The Anthology: 1947–1972

The Anthology: 1947–1972 is a double compilation album by Chicago blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters. It contains many of his best-known songs, including his R&B single chart hits "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man", "Just Make Love to Me (I Just Want to Make Love to You)", and "I'm Ready". Chess and MCA Records released the set on August 28, 2001.

Reception and awards
In his review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted "if you're going to be buying two discs to get the full Muddy Waters story, you should get this instead of two separate discs, since it's simply easier.".

In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked the album at No. 38 on its list of greatest albums, writing: The sound he developed was the foundation of Chicago blues – and rock & roll; the thick, bleeding tones of his slide work anticipated rock-guitar distortion by nearly two decades. Jimi Hendrix adapted Waters' "Rollin' Stone" for "Voodoo Chile," Bob Dylan found inspiration in it for "Like a Rolling Stone," and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards took their band's name from it. The 50 cuts on these two CDs run from guitar-and-stand-up-bass duets to full-band romps – and they only scratch the surface of Waters' legacy.

Track listing
All songs written by McKinley Morganfield except as indicated.

Disc one
Disc one features 16 of the 20 songs previously released on His Best: 1947 to 1955.

Disc two
Disc two starts off with "My Eyes (Keep Me in Trouble)" plus three further tracks from His Best: 1947 to 1955. Sixteen more tracks on the disc were on His Best: 1956 to 1964 – the four tracks excluded are "All Aboard" (though the remake from the 1969 album Fathers and Sons is present), "She's Into Something", "You Need Love" (later made into "You Need Loving" and "Whole Lotta Love"), and "My Love Strikes Like Lightning". The other tracks on disc two were featured on The Chess Box.

Personnel
Per Allmusic.

Performers

 * Muddy Waters – lead vocals, guitar
 * Jimmy Rogers – guitar
 * Fred Robinson – guitar
 * Earl Hooker – guitar
 * Pat Hare – guitar
 * Buddy Guy – guitar
 * Leroy Foster – guitar
 * Luther Tucker – guitar
 * Jeffrey M. Carp – harmonica
 * James Cotton – harmonica
 * Little Walter – harmonica
 * Junior Wells – harmonica
 * Fred Below – drums
 * Leonard Chess – bass drum
 * Francis Clay – drums
 * Elgin Evans – drums
 * Sam Lay – drums
 * Clifton James – drums
 * Willie Dixon – double bass
 * Andrew Stephenson – bass
 * Phil Upchurch – bass
 * Lafayette Leake – piano
 * Otis Spann – piano
 * Sunnyland Slim – piano
 * A.C. Reed – tenor saxophone

Production

 * Leonard Chess – producer
 * Willie Dixon – producer
 * Norman Dayron – producer
 * Andy McKaie – producer
 * Beth Stempel – production coordination
 * Mary Katherine Aldin – liner notes
 * Andy McKaie – reissue compilation
 * Mike Fink – design
 * Vartan – art direction