Damn Right, I've Got the Blues

by

Buddy Guy

Edit

Buddy Guy is one of my favorite blues artists, and this album is not only a fine comeback, but well deserving of the Grammy award it received in 1991. And with only 6 customer reviews here on Amazon so far of a grammy nominated album which has been on the market since 1991, I would say the album (and the artist) are grossly underappreciated.

One of my favorite songs on this album is the eponymously titled "Damn Right, I've Got the Blues"....right off the start Buddy shows he still has the strong voice, guitar work and the song writing. Another favorite which I hit repeat button many times when listening to is the instrumental "Remembering Stevie"....again, if this does not show a bluesman who hasn't lost his touch one bit, I don't know what will. Simply fantastic.

Hearing his version of "Black Night" is eerie when one remembers older versions of the same song such as the one sung by Muddy Waters in the 60's. Instead of using Vietnam though, Buddy interchanges Iraq, showing us that the blues have a timeless purpose to serve.

I love Buddy's Chess years....those are some of the best blues ever in my opinion. But this album is also excellent in its own right, and certainly deserves more notoriety than it (he) receives.

Highly recommended.

Great to have this CD in continued print, with two bonus tracks no less. I bought this album back in 1991 when it came out, after seeing the Mustang Sally video on MTV with great guitar fills by Jeff Beck in counterpoint with Buddy's vocals. As another reviewer also pointed out, however, these fills are entirely missing from the version on this CD, making this strangely empty and lacking the excitement of the original! It's a terrible mistake. The liner notes, in fact, mention Beck's contributions and he remains listed in the song-by-song personnel. But he's not there, at least on my copy.

So what to do if you're interested in this disc and wondering whether to get the original version or the expanded? Beck or two extra songs? I bought this newer version to replace the older one, but now will stick with the original. The added songs are OK, but do not have the urgency implied by the album's title. And with Sally having lost her "Mustang" on this new CD, sounding like she's getting around in mom's minivan, an essential part of that fire has been lost.

One-to-one comparisons between other songs reveal that the newer CD has slightly louder volume, but no further enhancements. Although I did not find other differences like the one on Mustang Sally, I can't escape the notion that the earlier CD, in fact, sounds fierier than this newer issue, especially with the volume cranked up. It doesn't happen often, but in this case it seems that you're better off with a good used copy of the older CD than the newer issue on this one.