Now, Buddy Guy is an eight-time GRAMMY winner, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award Winner and is recognised as a key figure in the Chicago blues scene as a singer, songwriter and guitarist. He has influenced multiple generations of musicians (Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Gary Clark Jr. and John Mayer, to name a few) but in 1968 he was coming to the end of a nine-year recording contract with Chess which had not brought the rewards he expected, primarily due to how he was viewed by Leonard Chess.
However, his talents were recognised by Vanguard Records who captured him playing at New Orleans House in Berkeley, Ca. in 1968, releasing this album in the same year, produced by Sam Charters. It is among a series of classic blues albums which have been remastered and reissued, with this released in March this year, and to say it is a delight is something of an understatement. Joined by Leslie Crawford (baritone sax), A.C. Reed & Bobby Fields (tenor saxes), George Alexander & Norman Spiller (trumpets), Tim Kaihatsu (rhythm guitar), Glenway McTeer (drums) and Jack Meyers (bass), here we have Buddy straddling the line between blues and soul, providing guitar here and there when the need arises (in a very similar manner to BB King), with his vocals very much to the fore.
The blues are honest, full of passion and life, and there is something about a great performance which is like none other, and listening to this it is as if we are there, in the presence of a giant of the genre. The sound is much clearer and better than one might expect from a live recording of that time yet still has a warm and dated feeling which shows us it is not from the current day. In many ways this makes me think of James Brown, with the same energy, emotional vocals, and a crowd who are in awe of what they are seeing and hearing.
He performs original compositions (including his languid “I Had a Dream Last Night” and the funky “24 Hours of the Day”) with well-chosen covers, such as Little Willie John’s “Fever” and Eddie Floyd’s “Knock on Wood”, while “I Got My Eyes On You” is a classic opener which drives us into the performance. There are many of today’s popstars who could learn a real lesson about music from listening to this, as here we have a real musician who is living and sweating the genre with the blues coming from every pore.
It is real, it is vital, it is passion captured in the moment and is absolutely indispensable for any lover of the genre. 10/1
by Kev Rowland
