This album was released in 1979 in France and the UK, later released in the US by Alligator Records in 1981.
Guy really lets loose on this one with some extended, scorching, electrifying guitar work. Soulful pyrotechnics. The album was recorded in Toulouse, during a time when Guy was underappreciated in the American mainstream but still revered among blues fans and European audiences.
The liner notes explain better that I can:
This is the one. This is the album that his fans have been waiting for -- the album that finally captures the raw, almost-out-of-control guitar genius of Buddy Guy. It's simply Buddy and his own touring band -- no studio musicians, no ''special guests": just the solid skin-tight backing of brother Phil and one of Chicago's hottest young rhythm sections. The tunes were cut in a studio in France, but they feel just like the last smoky set at the Checkerboard Lounge, Buddy's own club in the heart of Chicago's South Side.
Buddy's fans have been waiting a long time. His last album, recorded with longtime partner Junior Wells, was an all-star jam featuring Eric Clapton, Dr. John and the J. Geils Band, but not really a guitar showcase for Buddy. In fact, it's been fourteen years since the classic album, A Man And The Blues, when Buddy, inspired by the late keyboard wizard Otis Spann, really let go in the studio. It's been twenty years since his wildman guitar and manic vocals were first heard on those great Chess 45s like The First Time I Met The Blues, My Time After Awhile and Stone Crazy.
It's his frenzied live performances that have made Buddy legendary. First, during his years of residency at Theresa's in Chicago, taking on every guitar player who passed through the Windy City. Then over a decade on the road with Junior, barnstorming through the U.S., Japan and Africa, and touring Europe with the Rolling Stones. He devastated the Montreux Jazz Festival, with the Stones sitting in. He's won the admiration of everyone who ever tried to pick the blues on guitar, from B.B. King to Eric Clapton. And always the question -- "When will Buddy really cut loose like those blazing nights on the bandstand, and get crazy again on a record?"
Here's the answer.
Reviews/ratings:
- Robert Christgau (B+): "With or without Junior Wells, Guy hasn't put so much guitar on an album since A Man and the Blues in 1967, and if anything this is wilder and more jagged."
- Coda: "a monster of a heavy urban blues release"
- The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★½ "though somewhat self-indulgent, it's an adrenaline-fueled, rough-edged gem."
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart
Tracks: Top picks are the opening one-two punch of I Smell A Rat followed by Are You Losing Your Mind?. You've Been Gone Too Long has a great groove and She's Out There Somewhere is the most traditional blues cut. The final track, When I Left Home, lets us down kinda easy at the end and that's for the best because if you're not exhausted after listening, you weren't really listening.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Not with this particular album, but allow me to recount my experiences of December 20, 2023, a heckuva good day. On that date, I flew solo from San Antonio to Chicago, headed to a music conference/clinic. First, there was no line at TSA, the flight was on time, AND I was bumped to first class for the flight. After checking into my hotel in Chicago's theater district, I walked about 5 blocks to the south to
Buddy Guy's Legends club to check out some blues. For Chicago in late December, the weather was unusually mild with highs in the 40s so the walk wasn't uncomfortable. It was early evening, and there were the usual tourists sitting at tables ordering dinner and enjoying some acoustic blues before the headliner came on. I was alone, so I just sat near the end of the bar and ordered a bourbon. I had just ordered a second drink when an older man sat in the chair at the end of the bar between me and the wall. We very briefly exchanged pleasantries but I didn't think much of it until the club employees started approaching him and saying, "Merry Christmas, boss!" Then it hit me that I was sitting next to Buddy Guy. I was able to keep my wits about me and didn't bother him again because I thought I might gush if I spoke to him again. I finished my drink, nodded to him and said "Good Night" and headed back towards the hotel. Then I had the best chicken parmesan I've ever tasted in my life at the Italian Village on Monroe St. Like I said, a heckuva good day.
Previously revisited for the blog:
Alone & Acoustic (1991)
Damn Right, I've Got The Blues (1991)
