"I'm Ready" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon

Willie Dixon

William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...

 and first recorded by Muddy Waters

Muddy Waters

McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...

 in 1954. It was a hit, spending nine weeks on the Billboard R&B chart where it reached #4. Since then, "I'm Ready" has been recorded by numerous blues and other artists.

Original song

"I'm Ready" incorporates a stop-time sixteen-bar structure analogous to Dixon's earlier song written for Muddy Waters, "Hoochie Coochie Man

Hoochie Coochie Man

"Hoochie Coochie Man" is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first performed by Muddy Waters in 1954 . The song was a major hit upon its release, reaching #8 on Billboard magazine's Black Singles chart...

". Backing Waters (vocal and guitar) are: Little Walter

Little Walter

Little Walter, born Marion Walter Jacobs , was an American blues harmonica player, whose revolutionary approach to his instrument has earned him comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix, for innovation and impact on succeeding generations...

 (chromatic harmonica), Jimmy Rogers

Jimmy Rogers

Jimmy Rogers was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters' band of the 1950s.-Career:...

 (guitar), Otis Spann

Otis Spann

Otis Spann was an American blues musician, who many consider the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist.-Career:Born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, Spann became known for his distinct piano style....

 (piano), Willie Dixon (bass), and Fred Below

Fred Below

Fred Below was a leading blues drummer, best known for his innovative work with Little Walter and Chess Records in the 1950s. Nobody laid more of the Chicago blues rhythmic foundations, particularly its archetypal backbeat, than Fred Below.-Career:He was born in Chicago, and started playing drums...

 (drums). The song is included on several Muddy Waters' compilation albums, first appearing in 1958 on The Best of Muddy Waters

The Best of Muddy Waters

The Best of Muddy Waters is a 1958 greatest hits album by Muddy Waters released by Chess Records in April 1958. With gaining popularity for 33 & 1/3 rpms Chess Records started releasing its first LPs in 1958. The Best of Muddy Waters was the third LP that Chess released...

.

Muddy Waters later recorded the song for his 1978 album I'm Ready

I'm Ready (Muddy Waters album)

I'm Ready is a 1978 album by Chicago blues veteran Muddy Waters. The second of Waters' Johnny Winter-produced albums for the Blue Sky Records label, I'm Ready was issued one year after he found renewed commercial and critical success with Hard Again. The album earned Waters a Grammy Award in 1978...

, which was produced by Johnny Winter

Johnny Winter

John Dawson "Johnny" Winter III is an American blues guitarist, singer, and producer. Best known for his late 1960s and 1970s high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances, Winter also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues legend Muddy Waters...

. The album earned Waters a Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

 in 1978.

Other versions

Over the years, "I'm Ready" has been recorded by a variety of blues and other artists, including: Humble Pie

Humble Pie (band)

Humble Pie was a rock band from England, finding success both in the UK and the US. They are remembered for songs such as "Black Coffee" "30 Days in the Hole", "I Don't Need No Doctor", and "Natural Born Bugie"...

 from the Humble Pie

Humble Pie (album)

Humble Pie was the third studio album released by English rock group Humble Pie in 1970, and their first with A&M Records.-Album profile:Humble Pie was a transitional album and a harbinger of the band's new, heavier direction...

album (1970), The Red Devils

The Red Devils (blues band)

The Red Devils were a Los Angeles-based blues-rock band who were active from 1988 to 1994. With their no-frills approach and singer Lester Butler's convincing Chicago-style blues harp, they were a popular fixture on the Los Angeles club scene and toured the U.S. and Europe...

 from King King

King King

-Personnel:*Lester Butler – vocals and harmonica*Paul "The Kid" Size – lead guitar*Dave Lee Bartel – rhythm guitar*Johnny Ray Bartel – bass*Bill Bateman – drums-External links:* *...

(1992), Paul Rodgers

Paul Rodgers

Paul Bernard Rodgers is an English rock singer-songwriter, best known for his success in the 1970s as a member of Free and Bad Company. After stints in two less successful bands in the 1980s and early 1990s, The Firm and The Law, he became a solo artist. He has recently toured and recorded with...

 with Brian May

Brian May

Brian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...

 from Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters

Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters

Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute To Muddy Waters is the second solo album by Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company fame.Although attributed solely to Paul Rodgers, this album features many other artists including Brian May, Buddy Guy, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, Neal Schon, Gary Moore, Brian Setzer,...

(1993), George Thorogood

George Thorogood

George Thorogood is an American blues rock vocalist/guitarist from Wilmington, Delaware, United States, known for his hit song "Bad to the Bone" as well as for covers of blues standards such as Hank Williams' "Move It On Over" and John Lee Hooker's "House Rent Boogie/One Bourbon, One Scotch, One...

 from Haircut

Haircut (album)

Haircut is a studio album released by George Thorogood. It was released in 1993 on Capitol Records. The album peaked at #120 on the Billboard 200.- Track listing :# "Get a Haircut" - 4:12...

(1993), Aerosmith

Aerosmith

Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...

 from Honkin' on Bobo

Honkin' on Bobo

Honkin' on Bobo is the 14th studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released on March 30, 2004 by Columbia Records. The album includes 11 covers and one original track titled "The Grind"...

(2004), and Jeff Healey

Jeff Healey

Norman Jeffrey "Jeff" Healey was a blind Canadian jazz and blues-rock vocalist and guitarist who attained musical and personal popularity, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...

 from Songs from the Road (2009).