Muddy Waters: Can't Be Satisfied

There could hardly be a better subject for a documentary than arguably the greatest bluesman of the last century, and this look at the life, times and music of McKinley “Muddy Waters” Morganfield doesn't disappoint. Co-produced and co-directed by Robert Gordon, Muddy Waters: Can't Be Satisfied is a nice companion piece to Gordon's book of the same name, tracing Waters' evolution from a sharecropping acoustic folk singer to a sharp-dressing, Chicago-based leader of one of the greatest electric bands ever, while also featuring reminiscences and accolades from friends, family, and fellow musicians such as Keith Richards, Bonnie Raitt, and Buddy Guy. There's music too, of course, but if the program has any drawback, it's that there are no complete performances of the deep, dirty blues--“Hoochie Coochie Man,” “Mannish Boy,” and so on--that earned him immortality; then again, there are innumerable recordings, including several “best of” compilations, to address that problem. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Graham)