Blues Singer is the 12th studio album by Buddy Guy released in 2003 through Silvertone Records.
The album is all acoustic and dedicated to John Lee Hooker with the line, "In Memory of John Lee Hooker. You are missed."
Background The album was created as a tribute to Muddy Waters' acoustic album Folk Singer. B.B. King and Eric Clapton made guest appearances on "Crawling King Snake", with Clapton also playing guitar on "Lucy Mae Blues". Following the previous album Sweet Tea (2001), Dennis Herring, who had worked on recordings by artists such as Counting Crows, was again appointed as the producer.Dennis Herring |Credits | AllMusic
Reception
On the Billboard 200, the album peaked at number 188 on June 21, 2003, but fell out of the top 200 the following week. It reached number 3 on Billboards Blues Albums chart and number 12 on the Top Heatseekers chart.
At the 46th Annual Grammy Awards, the album won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, writing for AllMusic, stated that while Sweet Tea (2001) was filled with unexpectedly raw energy, Blues Singer (2003), by contrast, placed a strong emphasis on acoustic elements rather than the powerful, gritty electric blues of its predecessor. He also noted that although Guy had previously recorded strong acoustic sessions with Junior Wells, acoustic blues could not be considered his defining strength.
Track listing
PersonnelMusicians Buddy Guy – guitar, vocals Jimbo Mathus – guitar Jim Keltner – drums Tony Garnier – upright bass Eric ClaptonEric Clapton appears courtesy of Reprise Records – lead guitar on tracks 2, 3 B. B. KingB. B. King appears courtesy of MCA Records – lead guitar on track 2 The Perrys – snaps and handclapsProduction' Dennis Herring – producer
References
External links