Blues Singer

Buddy Guy

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 3, 2003)
• Original Release Date: June 3, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Jive
• ASIN: B00009EIQE
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #25,731 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BG rules the blues!, July 3, 2003

By	Buddy Guy Fan "petercski" (Bronx, NY USA) - See all my reviews

I counted the days for this CD to arrive and I was not disappointed. BG follows up with more acoustic work after "Done Got Old" on Sweat Tea. I just recently read and interview with Buddy and he said at his concerts if he plays too much acoustic people want more electic, if he plays too much electric people want more acoustic. In my book, he can play whatever guitar he wants and it all sounds great. BG gives you his all no matter what he plays and a history lesson in blues while he's at it. My advice...buy whatever BG CDs you can. There's always at least a couple of amazing songs on each one. And if you don't like it you may be introduced to the blues of Junior Kimbrough or Son House or who knows???
Blues Singer was worth the wait. I love Lucy Mae Blues, Louis McGhee, Sally Mae, Lonesome Home Blues...hell I love them all!!!!
If you can't buy all of BG's CDs, a good starter course is Slippin' In, Sweat Tea, and at least one with Junior Wells CD(Alone and Acoustic is a great compliment to Blues Singer). I would also recommend Muddy Waters Folk Singer that Buddy played on when he was just a kid.
And if BG is in your town, go see him live. You will not be disappointed! He's 66 years old and can still kick bum on his polka dot strat!!!!

What more can I say, but thanks Buddy Guy and keep 'em coming!!!!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Star Album If I Ever Heard One!, March 29, 2004

By A Customer

I read too many reviews where the first line beings to the effect of "The album wasn't as good as [the last]..." or "...If you like the style of [the previous]..." But, seriously, who cares? If you like Buddy Guy, whether you like his first album or his last, you will like this album. If you like the blues, you may have even more of an appreciation for it. "Blues Singer" is a well recorded, great sounding album containing some of BG's best blues, electric or not.

22 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A nod to the past, June 4, 2003

By	Tim Weber (Iowa) - See all my reviews

Blues neophytes who jumped on the Buddy Guy bandwagon with his last album, the overpraised "Sweet Tea" will doubtless be scratching their heads at the living legend's new disc, "Blues Singer." This disc is a low-key, acoustic tip of the cap to blues masters of the past. Make that very low-key. Guy's guitar is strictly by-the-book and unobtrusive on this unplugged effort; in fact, the guitar tends to be mixed so low you wonder what they were thinking. But really, that was the point: it's called "Blues Singer", after all, and the spotlight is on Guy's laid-back but very effective vocals on these 12 covers that range from well-known to relatively obscure blues songs. Obviously, the inspiration is Muddy Waters' early '60s "Folk Singer" album, on which Guy contributed tasteful acoustic guitar. Nothing wrong with that. So, think "Folk Singer" but also Guy's off-the-cuff acoustic teaming with the great Junior Wells on "Alone and Acoustic", recorded in 1981 and available on Alligator. Hushed, deliberate, reverential but mostly effective. On "Blues Singer" Guy does a fine job aping Skip James' falsetto vocals on the lead track, "Hard Time Killing Floor." There are also three John Lee Hooker tunes, a Frankie Lee Sims cover, a little Robert Nighthawk and, of course, a nod to Muddy on "I Love the Life I Live." Also, there's a really nice rendering of a Son House tune, "Louise McGhee". Jimbo Mathus provides guitar help on nearly every cut, and exactly half the tunes have rhythm supplied by drums (Jim Keltner) and upright bass. Electric? Nope. Fast-paced? Uh-uh. Impassioned? Only partly. This is after-hours, respectful acoustic blues that one would expect to be recorded on a European label as a one-off after a festival gig. This isn't really a criticism. It works, for what it is. Guy's getting up there in years, and a down-home acoustic album of important covers is just fine; this album will seem more significant later on. It's not classic, it's not spine-tingling, but you know what? I prefer this to the admirable experiment but occasional mess that was the raucous "Sweet Tea". But now that he's done both extremes, how about a return to the nearly perfect electric blues of "Slippin' In"?