BUDDY GUY – Born To Play Guitar (2015)

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The legendary pioneer of the Chicago blues scene BUDDY GUY has just turned 79, but he is still one of the most exhilarating guitarists in the world, and still in powerful voice. Born in Louisiana, he moved north to be influenced by Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, and developed a passionate, driving guitar style that made him a hero for blues-rockers from Eric Clapton to Jimmy Page and Gary Moore.
It’s no surprise then that the guests on his brand new album “Born To Play Guitar” include ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, who joins him on the stomping ‘Wear You Out’, and Van Morrison, who sings on the poignant ‘Flesh & Bone’, a tribute to the late B.B. King.

Once again working with producer/songwriter Tom Hambridge – the bluesman’s main collaborator since 2008 – Buddy Guy serves up a straight-ahead platter with ‘Born To Play Guitar’, his 28th studio album. Many of Guy’s latter-day records loosely follow a theme, but this new album is pretty direct: just a collection of songs designed to showcase Buddy’s oversized Stratocaster.
Hambridge cleverly colors “Born To Play Guitar” with a few bold, unexpected flourishes: the sweeps of sweet strings that accentuate “(Baby) You’ve Got What It Takes,” a duet with Joss Stone that lightly recalls Etta James’Chess Records work, or the big, blaring horns of “Thick Like Mississippi Mud” that moves that track out of the Delta and into an urban setting.

Elsewhere, Van Morrison contributes a moving tribute to B.B. King in “Flesh and Bone,” a heartfelt ballad that however rocks in some kind of joint boogie. Guy delivers on this front quite ably, particularly when he’s paired with fellow blues lifer Kim Wilson (as he is on “Too Late” and “Kiss Me Quick”) or when Billy Gibbons slithers out of the Texas hills to lay down the heavy stomp of “Wear You Out” (a highlight).
And while there are no surprises on these duets, nor on the proudly traditional Chicago blues of title track “Born to Play Guitar”, “Back Up Mama,” and “Whiskey, Beer & Wine,” there is still pleasure in hearing a master tear into his beloved music.

The acoustic “Come Back Muddy” puts the ‘flourish’ trick in reverse, pushing Chicago blues back down south. It’s an awesome, pure Blues tune with a magic and atmosphere that only a foundational blues-man from the first hour cand do. And the lyrics are so emotional. Buddy Guy once explained that Muddy Waters’ final request to him was “keep the damn blues alive”.
He’s still doing just that. With class.

I know this type of music it is not the usual on these pages, but this “Born To Play Guitar” deserves to be listened by every Rock-related fan. Buddy Guy was always one of the most ‘rocking’ blues-man out there, and he is a living legend testimony of what classic rock is all about.
Very, very recommended.

01 – Born To Play Guitar
02 – Wear You Out (Feat. Billy Gibbons)
03 – Back Up Mama
04 – Too Late (Feat. Kim Wilson)
05 – Whiskey, Beer & Wine
06 – Kiss Me Quick (Feat. Kim Wilson)
07 – Crying Out Of One Eye
08 – (Baby) You Got What It Takes (Feat. Joss Stone)
09 – Turn Me Wild
10 – Crazy World
11 – Smarter Than I Was
12 – Thick Like Mississippi Mud
13 – Flesh & Bone (Feat. Van Morrison) [Dedicated To B.B. King]
14 – Come Back Muddy [Dedicated To Muddy Waters]

BUY IT !
www.amazon.co.uk/Born-Play-Guitar-Buddy-Guy/dp/B00ZGVMKCE
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