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REVIEWS

Buddy Guy—The Blues Don’t Lie—RCA Records/Sony

Buddy has been playing the blues for over 50 years and now, aged
86 he has released his follow-up to the 2015 album Born To Play
Guitar. As one would expect, Buddy is on lead guitar, Rob McNelley
is on electric guitar. Tom Hambridge returns to the producer’s
chair and of course, provides the drum-work himself, joining them
in the studio are, Reese Wyans and Kevin McKendree; B3,
Wurlitzer and piano and Michael Rhodes and Glen Worf; bass. The
album was recorded at Blackbird studios, Nashville Tennessee.

Of the sixteen numbers, only three are covers. Which are Lennon
and McCartney’s ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’, Slim Harpo’s ‘I’m A King Bee’ and B.B. King’s ‘Sweet Thing’.
The rest are compositions from Buddy Guy and Tom Hambridge. The opener is ‘I Let My Guitar
Do The Talking’, this is a full throttle, fluid guitar-barnstormer, encompassing blues, funk, soul
and rock. One outstanding number is the hauntingly mellow floating keyboard and stinging
guitar of ‘We Go Back’, in which Buddy and Mavis Staples movingly reminisce about life before
the struggles and strife of life in the turbulent sixties.

A pertinent reminder of a sadly all too common event is the deathly chilling, lonesome guitar
and keyboard slow burner entitled ‘Gunsmoke Blues’, where Buddy and Jason Isbell despairingly
lament the all too frequent massacres of innocent civilians going about their everyday lives,
shopping, playing or simply praying. The mood significantly improves with the rolling and
tumbling groove of ‘House Party’, here Buddy is joined by Wendy Moten to sing the praises of
good food, guitar music and slow dancing.

You certainly know the good times are back with Buddy’s scintillatingly sparse true blue guitar
rendition of ‘Sweet Thing’. While ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’, has to be the surprise of the album, for it
is a sublime grooving blues with floating bass and keyboards, interspersed with a crisply rising
guitar, splendid! The inviting, grooving lazy shuffle of ‘Last Call’, splendidly reminds us all of
enjoyable nights, happily spent in sweaty, smoky alcohol fueled clubs. ‘I’m A King Bee’, takes us
right back to the beginning with a simple, plain, heartfelt acoustic rendition, where Buddy
exemplifies exactly what the blues are.

As I said, Splendid!

Brian Harman

The Mighty Soul Drivers —I’ll Carry You Home—Hog Heaven
Records 007

In 2012, drummer, singer and blues DJ, ‘River City Slim’ (Peter
Rost) together with singer-songwriter, Bob Orsi (New England
Music Hall Of Fame inductee) created the New England based
band, The Mighty Soul Drivers. Their music focuses upon the
classic southern soul music of Memphis, Muscle Shoals and
beyond. After ten years on the road refining and defining their
own particular sound and show, they have now released their
second album “I’ll Carry You Home”.