Critical Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| Rolling Stone | (favourable) |
| Musicangle | (favourable) |
| The Audio Beat | |
Folk Singer received positive critical reception. It was generally lauded for its high-quality sound and the instrumental performances by Waters, Guy and band. Cub Koda from Allmusic gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars, praising the fresh and vital sound. The album was ranked at number 280 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2003, stating that the "unplugged" playing was pioneering and "is beloved by blues and folk fans alike." In a 1994 issue of Rolling Stone, the reviewer wrote, "...There aren't too many blues albums that qualify as audiophile recordings, but Muddy Waters Folk Singer surely does. A wonderfully intimate session, it delivers Waters' voice in all its power and subtlety, while rendering his guitar work...with such vivid realism, you would think you were sitting in the studio...."
The sound of the 2011 remastered version was described in a review by Musicangle's Michael Fremer as "sweet, liquid and free of harshness and edge", and the dynamics as "mind-boggling". He suggested that "Muddy and Buddy and Willie have never sounded as natural and 'in the room' as they do ". Similarly, Marc Mickelson from The Audio Beat enjoyed the "direct and unfettered" playing, which emphasizes "the emotional rawness of the blues", and the "spacious and reverberant" sound, which creates "a sonic atmosphere that fits the music especially well."
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