Buddy Guy Albums (39)
'The Definitive Buddy Guy'
Release Date 4/14/2009
Tracks 17
Label Shout Factory
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What The Critics Say
To call this collection of tunes from blues legend Buddy Guy definitive is not a stretch by any means, as it is a cohesive, thoughtful, chronological collection that accurately represents all of his changes and phases through six decades. Overall, it is a mellow compilation that showcases many of Guy's laid-back songs, several with longtime partner Junior Wells. It's sprinkled with the many all-star bluesmen he has collaborated with over the years, and is tastefully programmed to offer what is essentially cream of the crop blues from one of its enduring legends. Your hear music issued on singles, LPs and CDs recorded from 1958 through 2004 via various recordings done for the Artistic, Chess, Delmark, Vanguard, Blue Thumb, Atco, Evidence, Alligator, JSP, Blind Pig, and Silvertone labels. It really is a comprehensive overview of Guy's best known songs, and gives fans or neophytes an accurate big picture of why Buddy Guy remains one of the most influential artists in American popular music. The CD starts in slow grind mode with classics like "Sit & Cry" in the style of Howlin' Wolf with all-stars Otis Rush and Willie Dixon, the most well-known "First Time I Met the Blues" with pianist Little Brother Montgomery; "Ten Years Ago" in his first teaming with Wells from 1960; the downhearted "When My Left Eye Jumps" with four horns and Lafayette Leake on the organ; and the all-time great showtime tune with Wells' "Hoodoo Man Blues" from the Delmark LP of the same name from 1966 that has become synonymous with electric Chicago. Guy's distinctive solo guitar style is front and center on the intro of "A Man & the Blues" alongside the immortal pianist Otis Spann, while the sole track from Buddy & the Juniors, "Five Long Years," is a toned-down acoustic number with Wells and pianist Junior Mance from that rare Blue Thumb recording. A funky R&B number "A Man of Many Words," from Atco Records in 1972 features, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, saxophonist A.C. Reed and Wells, while Guitar Slim's standard, "The Things I Used to Do," again with Wells live at Montrueux, Switzerland, languishes over its time. Brother Phil Guy joins Buddy in a two-guitar tandem for Champion Jack Dupree's eight-minute, low-key slow jam "When I Left Home" and the rock & roll "Dust My Broom" styled "She Suits Me to a T." Another two live tracks, the upbeat shuffle of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Checkin' on My Baby" and Dixon's "Let Me Love You Baby" featuring Pinetop Perkins, Bill Wyman, and Charlie Watts, and G.E. Smith's nine-piece Saturday Night Live Band, respectively. The final selection, "Baby Please Don't Leave Me," with Jimbo Mathus is a heavy contemporary stomper that shows a new attitude toward the blues that steers away from authenticity, but more toward a youth oriented audience. This CD is recommended without reservation, a great single CD overview of Buddy Guy's soul and spirit as a true pioneer of the blues. ~ Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
It's hard to say that Buddy Guy's career was revived by his appearance in the Rolling Stones' Shine a Light, but his mesmerizing duet on Muddy Waters' "Champagne and Reefer" in that Martin Scorsese concert film was a bracing, welcome reminder of just how good Guy is, especially for listeners who may have let their attention wander in the years since Damn Right, I've Got the Blues. What made Guy so riveting was his coiled aggression: in stark contrast to the deferential Jack White, he came to cut the Stones down and he did so mercilessly, which made it the musical highlight of a show with plenty of great moments. That wildness has kept Buddy Guy unpredictable well into his senior citizenship, and it surfaces on Skin Deep, only perhaps not quite as often as it should. Touted as his first album of original material, Skin Deep does work as an effective showcase for Buddy's most original voice: his wild, gnarly guitar. The production may be crisp and clean but Buddy refuses to play polite, messing up the pristine surfaces with big, nasty, ugly smears of guitar. Even when the record gleams too brightly -- as it does just a little bit too often -- Guy sounds like he's trying to tear things apart from the inside, which lends vigor and energy to numbers that are performed with just a shade too much preciseness. Thankfully, not all of Skin Deep is so clean, as the record opens up with a pair of dynamite collaborations with Robert Randolph -- the stripped-down, swampy Delta blues "Out in the Woods" and the muscular "That's My Home." Guy also gets in a couple of good numbers with Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks -- there's also a duet with Eric Clapton on "Every Time I Sing the Blues," which slides into a too-comfortable slow groove -- and these are the moments when Skin Deep really clicks, as the songs spark and the band truly cooks. Elsewhere, the music slips toward the conventional, but at least it sounds like Guy is trying to reel it back in with that monstrous guitar, which can still sound wondrous. It's kind of fun to hear the accidental tension between Guy's guitar and the slick surfaces, but when he's paired with a band or production that matches his grit, Skin Deep is so good that it's hard not to wish the whole record sounded just like that. