Stone Crazy

Buddy Guy | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Alligator Records
• ASIN: B0000009XP
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,272 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #34 in Music > Indie Music > Blues > Chicago Blues
  • #41 in Music > Indie Music > Blues > Contemporary Blues
  • #50 in Music > Indie Music > Blues > Electric Blues Guitar

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Cut during a period when Buddy Guy was rarely recorded, this blustery and breathtaking live set is full of idiosyncratic solos that dart after virtually any musical urge that strikes him. Such unpredictable improvisational impulses are more familiar to jazz than blues, but along with his whisper-to-scream singing, that's what makes Guy commanding onstage. His fevered take on the standard "Outskirts of Town" is outright incendiary. This album was originally released on Isabel, a French label named--at the singer-guitarist's insistence--after his late mother, who never had a chance to see her son perform. --Ted Drozdowski

From Grove Press Guide to Blues on CD

The headachy speed-jumble guitar in the opening track, "I Smell a Rat," scared blues purists away from Guy's 1979 French session when it surfaced stateside on Alligator in the early 1980s. Too bad. If they'd hung on through the Jimi Hendrix simulacra and magnific postures they'd have found the album closer, 'When I Left Home," utterly riveting for its raw, sincere bloodletting. -- © Frank John Hadley 1993

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Buddy Guy Album Ever! 5+ Stars!, July 20, 2000

By 

x (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stone Crazy (Audio CD)

Buddy Guy is arguably the most distinctive, electrifying guitarist in Blues history. On a good night, there is no player in the world who can match him. But for all of Guy's talent, unfortunately there are few studio recordings that document his genius. Producers have always wanted him either to sound old-fashioned (i.e., the '50s Chess Chicago Blues sound) or too modern (i.e., some abberation of Jimi or Clapton).

Buddy was only produced properly one time: and the result is this album "Stone Crazy." After several mediocre albums in the '60s and '70s, someone finally let Buddy play in the studio with the creative, reckless abandon that, when playing live, has ignited every building in which he has ever played. Buy this album now! This IS Buddy Guy!

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Blues Giant, June 19, 2004

By 

K. Hooker "kh1958" (Dallas, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stone Crazy (Audio CD)

The original French issue title, the Blues Giant, more accurately reflects the greatness of this recording, which I would have to rank as one of my favorite blues recordings. All of the six tracks are superb, though over the years my favorite came to be the concluding slow blues, When I Left Home, which is startling in its passionate ferocity. I Smell a Rat is actually Damn Right I've Got the Blues, in another guise, by the way. Apparently blues purists often dislike this recording, but if you love electric blues guitar, don't listen to them. When Buddy is at his best (and he is pretty near so on this recording), only Hendrix can compare. Lovers of this recording might also want to pick up Pleading the Blues, an excellent Junior Wells recording featuring the very same band and recorded on the very same day. Two classic albums recorded in one day, no less.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievalbe energy and fire, February 12, 2003

By 

Edward M. Green "skin flautist" (Ann Arbor, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stone Crazy (Audio CD)

I recieved this Buddy Guy cd when I was moving away from popular music and goin to classic rock, blues, and jazz. This cd still is constant rotation after owning it for over 6 years. All the songs on here are impressive and makes one wish that Buddy Guy payed less attention to the crowd and more attention to his guitar. If you prefer more hooked oriented, pop sounding contemporary blues than this isn't your thing. But then again blues isn't suppossed to sound contrived and too radio friendly. When I listen to this cd I wonder where Buddy Guy gets all this energy...it's almost like straight ahead Chicago blues with the energy of Hendrix....lotsa funk, random jazz type phrasing and interaction, tons of jamming. This is one of those cds you listen with your mouth wide open in full attention of his crazy guitar. Five years ago I picked up my Fender strat with this cd in the background. There are very few things that will make you break your guitar strings as much as trying to recreate the sounds and intensity on this cd. This is the over-the-edge style of playing that only Buddy Guy can create.