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Chords & Notes
Buddy Guy: The Collection
MCA Spectrum, CD, Rs. 395
BUDDY GUY is "by far and without doubt the best guitar player alive", according to Eric Clapton. Born George Guy in Lettsworth, Louisiana, in 1936 to a sharecropping family, he tuned into local radio stations on a battery-operated set to listen to Southern blues greats such as Lightnin' Hopkins, Lightnin' Slim, Lazy Lester, and Guitar Slim. Picking up the guitar in his teens, he mastered it entirely by ear, with no tutelage from anybody. He played briefly in the Baton Rouge area before heading out to Chicago in 1957. He hadn't eaten for two days when a Good Samaritan spotted him with his guitar, and urged the great Otis Rush (who was the evening's featured performer at the 708 Club) to let Buddy sit in.
Dixon's help
Impressed by his performance, the club gave Buddy a regular gig, and he soon appeared as a sideman to major Chicago bluesmen of the day. Willie Dixon helped him land a contract with Chess (the legendary Chicago blues label) where he took over house-guitarist duties, backing recording sessions of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, and Sonny Boy Williamson. Over the ensuing decade, he cut several sides for Chess, the last one being the LP Left My Blues in San Francisco. His live performances were roof-raisers, and he toured Europe as part of the American Folk Blues Festivals in 1965 and 1967.
He switched to Vanguard Records some time in late 1967, collaborating with Junior Wells (on vocals and harmonica) on many subsequent releases. The following decade was unkind to Buddy the recording artiste. Experiencing the frustration of seeing many of his trademark guitar licks lifted verbatim by rock guitarists, he languished in anonymity while they raked it in. (Two exceptions were Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, who acknowledged him graciously).
High visibility
Maintaining high visibility on the live blues/rock circuit, he toured with the Rolling Stones in 1970, and appeared at the Newport (1968) and Montreux (1974) jazz festivals. He guested on Clapton's Royal Albert Hall performances in 1990-91 (later released as the album 24 Nights). From the mid-Eighties on, he got some recognition, with Grammy awards to three of his albums: Damn Right I Got The Blues (1991), Feels Like Rain (1993), and Slippin' In (1994). Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1985, he tasted a bit of commercial success, and now has his own blues club in Chicago.
This CD is an 18-track compilation of his Chess years, and covers the era 1960-67. Among his notable original compositions here are "First Time I Met The Blues" (an R&B chart hit in 1962, featuring Otis Spann on piano), the original version of "Stone Crazy" (not the 1981 live version on the eponymous Alligator album), "I Suffer With The Blues", and "Worried Mind". There are some covers as well, such as the Willie Dixon's "Crazy Love" and "Too Many Ways", Sonny Boy Williamson's "Keep It To Myself", and Champion Jack Dupree's "Mother-in-Law Blues". "She Suits Me to a Tee" has a funk groove to it, hinting at some of the diversification Buddy Guy experimented with subsequently.
These tracks predate his association with Junior Wells, so Wells doesn't appear on this collection. They also predate his guitar-pyrotechnic phase, so those looking for rapid-fire rock-style solos will be disappointed. But there's abundant guitar finesse on display, and his frantic vocals have remained essentially unchanged for four-and-a-half decades.
Dr. John: Duke Elegant
EMI-Parlophone, CD, Rs. 295
DR. JOHN (Malcolm "Mac" Rebennack) has already featured in these columns (MetroPlus, March 1, 2004, review of In The Right Place). So we won't dwell on his career any more than to mention that he is one of a line of New Orleans pianists that trace their antecedents to the legendary Professor Longhair (Henry Roeland Byrd). Unlike some others of his ilk who stayed with blues/R&B, he diversified into other genres, and even gained a rock following. The present album is an unusual one from him, consisting entirely of 12 Duke Ellington compositions.
Dauntingly elaborate
Ellington admirers know how dauntingly elaborate his big-band arrangements can be. Not to mention the sheer instrumental genius of his band mates — how many can do a Johnny Hodges on an alto sax, or a Paul Gonsalves on the tenor, not to mention a Cootie Williams on the trumpet, or for the matter of that, an Ellington on the piano? Indeed what many have attempted, to varying degrees of success, is to take his immortal tunes — some of them very catchy and simple — and cast them in different contexts.
And thus have jazz musicians of every hue and generation paid tribute to the timeless genius of the greatest modern composer of them all, Duke Ellington.
Dr. John is not a jazzman, and has wisely decided to enlist just three sidemen who call themselves "The Lower 9-11" (unfortunate moniker, that) to back him on guitar, bass, and drums. He himself is on piano, Hammond B-3 organ, and lead vocals. "The Elegant Side-Pure Fonk-I-fied" as the inlay card proclaims.
Excellent solos
On a typical blues outing like "Things Ain't What They Used To Be", his B-3 attack is successful, the lack of limpid horn voices being ably compensated by excellent guitar solos from Bobby Broom. (Those familiar with Oscar Peterson's take on this tune will recall Barney Kessel's electric guitar employed in a similar capacity). A Fender bass, occasionally slapped in the Stanley Clarke mould, anchors the track in a solid funk groove. Similarly, rather than mimic Ellington's Middle-Eastern piano clang on "Caravan", Dr. John has deployed a Hammond B-3, and again achieved his aims admirably.
His best track on this compilation is a more obscure Ellington piece called "Flaming Sword", warmly echoing his New Orleans origins, especially Professor Longhair's "Rum and Coke" (a.k.a. "Crawfish Fiesta").
What doesn't work so well is Dr. John's barrelhouse-singing voice. With little range, and no real jazz-style phrasing to speak of, it does scant justice to the subtleties of "Satin Doll", "Solitude", or "Mood Indigo". The only piece where the vocals are passable is "It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing".
Which is really a pity, because his piano/B-3 playing is so tasteful, even when it departs significantly from the original.
VISHWAMBHAR PATI
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