Customer Reviews

Man & The Blues

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album does a bunch of things. It is perhaps the seminal work of what musicologists call "second-generation Chicago blues." This is the blues form which remains the template for most popular blues produced today. In these performances, Mr. Guy alloys soul and rock figures with the Chicago blues vernacular. As a result, his album released blues to a truly pan-racial and cross-generational following. Most had never witnessed real blues music before. Mr. Guy's fret-board work illustrates the liquid tone possible from that pre-eminent electric guitar, the Fender Stratocaster. His technique transducts the passions of his elders uncorrupted. We hear them today from the hands of hundreds of young guitarists. This is the record that certified Buddy Guy's career. He is arguably the most original blues performer alive.

For some listeners this album has been something of a millstone around Mr. Guy's neck. His successive albums never reached the elegance of this one. Need they? Today, thirty-five years afterwards, blues production values have evolved. Mr. Guy's blues are evolving too. His 2001 release "Sweet Tea" blends the sensibilities of rap and alternative with the newly fashionable product called "electric Delta." "Sweet Tea" hasn't the irreducible beauty of "A Man and the Blues." Yet it does show Buddy Guy's intensity as synthesist and artist little diminished.

Some would eject Bach or Mozart into space for other civilizations to evaluate us with. I'd send "A Man and the Blues."

I was shocked to find that Buddy Guy's "A Man and the Blues," only had a handful of reviews. This is an essential recording that should be in any Blues collection. First, the guitar work is powerful. Guy's Fender Strat plays clean, thin and nimble lead work. Second, the vocals are compelling. Buddy Guy's voice was strongest during his early career. Here, his voice is high pitched, clean and full of soul. Third, the song choice is tops. There are no weak songs on "A Man and the Blues." 'One Room Country Shack' could be a definitive statement of what the Blues is all about. Many of the fast blues tunes like 'I Can't Quit The Blues' 'Money' and 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' are three minute parties. The brass brings so much to the danceable feel-good grooves. The disc has a beautiful retelling of the standard 'Sweet Little Angel.' The only drawback to this 1967 recording is the length -it's too short. It all comes down to guitar work, vocals and song choice. For these three reasons, Buddy Guy's first was probably his best solo effort and it should be in your Blues collection.

this album is very very very special. you can feel that magic throughout the album.

having played as a guitarist for many blues stalwarts including muddy waters, this was buddy guy's first outing as a band leader. and what an album it is!

the fretwork is not the screaming blues of say, stevie ray. rather it is the controlled fury, delicate and subtle but always straining at the leash, of a master guitarist who knew how to maximize the potential of the "bell tone" of a fender stratocaster. almost every song on this album is a killer - but "one room country shack" is in its own class - the quintessential blues number which has seldom been surpassed in its genre.

if you like the electric guitar or the blues - get this album!

also check out the other killer albums of buddy - stone crazy (where buddy totally cuts loose with a gibson es-335) and hoodoo man blues (his best collaboration with junior wells).

btw the amazon reviewer is not right in saying that buddy uses a 57 strat - it is rather a 58 strat - because it was only in 1958 that fender came out with a three tone sunburst which buddy's strat obviously is.

This is a great album but short. About 38 minutes long. Don't let the release time fool you either. It was made in the mid to late 60's as far as I know and you can tell by the sound quality. It is clear sounding but some of the louder songs sound very compact. This album contributes 4 slow blues tunes. Five of Nine tracks are Guy originals. I have to say that the track called Just Playing My Axe is not as good as I expected and though I can't place it, it sounds exactly like some rock song I have heard. Anyway there is one other guitarist on here named Wayne Bennet but he is only a rythm guitarist and due to the slow blues songs he doesn't seem to show up much. Whether this is a plus or minus for you there are horns but they aren't usually much more than background through out the album. Buddy also covers Jules Taub, Berry Gordy, and the great B.B. King. Sweet little Angel is one of the best Buddy tracks that I've heard. Buddy is very restrained and much more polished on this album than on many others. He doesn't really go ''out there'' Like he normally does but his tasteful leads and solos are still terrific. It's part of the greatness of this album. By the way- the legendary Otis spann plays piano on this album and that is a major contribution, and he compliments Buddy Guy very well. The old tune known as Mary Had a Little Lamb is a Stevie Ray Vaughan favorite and is a light hearted song that shows Buddy being his playful self. One Room Country Shack is a blues classic as well as A Man And The Blues and this is pretty near a perfect recording for it's time period and style. If you like Buddy Guy or if you want a toned down example of this great guitar player and vocalist to fit your tastes, than this is perfect. If you want a harcore version like the one that influenced Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton so much- than get Stone Crazy-which is an example of that Buddy Guy style.

