Muddy Waters IS the blues, and right up ’til the day he died in 1983, that remained true, especially during his legendary live performances. Those magic moments are delineated keenly in Neil Slaven’s wonderful liner notes to Mojo, but with one caveat—the Muddy captured here, while full of enough fire to cut half a dozen heads, was not the Muddy of the ’50s. This was Muddy declaiming FROM the throne, not ascending TO it, and what his live ’70s performances mainly capture is Waters getting his props from the Man, finally.

That said, and the rather tepid opening “Rollin’ And Tumblin’” aside, these 14 performances are blues incarnate, covering all of Muddy’s hits in fine style with his late-period bands. The first half of this CD is the cream of an April ’76 gig in Switzerland, of all places, while the other half is culled from two 1971 college gigs. The Swiss got the best deal, what with the Hoochie Coochie Man being backed by a future all-star band featuring “Steady Rollin’” Bob Margolin, Calvin “Fuzz” Jones, Luther “Guitar Jr.”

Johnson, Pinetop Perkins, and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith. Highlights include the stellar slide on “Dust My Broom,” (with Calvin on vocals), the deathless guitar keen on “Howlin’ Wolf,” and the endless slow grind of “Hoochie Coochie Man.”

The college shows are of nearly the same quality, especially Muddy instructing the white kids on the, er, basics of life in “She’s Nineteen Years Old,” and sizzling his leads right into your cerebral cortex on “Honey Bee.” Overall, while Muddy’s worked his live mojo a bit stronger on some other releases, this CD is a must for completists and those of you, black OR white, planning your next barbecue. Or seduction, more like.