quality Record Pressings
• Deluxe Gatefold Cover with extra photos

Folk Singer has been an audiophile staple for years. It always gets a bunch of play at hi-fi shows. It's a no-doubter demonstration disc. But never before has it sounded like this! Never has it been cut at 45 RPM!

There are a handful of landmark albums in any genre. In the blues, one of them is Muddy Waters' Folk Singer. Originally released in 1964, Folk Singer was the only acoustic album Waters ever recorded, thus becoming the first and perhaps best blues concept album ever. Muddy of course started out playing acoustic blues in the Delta, and he's clearly very comfortable in this return to his roots, which was designed to appeal to the mid-1960s surge of interest in folk music.

Folk Singer represents a departure from the electric 'urban' blues sound that Muddy Waters pioneered. This all-acoustic collection of recordings illustrates his deep-rooted rural blues influences, reminiscent of the sides he made nearly twenty-five years prior in Mississippi.

Muddy's supporting cast includes a very young Buddy Guy on guitar, Willie Dixon at the upright bass and Clifton James on drums. This recording has enormous presence with ample room for Muddy's booming voice to resonate.

"The Quality Record Pressing is drop-dead quiet-as silent as the best Japanese pressings from the late 1970s-and the amount of inner detail released is simply astonishing...the sound is sweet, liquid and free of harshness and edge. The dynamics are mind-boggling. When Muddy takes it up ten notches to emphasize a point it's positively explosive in a way the 33 1/3 version only suggests." - Michael Fremer, Analog Planet

"How about a 45 RPM set from Analogue Productions' recently launched Quality Record Pressings Facility, mastered by Bernie Grundman, in a beautiful gatefold jacket with extra sessions shots? It's been ages since I've heard LP surfaces this quiet — as in dead quiet. The expense and effort that Chad Kassem and company put into this venture are immediately obvious. ... Making music together bring this recording to life as never before. It's by far the best sounding and most engaging version yet... analog lovers will be in hog heaven." - Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound

"Worried that the folk-music fad was luring listeners away from the blues, Chess Records directed Waters to record with acoustic instruments. These sessions — by Waters, Willie Dixon and a young Buddy Guy — went astonishingly well, and this pioneering "unplugged" set is beloved by blues and folk fans alike." - Rolling Stone

"Folk Singer is a true audiophile war-horse... The playing is direct and unfettered, emphasizing the emotional rawness of the blues, and the sound is spacious and reverberant, creating a sonic atmosphere that fits the music especially well... Kassem made sure to hunt down the actual master tapes, refusing to use safety or backup copies. Perhaps it's this or the modifications made to the presses at QRP, but the sound... is extraordinary - gracefully detailed and supremely focused. An original pressing of Folk Singer may have greater cachet for a record collector, but this is likely the definitive version for people who value the music." - Mark Mickelson, The Audio Beat

"...This time, though, it's been given the royal treatment, and not just heavy vinyl. It has been remastered from the original tapes, pressed on Chad Kassem's new hardware and it plays at 45rpm. It is a revelation...It's always been a chillingly 'real' experience. Now, it's overwhelming. Buy it!" - Ken Kessler, Hi-Fi News

Track Listing:

LP 1 Side A
1. My Home Is in the Delta
2. Long Distance

LP 1 Side B
3. My Captain
4. Good Morning School Girl
5. You Gonna Need My Help

LP 2 Side C
6. Cold Weather Blues
7. Big Leg Woman

LP 2 Side D
8. Country Boy
9. Feel Like Going Home

Click here to listen to samples on YouTube.com ♫