This is Buddy Guy's first "real" LP, his first album made up entirely of previously unissued material. He has been recording for over a decade when "A Man & The Blues" came out, but mainly as a singles artist, and his previous long player, 1967's "I Left My Blues In San Francisco", was a collection of songs recorded over a two-year period.

Released on the Vanguard label, "A Man & The Blues" is rather a brief affair at just 38 minutes, but it is 38 minutes of Guy's finest material. Backed by men like pianist Otis Spann, bassist Jack Myers, dummer Fred Below, and saxists Donald Hankins, Aaron Corthen, and Bobby Fields, he lays down a tasteful and varied set of blues with a pinch of soul in it, from smouldering slow burners to swaggering R&B.
The title track is a slow blues anchored by Otis Spann's piano, and with some sizzling lead guitar fills by Guy himself. It's not his most original piece, but it is a good slow blues nevertheless, and it is followed by another original, the powerful up-tempo "Can't Quit The Blues". The saxes play a great, punchy riff, Spann's piano sizzles, and Guy lays down a really funky vocal.
Then comes a terrific cover of Berry Gordy's "Money (that's what I want)", a mournful take on Mercy Dee Walton's "One Room Country Shack", and one of the hardest hitters of the entire set as Guy blast through his version of the nursery rhyme "Mary Had A Little Lamb", guitar wailing, horns blasting and drums biting.

Guy nicks Keith Richard's riff from the then-recent Stones single "Satisfaction" for the funk-blues of "Just Playing My Axe", something I imagine Richards must've taken as a compliment, and gets off some vicious solos, before moving on to another cover, a slow "Sweet Little Angel" with a tortured, almost falsetto vocal.
"Worry Worry" is perhaps one slow blues too many for a nine-song set, but it is well executed, and the album winds down with am excellent, swaggering instrumental, the up-tempo "Jam On A Monday Morning". Great interplay between horns, guitars and piano, and a beat you can surely dance to!

If you aren't satisfied by the Chess compilation "Buddy's Blues", or Rhino's "The Very Best Of Buddy Guy", this is certainly one of the very first stops to make, along with albums like "I Left My Blues In San Francisco", "Damn Right, I've Got The Blues", "Slippin' In", and perhaps the recent "Skin Deep" and the lesser-known "DJ Play My Blues". And look for some of his collaborations with harpist Junior Wells as well.
Great band, great songs. Highly recommended.

Far and away his best solo effort. Everything that people love about Buddy Guy is present on this album: smoking guitar (yet still pure blues--B.B. and T-Bone on steroids vintage Buddy,untainted by rock producers and multitudes of guest appearances), passionate vocals, and lots of personality. Some highlights are title track which is textbook slow blues, unimprovable! A hot blues blues version of "Money," and the classic take on "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Actually though, in all fairness to Buddy, every track here is classic blues!

I've been listening to Buddy Guy play the blues for thirty years. I've seen him in concert 6-8 times. I think he is the most talented blues guitarist, bar none, that there is. I laughed when I compared his recording of "Five Long Years" with Eric Clapton. This album is one of the first I listened to and is still one of my favorites. "One Room Country Shack" is what the blues are all about. He finds notes on the guitar that aren't there and his plainitve voice singing " why don't you make connection with me, give me some kind of good deal" grabs you by the soul and don't let go. He also does uptempo on "Money" and makes a pop song the blues. If you don't love this album quit listening to the blues, you don't get it.

Well i call this the soul blues album and buddy guy tears up the blues on this album buddy guy is also a legend and he lets his axe do all the talking this album you put in your car on a sunday afternoon and drive GET THIS ALBUM ITS A ALBUM EVERY BLUES FAN WOULD ENJOY

Like the other reviewer said this album is very very special. It has that Fender Strat position 4 tone with a '59 Tweed Bassman all over it. The solo's are breath taking! The feeling has some of the deepest blues on record. My ALL Time Favorite CD. period. I know you can't listen to the tracks but this is a must buy for blues fans.

Don't be fooled by the cover. Back in the hippie days, dishwashers were made to look psychedelic if marketers thought they could sell one more unit.

But inside is straight twelve bar blues. Played with heart, you can't go wrong; but what impresses me is the absolute fluidity of Buddy Guys playing. He is not flashy, but his runs are so complete and smooth, he is practically playing jazz.

This is art, but don't tell that to your hips, when they shake from this fantastically blues blood imbued album. This is the most essential form of American music played at its essential best.