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Buddy Guy's career and discography have been marked by inconsistency. Especially since his high-profile comeback in the early '90s, it seems he's been all too willing to turn over creative control on his albums, both for better and worse. Even just looking at the covers of those albums bears this out. 1991's Damn Right, I've Got the Blues has him dressed in your basic '90s casual dress, but the next album has him wearing overalls! Anyone who saw Guy live any number of times before that album was released would realize that he never wore overalls. Then fast forward to the neo-psychedelic look of Heavy Love. The productions themselves have been similarly schizophrenic: big, glossy guest star-laden albums to a heavy blues-rock sound to deep modal electric blues to acoustic albums. Well, this time out drummer/session man Steve Jordan is in the producer's chair, and it seems that he wanted to give Guy a more contemporary sound. To that end, the songs are mostly lifted from the soul/R&B world: tracks written by Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, and Steve Cropper. The assembled core band -- Jordan on drums, Danny Kortchmar on guitar, Willie Weeks on bass, and Bernie Worrell on keys (mostly Fender Rhodes) -- are all solid players. There's a reason they've got probably thousands of credits between them, but the backing often comes off as professional rather than passionate. That can't be said of Guy, who always seems to bring plenty of passion to the proceedings, but for everything here that works, there's some kind of misstep. The Rhodes often adds a nice touch (as does the Optigan on "What Kind of Woman Is This?"), but the slick backing vocals on "Now You're Gone" and "I've Got Dreams to Remember" really don't fit. Guest star du jour John Mayer adds nothing to "I've Got Dreams to Remember" and neo-soulster Anthony Hamilton pretty much takes over "Lay Lady Lay." Carlos Santana is producer for a thoroughly Santana-fied version of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You" (right down to the "Oye Como Va" keyboard lick) that might have fit on a Santana album but really doesn't fit here. Robert Randolph's and Keith Richards' contributions fare better, with each fitting into the song nicely. "Somebody's Sleeping in My Bed" has some pretty hot guitar from Guy, but perhaps the album highlight is "Cut You Loose" because, well, he just cuts loose. Overall, Bring 'Em In is a mixed bag. Folks who liked Damn Right, I've Got the Blues and Feels Like Rain will surely find a lot to like here. Guy's performances are solid, but the settings don't always suit him as well as they could. ~ Sean Westergaard, All Music Guide
'Everyday We Have the Blues'
Release Date 1/24/2005
Tracks 14
Label Music Avenue
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'Chicago Blues Festival 1964'
Release Date 11/4/2003
Tracks 13
Label Cleopatra
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What The Critics Say
Arriving after the unexpected blast of raw energy that was 2001's Sweet Tea, 2003's Blues Singer could idealistically be seen as the acoustic flip side of that high-voltage, raw electric blues. Like Sweet Tea, Blues Singer is supposed to exist deep down within the Delta blues tradition, only finding Buddy Guy armed with an acoustic guitar and the occasional minimal accompaniment; it's even recorded at the same Mississippi studio that gave its name to the 2001 platter and is helmed by the same producer, Dennis Herring. Where Sweet Tea was filled with unpredictable song choices, however, this plays it safe, hauling out such familiar items as "Hard Time Killing Floor," "Crawlin' Kingsnake," "I Love the Life I Live," and "Sally Mae." And while this retains Jimbo Mathus on guitar, when other musicians pop up, it's not the lively Fat Possum crew, it's studio pros like Jim Keltner, or guest shots by superstars Eric Clapton and B.B. King. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Apparently somebody took the criticisms of Buddy Guy's late-'90s Silvertone recordings to heart. They were alternately criticized for being too similar to Damn Right I Got the Blues or, as 1998's Heavy Love, too blatant in its bid for a crossover rock audience. So, after a bit of a break, Guy returned in 2001 with Sweet Tea, an utter anomaly in his catalog. Recorded at the studio of the same name in deep Mississippi, this is a bold attempt to make a raw, pure blues album -- little reliance on familiar covers or bands, no crossover material, lots of extended jamming and spare production. That's not to say that it's without its gimmicks. In a sense, the very idea behind this record is a little gimmicky -- let's get Buddy back to the basics -- even if it's a welcome one, but that's not the problem. The problem is that the production is a bit too self-conscious in its stylized authenticity. There's too much separation, too much echo, a strangely hollow center -- it may sound rougher than nearly all contemporary blues albums, but it doesn't sound gritty, which it should. Despite this, Sweet Tea is still a welcome addition to Buddy Guy's catalog because, even with its affected production, it basically works. Playing in such an unrestricted setting loosens Buddy up, not just letting him burn on guitar, but allows him to act his age without embarrassment (check the chilling acoustic opener, "Done Got Old"). This may not showcase the showman of the artist live, the way Damn Right did, but it does something equally noteworthy -- it illustrates that the master bluesman still can sound vital and can still surprise. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'The Real Blues'
Release Date 9/14/1999
Tracks 10
Label Columbia River
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