New Buddy Guy - "Blues Singer"

I hate to say it but the last two times that Buddy Guy was in NYC he was a big dissapointment. Yes I am an advid blues fan especially the Chicago electric style. The last ( and I do mean last time I will see him ) was at Lincoln center with a host of stars. All Buddy Guy did is come out with his pokka-dotted pants & matching guitar and promote some young kid who wasn't that good, or at least needed more practice to stay on stage with that lineup. He stood up and just strummed some notes to the music. Buddy Guy runs hot and cold. What is traditional for him is to do a tribute to past blues artists in music. The first time it was good, by the 4th time you are sick of it. If I had a nickel for every time I him say " Its so Funky in here I can Smell it " I could retire. Most of Buddy Guys' material is very good, but Sweet Tea just shows what new hight he can easily attain, and I wish he would stay at that level.

Surfgod, I agree the tribute thing has gotten old and seeing him live isn't what it used to be. He is getting old almost 70. Although the last time I saw him he did an acoustic show for the release of Blues Singer, we were front row center it was great.

Again I will say Blblues68 when Eric Clapton was asked who was the best all around guitarist in the business his answer was Buddy Guy. The problem with these great artists is since they have nothing to prove, why bother working. I saw the Blues Singer tour at the Beacon theater in NYC, and allthough it was a very good show, compaired to his preformance of Sweet Tea I couldn't get into it. I feel the Sweet Tea show was the highest point this Blues Man reached. People wern't cheering as much as ghasping at what an astounding preformance it was. Why not maintain this level of output. I just saw Bryan Lee ( who is also about 70yrs old ) and blind to boot and his show was way better that the last terrible preformance of Buddy Guy at Lincoln center. I think that it is time to move on with this artist.

Artists I want to see move on are The Stones and Areosmith and 99% of the so called musicians I hear played on MTV and my local radio stations, not Buddy Guy. Most of the true Blues Legends that actually lived the Blues have already left us BB and Buddy are two that haven't. They have spent there lives trying to keep the Blues alive by inspiring young artists like Jonny Lang and KWS to keep the tradition going (which they haven't by listening to their latest efforts). I first saw Buddy in the 80's and have seen him almost 20 times since then, and will continue to dish out my $25 to see him and Jonny Lang at the end of this month. As far as Sweet Tea it is actually one of my least favorite Buddy albums it is very bass heavy and it seems to drone on and on it is very hard for me to listen to the whole thing. That's cool you were able to see Bryan Lee I have a few of his Cds and have always wanted to catch a live show, By the way Brian Lee was born in 1945 and Buddy in 1936 age has caught up to him in the last ten years "Done Got Old"!

If you've been a Buddy Guy fan for a long time you have to be aware that his live and recorded performances have ALWAYS been extremely variable. I saw him regularly for a span of almost 20 years starting in the late 70s and can say with confidence that you never knew which Buddy was going to show up; the take no prisoners, nobody's ever played better Buddy, or the I'm mailin' this one in from a couple of states over Buddy. There was a span of a few years in the early 80s that he so desperately sucked that I swore I would never see him again. Then I saw him with Jr. Wells at the Beacon and he was so great that my goose bumps got goose bumps.

I think he is one of the quintessential blues men. His heart is always on his sleeve and if he feels like crap, so goes his playing. Substance abuse may also be a problem as it is with a great many performers. We should support him while he is still with us.