Muddy Waters, New Victoria Theatre, London (GB) - Jul 8, 1977

Salt were Stevie Smith vocal/harmonica, Mick Clarke guitar, Stuart ‘Mac’ McDonald bs guitar and Chris Sharley or Alan Platt drums.They played over-the-top white blues. Their encore was Johnny B Goode. What a contrast when the real deal came on. The same Muddy Waters band as last year: Muddy vocal/guitar, Jerry Portnoy harmonica, Luther Johnson guitar, Bob Margolin guitar, Pinetop Perkins piano, Calvin Jones bs guitar and Willie Smith drums. Tight and disciplined, yet relaxed and seemingly spontaneous (you never can tell). The same well-established repertoire of course. Muddy sitting on his chair with dignity, playing his inimitable bottleneck, Perkins playing great blues piano, Portnoy blowing hard, the rest laying down the characteristic Mississippi/Chicago beat.