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In a few days (February 17th, 2023), he'll get onboard The Damn Right Farewell Tour that should take him around the world from North America to Australia, Europe and Israel over an eight-month period.
The man is a fascinating guitar player. Of him, Eric Clapton, who played with him on many occasions, once said he's the greatest living guitarist. Guy has a gift for making his guitar shout, murmur or cry, a very personal and creative playing way beyond the classic Chicago style.
He's also a fantastic expressive singer whose appealing voice is able to switch instantly, like his guitar, from loud roaring blues shouting to intimate murmuring, and a great showman with road-tested little tricks : the “look-a here” and “shucks” to stir up the audience attention and underline his lyrics, his “thank you Chicago”, his brief moments of bantering comments that seem totally improvised but are probably not...
He offers a next great moment of guitar on Elmore James “Talk to Me Baby”, before going into the second stand-out of the album with “My Time After Awhile” : a soulful succession of seductive soft singing and scorching muscular vocals, sometimes facetious (brrrrrooo!), delivered with true showmanship while his guitar follows the mood changes in a frenzy. The man also shows real respect for his public : instead of asking the audience if “they” feel good, he confess they make “him” feel good, before excusing for interrupting a second to change guitar. Classy !
On the long “I've Got News for You”, a large segment is reserved for the band's members (who prove quite efficient) to express themselves, in particular Johnnie Johnson on piano and Leon Pendarvis on organ while Guy offers shivering guitar sounds.
It's then time for the main courses of this blues banquet. First, the highlight of the album, the superb “Damn Right, I've Got the Blues”, featuring feverish sharp guitar phrases in a unique tone and fabulous thrilling vocals moving to murmuring softness and then rising again to reach scorching roars. Guy at his best. 
Second, “First Time I Met the Blues” is made of exactly the same wood and features a great sax solo (most likely by George Young).
The unexpected big band style of “Ain't That Loving You” unveils the jazzy side of Guy, while “Let Me Love You Baby” seriously rocks for the end of this too short hour of blues by a musician who delivers throughout the album a unique performance of gutsy vocals and innovative guitar style much larger than the classic Chicago style.
Look-a here, Buddy Guy is undoubtedly the real deal ! ■
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| In 1983 |
► A fabulous casting : B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Albert Collins & Jeff Beck, Apollo Theater, NYC, 1993 : https://youtu.be/CpyO7xmeugI
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