Since the early 1950s, Willie Dixon has been the studio kingpin of Chicago blues, having written, produced, and played bass on countless classics by Muddy Waters, Howlin? Wolf, Otis Rush, Koko Taylor, and many others. Dixon has always managed to find time away from the studio to work as a performer, slapping his upright bass and singing his own tunes in a highly compelling, conversational baritone. He was working the coffeehouse circuit with pianist Memphis Slim when he cut this, his first album as a leader, in 1959. Besides his unique interpretations of "Nervous" and "Built for Comfort", it includes eight lesser known compositions from Dixon?s prolific pen. It is unlike all other albums by Dixon, as he and Slim are accompanied, not by the usual crew of Chicago blues players, but by a group of New York mainstream jazzmen, including tenor saxophonist Hal Ashby, guitarist Wally Richardson and drummer Gus Johnson.

There are a handful of landmark albums in any genre. In the blues, one of them is Muddy Waters' "Folk Singer". Originally released in 1964, "Folk Singer" was the only acoustic album Waters ever recorded, thus becoming the first and perhaps best blues concept album ever. Now, "Folk Singer", which includes fellow blues greats Buddy Guy and Willie Dixon backing up Waters, is being re-released in an expanded version that features two bonus tracks recorded during the two 1964 sessions that followed those for the album - "The Same Thing" and "You Can't Lose What You Never Had". Muddy Waters was the king of electric Chicago blues, but on Folk Singer he proved to be, simply, one of the greats of 20th century music.

There are a handful of landmark albums in any genre. In the blues, one of them is Muddy Waters' "Folk Singer". Originally released in 1964, "Folk Singer" was the only acoustic album Waters ever recorded, thus becoming the first and perhaps best blues concept album ever. Now, "Folk Singer", which includes fellow blues greats Buddy Guy and Willie Dixon backing up Waters, is being re-released in an expanded version that features two bonus tracks recorded during the two 1964 sessions that followed those for the album - "The Same Thing" and "You Can't Lose What You Never Had". Muddy Waters was the king of electric Chicago blues, but on Folk Singer he proved to be, simply, one of the greats of 20th century music.

Willie Dixon sings his originals on this album, even though many were written for other artists to perform previously. The album offers a unique perspective in comparing how Dixon interprets his music to how other performers (Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf for example) have interpreted it.