Though BLUES LEGEND is a deceptively generic album title, it cannot be argued that Muddy Waters doesn't deserve the accolade. When he moved from his native Clarksdale, Mississippi, to Chicago during the great wartime migration of the '40s, the former McKinley Morganfield sowed the seeds of a revolution, marrying the structures of acoustic Delta blues to the electrified full-band sound of urban jump blues. Waters almost single-handedly created the Chicago blues style, thereby inspiring literally generations of musicians around the world.

Opening with his classic "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" and closing 10 tracks later with the searing "Close to You," this brief compilation collects some of the best tracks of Waters' tenure at Chess Records in the late '40s and early '50s, including the hit "Mannish Boy" and the interesting, advertising-inspired "Tiger in Your Tank." Throughout, Waters' expressive voice and graceful slide guitar shine.