Episode 11 of Jett Road Studios Presents is the pilot for Audio Time Capsule, hosted by Will Becton. The first episode features an interview with Muddy Waters, recorded by Jeff Parrish in Westmont, Illinois. The year was 1976, and Muddy Waters had recently moved to the suburb of Chicago. Jeff Parrish was a local musician in the Chicago music scene. He was working for a local paper in Westmont when he got the opportunity to sit down with the blues legend.

In the interview Muddy Waters tells Jeff about influential figures like Son House, Little Walter, and Robert Johnson. They also discuss his transition from acoustic and electric guitar, after the move from Mississippi to Chicago in the 1940s. The two men also speak candidly about race, bands like The Rolling Stones and The Allman Brothers, and whether white musicians were capable of carrying on the blues tradition when the old guard was no longer around.

After writing that newspaper article almost 50 years ago, Jeff kept the recording "in a shoe box" for many years, and has only played the audio from the interview for a handful of people. When visiting LA one summer, Jeff played the recording for Will Becton at Jett Road Studios. Will and Jeff agreed any interview with Muddy Waters is significant, and should be shared, but it needed some context. Recently, Will and Jeff sat down to talk about the circumstances surrounding the interview, in order to tell the full story of that fateful morning in Westmont.

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People & Places Mentioned

Willie Dixon

Howlin' Wolf

Little Walter

Willie Mabon

Baby Face Leroy

Jimmy Rogers

Memphis Slim

Elga Edmonds

Hound Dog Taylor

Elmore James

Skip James

Mississippi Fred McDowell

Robert Johnson

Son House

Johnny Brown

Mississippi Sheiks

Lonnie Johnson

Chess Records

The Rolling Stones

Allman Brothers

The Trieste Lounge

Eddy Clearwater

Blind Blake

Blind Willie McTell

JRSP-011: Audio Time Capsule - Muddy Waters