Cat. No. 2743: BUDDY GUY ~ THE BLUES IS ALIVE AND WELL. SILVERTONE / RCA 19075812472.

BUDDY GUY IS A LEGEND OF THE CHICAGO BLUES STYLE. GUY WAS BORN IN 1936 AND RAISED IN LEFTWORTH, LOUISIANA. IN THE MID 1950s HE BEGAN PERFORMING WITH BANDS IN BATON ROUGE INCLUDING BIG PAPA TILLEY AND RAFUL NEAL. IN 1957, HE RECORDED TWO DEMOS FOR A LOCAL DJ IN BATON ROUGE BUT THEY WERE NOT ISSUED AT THE TIME. IN 1957, HE MOVED TO CHICAGO AND FELL UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF MUDDY WATERS. IN 1958, A COMPETITION WITH WEST SIDE GUITARISTS MAGIC SAM AND OTIS RUSH GAVE HIM A RECORD CONTRACT WITH COBRA RECORDS. AFTER TWO RELEASES ON COBRA’S SUBSIDIARY, ARTISTIC, GUY SIGNED WITH CHESS RECORDS. HIS EARLY CAREER WITH CHESS WAS IMPEDED BY THE RECORD COMPANY, WHICH REFUSED TO RECORD GUY PLAYING IN THE NOVEL STYLE OF HIS LIVE SHOW. CHESS USED GUY MAINLY A SESSION GUITARIST TO BACK MUDDY WATERS, HOWLIN’ WOLF, LITTLE WALTER, SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON, KOKO TAYLOR AND OTHERS. GUY’S CAREER WAS REVIVED DURING THE BLUES REVIVAL OF THE LATE 1980s AND EARLY 1990s. THIS WAS SPARKED BY ERIC CLAPTON’S REQUEST THAT GUY BE PART OF THE “24 NIGHTS” ALL-STAR BLUES GUITAR LINE-UP AT LONDON’S ROYAL ALBERT HALL. GUY SUBSEQUENTLY SIGNED WITH SILVERTONE RECORDS AND RELEASED HIS MAINSTREAM BREAKTHROUGH ALBUM “DAMN RIGHT, I’VE GOT THE BLUES” IN 1991. BUDDY GUY ESTABLISHED THE BUDDY GUY’S LEGENDS BLUES CLUB IN 1989 IN CHICAGO AND IT IS STILL OWNED BY BUDDY WHO STILL MAKES REGULAR APPEARANCES TO THIS DAY. GREAT CHICAGO BLUES *****

TRACK LISTING: A Few Good Years / Guilty As Charged / Cognac (feat. Jeff Beck & Keith Richards) / The Blues Is Alive And Well / Bad Day / Blue No More (feat. James Bay) / Whiskey For Sale / You Did The Crime (feat. Mick Jagger) / Old Fashioned / When My Day Comes / Nine Below Zero / Ooh Daddy / Somebody Up There / End Of The Line / Milking Muther For Ya.

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