The Rolling Stones love Muddy Waters so much they named their band after his 1950 song “Rollin’ Stone”. By 1981, the Stones were just about the biggest band in the world, but they made time to make an appearance in a tiny blues club just so they could play with their hero. Muddy Waters and The Rolling Stones’ collab at the Checkerboard Lounge in Chicago on November 22, 1981, went down in blues history, and many years later got released as a 15-track live DVD on July 10, 2012.
The most popular performance from the show on YouTube is “Baby Please Don’t Go,” which features Waters opening the show like it’s any other blues jam. His band heads into a rollicking version of the traditional blues tune, and then the Rolling Stones enter the club with much fanfare at 1:30. Waters eventually invites Stones frontman Mick Jagger up to the stage at 5:30, and the English rocker takes the lead vocal.
Stones guitarist Keith Richards takes to the stage next, cigarette hanging off his lip, and provides rhythm guitar before taking a loose and rambunctious solo. Next up, Stones lead guitarist Ronnie Wood hits the stage, although his job on this particular track is to add to the rhythm guitar groove, while Muddy and his band take a couple of solos over the top.
The second most popular capture from the Checkerboard Lounge show is a 10-minute jam on “Mannish Boy.” The song is a blues standard, but this one was written by Muddy himself. The groove on the song is stanky and will definitely put a smile on your face. There’s a reason why the fellas dragged the song out to 10 minutes, because the whole jam was killer. Aside from the serious groove laid out by the band, both Waters and Jagger drop some fiery verses.
The Muddy Waters and The Rolling Stones show was released as a DVD and CD package titled Live at the Checkerboard Lounge, Chicago 1981, and was mixed by legendary engineer Bob Clearmountain.
The Music Man readers might notice that it’s clear Waters was calling the shots at the show, as the setlist is all his songs plus a number of blues standards. They weren’t out there playing “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” or “Paint It Black,” that’s for sure.
As a result, the show has a loose and fun feel, much like an open mic blues jam, except one that happens to have some of the most legendary blues players that ever lived onstage.
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