by Barry Lee Pearson & Al Campbell
These Library of Congress field recordings done by Alan Lomax from 1941-1942 feature Muddy with Percy Thomas on guitar, Louis Ford on mandolin, and Henry Sims on violin. Capturing Muddy in a string-band context playing his earliest repertoire, this is a major historical . Unfortunately, the Universe edition of these recordings omits several interview segments with Muddy and Lomax, which most fans of this music will definitely want, making The Complete Plantation Recordings on MCA/Chess the version to own.