This compilation represents an important period in Muddy Waters' career: the time between his earliest incarnation as a Delta bluesman and the full-band electric sound he established with Chess Records. The earliest cut here, a 1946 Columbia recording of "Mean Red Spider," is a curious combination of rural and urban blues styles, with Waters' Robert Johnson influence rubbing shoulders with jazz sax and sophisticated piano work. A few more Columbia sides from that same year are included, more in line with Muddy's subsequent Chess work.