"I'm Ready" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1954.
[1] "I'm Ready" was inspired by a comment by Muddy Waters prior to a gig, when harmonica player Willie Foster visited him at home.
[4] The lyrics continue the use of swagger and supernatural imagery found in Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man", which Waters recorded in January 1954: I gotta ax handle pistol, on a graveyard frame That shoots tombstone bullets, wearing balls and chain I'm drinkin' TNT, smokin' dynamite I hope some screwball, start a fight[3] In addition to the lyrical theme, "I'm Ready" incorporates a stop-time sixteen-bar structure analogous to "Hoochie Coochie Man".
The song was recorded September 1, 1954, by Waters on vocal and guitar, accompanied by Little Walter on chromatic harmonica, Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Otis Spann on piano, Willie Dixon on bass, and Fred Below on drums.
The album, which was produced by Johnny Winter, earned Waters a Grammy Award in 1978.