Review: Buddy Guy 'Ain't Done With The Blues'

Review: Buddy Guy ‘Ain’t Done With The Blues’

Review: Buddy Guy ‘Ain’t Done With The Blues’

By Jim Hynes

Buddy Guy’s Ain’t Done With the Blues will be released on his 89th birthday. If one didn’t know that and listened to this record without any preamble whatsoever, one would think this is a mid-career bluesman in his prime. Instead, Guy has been on his farewell tour for the better part of two years. Understandably, he lacks the onstage energy he once had, and his sets are relatively short, yet his vocals and guitar picking remain quite vital. His late career partnership with producer, drummer, and songwriter Tom Hambridge has proved most fruitful, and that collaboration shines again here. The advance press will hype the many guests – Joe Bonamassa, Joe Walsh, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Peter Frampton, and The Blind Boys of Alabama, but except for the latter, the others don’t add much. The question must be asked: Does Guy need to share the spotlight with another guitarist? To these ears, it’s a resounding ‘no.’ The songs, especially the autobiographical ones, are the album’s strength, as in previous collaborations with Hambridge.

The album was recorded in both Nashville and New Orleans. As a result, the backing band changes in terms of keyboardists and bassists, but Guy, Hambridge (drums), and Rob McNelly (rhythm guitar) are constants throughout. Keyboardists are either Kevin McKendree or Chuck Leavell, and the bassists are Tal Wilkenfeld or Glenn Worf. Guy plays an array of guitars, listed in the booklet, including acoustic on a couple of tracks. Mostly Hambridge co-writes with Richard Fleming or Gary Nicholson. There are a generous (more accurately, excessive)18 tracks, including Guy covering John Lee Hooker, Earl King, Guitar Slim, J.B. Lenoir, and two other covers, which are not noteworthy except for King’s “Trick Bag,” where Guy delivers an inventive take.

Nonetheless, there are at least eight great songs, and a few solid ones of the remaining dozen. “Been There Done That” (Hambridge, Nicholson) features Guy’s searing Strat as he delves into his life story – “My life is like a movie…Been there, done that..still alive and well.” “Blues on Top” (Hambridge/Fleming) is a slow blues with a potent vocal from Guy as well as clean, white-hot guitar. Arguably, though, the best track is the only one where Guy has a writing credit, collaborating with Hambridge and Fleming on “Dry Stick.” In this story song, he points to an old saying from his mother when growing up in Louisiana – “keep a dry stick for a rainy day.” It’s a wonderful folksy way of saying “prepare for the worst and hope for the best.” Incidentally, the track features Bonamassa, who cuts an incisive, economical solo. “How Blues Is That” is another autobiographical tune from Hambridge and Fleming with Joe Walsh guesting on slide and sharing vocals with Guy. Yet, it’s McKendree’s piano that steals the show instrumentally.

“Jesus Loves the Sinner” (Hambridge/Fleming) features The Blind Boys of Alabama and runs to a great groove, abetted by Mike Rojas’s church-like B3. The same songwriting team also wrote the only horn-backed tune, “Upside Down,” a boon for the blues-rockers. To prove their versatility, the two songwriting collaborators serve up “I Don’t Forget,” a soul ballad with Guy’s vocals inducing chills. Hambridge alone wrote the standout “Swamp Poker,” replete with clean guitar, a driving rhythm, and creative lyrics like these – “Fire flies dancing crawling king snakes/Bullfrogs croaking getting half bakes/Filling up a pot full of poker chips/Play another hand then we all take a dip.” The tune offers a lighthearted view into Guy’s Louisiana roots.

The album attests to its title, proving Guy’s still got plenty left in his bag with his top-notch songwriting team, his limber guitar chops, and his deeply soulful vocals. The living legend lives on!

“How Blues Is That”