Guy Clarl Albums

Phil Guy didn't eclipse his older brother Buddy's status as a blues superstar, and in reality, Phil's funky brand of blues was not captured correctly for posterity. But he remained an active attraction on the Chicago circuit, following in his sibling's footsteps and patiently waiting for his own star to rise up until his death. Like his sibling, Phil Guy played with harpist Raful Neal (for a decade) before leaving the Baton Rouge scene for Chicago in 1969. There he played with his brother's high-energy organization as well as behind harpist Junior Wells (Phil handled guitar duties with Sammy Lawhorn on Wells' underrated mid-'70s Delmark album On Tap).]

Buddy Guy's career and discography have been marked by inconsistency. Especially since his high-profile comeback in the early '90s, it seems he's been all too willing to turn over creative control on his albums, both for better and worse. Even just looking at the covers of those albums bears this out: 1991's Damn Right I've Got the Blues has him dressed in your basic '90s casual dress, but the next album has him wearing overalls! Anyone who saw Guy live any number of times before that album was released would realize that he never wore overalls. Then fast forward to the neo-psychedelic look of Heavy Love. The productions themselves have been similarly schizophrenic: big glossy guest star-laden albums to a heavy blues-rock sound to deep modal electric blues to acoustic albums. Well, this time out, drummer/session man Steve Jordan is in the producer's chair, and it seems that he wanted to give Guy a more contemporary sound…

Buddy Guy revitalized his career when he signed with Silvertone Records in the early '90s. His first album for the label, Damn Right, I've Got the Blues, was a smash success, earning critical acclaim, awards, and sales hand over fist. Prior to that record, he was a legend only among blues fans; afterward, he was a star. Although it was a bit too rock-oriented and slick for purists, Damn Right was a terrific album, setting the pace not only for Guy but for modern electric blues in the '90s. As the decade wore on, Guy continued to make albums for Silvertone, some of them a little complacent, others quite excellent. Buddy's Baddest: The Best of Buddy Guy attempts to summarize those years in 14 songs, including three previously unreleased cuts.

Buddy Guy today remains one of the true international superstars of the Blues. One of his musically most glorious periods was the three classic albums he cut for JSP Records ("D.J. Play My Blues" "Breaking Out" and "Live at the Checkerboard Lounge") and the guesting on brother Phil Guy's wonderful debut album "Red Hot Blues". This compilation features some of the best cuts from that period and those albums. Buddy plays some hot guitar here and is stylistically moving forward from his sixties stuff to the ultra commercial things of today. Buddy always knew that the world would catch up eventually and he would become a superstar - the music here will tell you why.

Between 1970 and 1973, EMI/Path released several ambitious and progressive pop albums, including 'La Mort Dorion' (Grard Manset), 'Puzzle' (Michel Berger), 'Hathor' (Igor Wakvitch), and 'Pour Pauwels' by Guy Skornik. Skornik was a mystic explorer, psychonaut, and gifted musician, who was immersed in the metaphysical revolutions of his time. He presented television reports, laced with elements of Eastern mysticism, on LSD experiences. And then there was Skornik's album, 'Pour Pauwells', inspired by the revolutionary writings of Louis Pauwells, one-time counterculture hero and disciple of esoteric spiritualist G. I. Gurdjieff. Guy was brought to the public's attention for the first time in the beginning of 1970 with the release of a magnificent LP on the Path-label…

Texas singer-songwriter Guy Clark has been a patriarchal figure to many in the Nashville songwriting community for decades. Artists like Rodney Crowell and Steve Earle studied under the watchful eye of Clark during their early years. Like friend Townes Van Zandt before him, Clark is a master storyteller, a dream weaver blessed with the ability to match ear-catching melodies with poetic lyrics that aim for the deepest part of the listener's soul. Somedays the Song Writes You, Clark's eleventh studio album, is a well-crafted collection of compositions that rank among some of his best. Clark's tobacco-and-whiskey-stained voice has never sounded better than it does on such tracks as "The Guitar," a fiery number about a wayward musician and the pawnshop guitar that causes an unexpected awakening in him, and "Hollywood," a slow-grooving cut that takes a sideways look at the world-famous district of Los Angeles, CA. Clark, as he has on previous albums, covers a Townes Van Zandt tune on Somedays the Song Writes You.