New Buddy Guy - "Blues Singer"

Personally, I think that Buddy's best work was done in the early to mid 60's with Junior Wells. Junior was definitely the leader of that band, much more innovative, and held everything together. Buddy's more recent work (say the past 15 years) shows a propensity for histrionics, both in his playing and singing. In many cases his bands at live shows leave a lot to be desired and the talent level in the bands simply is not there; my gut feeling is that he can get away with paying this type of talent less and realizes that he can draw on his own reputation, particularly with white suburban audiences who may be appriciative but not particularly well exposed to great blues (unfortunately we all can't live in Chicago, Memphis, Houston or other blues haunts). For now, though, I think Buddy lives mainly on his reputation. He'll be in my city this summer for a local blues festival, but I doubt if I'll make much of an effort to see him. As the post above suggests, his vocals can get a bit on your nerves and for my money there are probably at least a dozen better guitar players playing in relative obscurity in Chicago today.

Hdm: I have to appreciate your honesty. You make a good argument, and I sorta agree. But Buddy has been through it all and has come out shining. Yes, Blues Singer is a B- at best, but wudda ya gonna do? He's a earned a chance to ride his rep' for a little while. Let's all raise a glass to him!

Crazy: I'm all for that; you have to respect a bluesman like Buddy who has been plying his trade for more than 40 years and who has also been a strong promoter of the blues through his ownership of clubs. And there is no denying his influence on the current generation of guitarists in Chicago as a "bridge" from the early post war sounds of Muddy, etc. to the current era, as well as his influence on rock guitarists.

I have been a Buddy Guy fan a long time and agree with HDM that there was much great work with Junior Wells, and a lot of average stuff since. But I really really like Blues Singer. If it has to rock out for your juices to flow, then you will not like this album, for sure. And if I read between the lines then that appears to be the main reason for the negative words above. But I like it and cannot relate to the "too much reverb" and "has to fake singing" comments at all with this one.

Buddy's peak work is in the past, but at 67 years of age he's still an exciting artist. Personally, I think his best work was the band he had with Junior Wells and his brother Phil Guy in the early 70s. As far as his acoustic work goes, I recommend you track down an album on Blue Thumb records "Buddy & the Juniors". Its Guy on guitar with Junoir Mance (piano) and Junoir Wells (harmonica). It's a definite treat.