James Cotton - 2010 - Giant [128]

Giant, Cotton's first album in six years, was recorded by producer Stuart Sullivan in Austin, Texas with a band that included guitarists/vocalists Slam Allen and Tom Holland, bassist Noel Neal, and drummer Kenny Neal, Jr. The album celebrates Cotton's 66 years in the business (since he was nine years old), and will remind listeners of both Cotton's power and his skill with the harmonica, Giant promising to serve up plenty of the raging blues harp that has become Cotton's trademark over 28 previous albums.
ONE MORE GIFT FROM JEFF!! TYYYY!!

(Front Cover)

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Waters, Winter & Cotton - 2007 - Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down [320]

Muddy Waters had his second coming 30 years ago, when longtime friend and disciple Johnny Winter and his Blue Sky label returned him--after a series of listless recordings aimed at the rock audience--to the raw, powerful authenticity of his timeless Chess material with a series of powerful albums. Beginning with 1977's acclaimed Hard Again, a subsequent tour produced Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live, recorded onstage in Detroit, New York, and Philadelphia with Muddy's band, Winter, and harmonica player/vocalist James Cotton. Enough live material remained for Legacy to release an expanded version with an entire second disc of unissued concert material. It seems even that wasn't the end. This collection returns again to those remarkable concerts, featuring Muddy on five tracks, among them a rousing "I Can't Be Satisfied," "Trouble No More," "Caledonia," and the closing "Got My Mojo Workin'." Winter and Cotton are no less powerful, Cotton redoing Jackie Brenston's hit "Rocket '88'" and Winter ripping up John Lee Hooker's "I Done Got Over It" and "Mama Talk to Your Daughter."

(Full Covers)

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James Cotton - 1994 - Living The Blues [256]

All the guest stars in the world (Joe Louis Walker, Dr. John, Lucky Peterson, Larry McCray) can't mask the simple fact that Cotton's voice was thoroughly shot when he made this disc (apparently the Grammy nominating committee gratuitously overlooked this). The instrumentals, obviously, aren't affected by this malady; they're typically rousing.

(Full Covers)

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