BUDDY GUY

Rhythm & Blues

RCA/ Silvertone Records

By Larry Schara

Little did I know what I was getting into as I sat down at the table at Rosa’s Blues Lounge; in the dimly lit room, a dark haired woman slid a non-descript white envelope across the table.

“What is it?’ I asked.

“It’s a pre-release copy of Buddy Guy’s new double CD set. Do you want to review it?” (Just like something from Mission Impossible!)  “Of course,” I answered trying to appear cool and calm.

As I pulled away from Rosa’s, later on that cold and rainy summer night, I slipped the first disc into the CD player. Things got hot really quick and by the time I reached the Kennedy; the windows were down and the music was loud.

Rhythm & Blues, the new double CD release by Buddy Guy can be summed up in one word:  SMOKIN’!  On track 3 from disc 1, “I Go By Feel,” Buddy sings, “People always ask me about the blues I play/ I say it just comes through me/ I don’t know no other way/ I go by feel….”.  As evidenced by all 21 songs on Rhythm & Blues, that feeling is huge.

I first saw Buddy Guy at a private party in a club in Chicago in the early ‘90s.  I had heard the name, of course, but had never really given him a listen. The energy that poured off the stage was amazing and I was hooked. I’ve purchased many a CD from him over the last 20 years or so, but up until this point, not one studio recording had been able to capture that raw emotion and energy of a live Buddy Guy show. This CD does it in spades; from the opening notes of the first song, when the Muscle Shoals horn section kicks in, it just explodes.

Produced by Tom Hambridge, 2011 Grammy winner for Buddy’s CD Living Proof, and recorded primarily in Nashville, it becomes glaringly evident that Mr. Hambridge gets it. He gets that “in your face,” “larger than life,” “take no prisoners” energy that is a Buddy Guy performance.  Hambridge has finally captured it all. It’s like he just put Buddy in the studio and cut him loose. That energy and emotion that I will always associate with Buddy Guy screams from this CD. Even on the slower songs, Buddy’s high level intensity never diminishes.

The first CD “Rhythm” opens with the high energy “Best in Town” and sets the tone and pace for the entire two CD set. Without detracting or distracting from the flow, the guest appearances seem like they are just part of the show. On the first CD we have an updated homage to Buddy’s late great partner Junior Wells with “Messing With the Kid.” Featuring Kid Rock on vocals with attitude, it’s quite entertaining.

On the soulful “message” ballad, “One Day Away,” country star Keith Urban shares vocals with Buddy, their emotion-filled voices blending nicely. But the soon-to-be-classic “What You Gonna Do About Me”, is a driving and powerful duet with gritty-voiced blues woman Beth Hart. It is truly one of the highlights of the CD.

The second CD, “Blues,” is a high energy continuation of the first. There are a few slower songs but the raw energy is all there. Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford from Aerosmith make an appearance on “Evil Twin” a clever “caught you, cheatin’’ song.  And an appearance from fast-rising young star Gary Clark, Jr. on “Blues Don’t Care” showcases a lively duet on guitars and vocals between two generations of the blues.

While the two CDs are separately titled “Rhythm” and “Blues,” you could take any song on either disk and swap it on another and it wouldn’t matter.  Most of the 21 songs were written or co-written by producer Hambridge, who definitely knows what kind of material suits Buddy best.

This CD set has been on the system and cranked up for a couple of days now. I hope the neighbors are Buddy Guy fans (or they soon will be!) So until you get a chance to go see Buddy live and are looking for that high energy blues fix, get a copy of this CD, it works wonders. Rain? What rain?

Larry Schara is a 40 year veteran of the music industry as a musician, engineer and producer with 9 Grammy nominated credits, a couple of gold records and a fond remembrance of working with Ray Charles, B.B. King and Chuck Berry among others.