Post Description

Buddy Guy - Blues Singer

Tracks:
1. Hard Time Killing Floor  
2. Crawlin' Kingsnake  
3. Lucy Mae Blues  
4. Can't See Baby  
5. I Live The Life I Love   
6. Louise McGhee  
7. Moanin' and Groanin'  
8. Black Cat Blues  
9. Bad Life Blues  
10. Sally Mae  
11. Anna Lee  
12. Lonesome Home Blues 

Amazon Editorial:
Not known for his acoustic work, Buddy Guy unplugs for a rare album-length excursion into folk blues. Continuing the rootsy, bare-bones approach that made 2001’s electric Sweet Tea (also produced by Dennis Herring) so gutsy and memorable, the guitarist gets down and dirty with 12 tracks that sound like they were recorded after hours in his living room or on his back porch. Guy’s stinging leads are still evident as is his emotive voice, but both are less flamboyant in the unplugged setting. Accompanied by spare stand-up bass and brushed drums, Guy sounds nearly possessed on covers from Skip James ("Hard Time Killing Floor"), Johnny Shines ("Moanin’ and Groanin’"), Son House ("Louise McGhee"), and John Lee Hooker ("Sally Mae") among others. It’s a low-key, low-down affair made for late nights, rainy days, and the saddest of moods. Guy is just as convincing here--arguably more so--as on his barnstorming electric albums, making Blues Singer one of the bravest and most poignant albums in his catalog. --Hal Horowitz  

cduniverse:
BLUES SINGER won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album.

Going beyond the stripped-down arrangements of 2001's SWEET TEA, Buddy Guy picks up an acoustic guitar to cut a record that comes across as an off-the-cuff homage to mentor Muddy Waters, whose similar 1963 outing FOLK SINGER featured Guy's guitar work. From the minute this Mississippi native affects a falsetto on Skip James's "Hard Time Killing Floor," neck hairs remain standing on end for the better part of BLUES SINGER.

The remainder of these dozen carefully selected tracks find the blues legend rifling through the canons of favorites like Robert Nighthawk (a loping "Anna Lee"), Willie Dixon (the brash "I Live the Life I Love"), and Johnny Shines (a spirited "Moanin' and Groanin'"). Eric Clapton joins in for a tasty take on Frankie Sims' "Lucy Mae Blues" and B.B. King makes three for an acoustic blues summit on John Lee Hooker's seminal "Crawlin' Kingsnake." Though far from the raucous outings fans have come to expect, this collection of acoustic blues is a creative success and yet another stellar addition to Guy's already impressive discography.

Recorded at Sweet Tea, Oxford, Mississippi.

Personnel: Buddy Guy (vocals, guitar); Jimbo "Hambone" Mathus (guitar, slide guitar); Eric Clapton, B.B. King (guitar); Tony Garnier (upright bass); Jim Keltner (drums); The Perrys (hand claps).

Met dank aan Motormuijs!