Stone Crazy! - Buddy Guy's Masterpiece

The best blues album ever put to wax. This is Buddy Guy at his height of inventiveness, seasoned but still fresh, somehow in complete command of his craft and totally out of control at the same time. It may not be the definitive Chicago blues album, but it belongs in the conversation – funnily enough, Buddy Guy had to go to France to get it recorded properly.

The story goes that Buddy Guy moved on from being a Chess records sessions guy with the greats (mainly Muddy Waters) and moved on to having a solo career of his own. During the 60’s he would perform these absolutely electric, otherworldly live shows but when he got into a studio producers had him cut 2:30 long pop versions of his songs or covers. These covers weren’t bad, they just weren’t unique (aside from Guy’s guitar work- one example) Guy never really took off in popularity beyond a niche audience during this time. He was legendary in the circles that knew him, but he couldn’t thrive in the box that producers wanted to shove him in.

There is a video on YouTube from 1968 of Jimi Hendrix staring up at Buddy Guy in absolute awe. Imagine this: Hendrix at the absolute height of his powers, down in the crowd of an overcrowded blues club elbow to elbow with other fans of the real. Sure he’s wearing a big fucking hat with a feather in it, but other than that he’s just one of the crowd- at least until about halfway through the video when he gets up and jams with Buddy and the band. Hendrix at this time was an absolute superstar- imagine an arena headlining pop star from 2025 in a similar crowd.

The man was otherworldly, a soaring talent when up on stage, but his wings were clipped every time he walked into a studio for nearly 20 years.

It took until 1979 until someone, Didier Tricard in France, took a shot at recording a Buddy Guy album just as he would play it live- it results in absolute perfection.

The first track, I Smell a Rat, is so insane that I consider this take on the blues almost psychedelic, despite Guy not using any of the traditional psychedelic effects like Wah pedals or echo effects, etc. Guy’s Stratocaster is plugged almost straight into an amp and with his fingers alone he seems to bend the very rules of the time space continuum.

Guy’s singing is manic and desperate on top of soulful. In the early years, he was often paired with Junior Wells who would often take over vocal duties. But here Guy’s singing is top notch, maybe the best performance of his career aside from his cover of Peggy Lee’s Fever. His vocals are fantastic, but they are still overshadowed by his guitar work. He’s explosive, wildly inventive and breaks through a lot of phrasing conventions that you’re used to hearing in Chicago blues. This man bends notes to the point of breaking them. Time itself gets turned upside down in moments throughout this album. The tone is pure, and Guy takes the dynamics of the instrument to the extreme.

Time has proven that it is difficult to truly feel energy in a studio recording, but they captured lightning in a bottle on this session. Throughout the album, Guy is wailing and moaning as he plays his guitar, yelling at his bandmates, and calling out off-mic as he asks the subject of his songs for help, mercy or love. This album is so good in my mind because it captures a raw moment on hi-fi equipment. This album doesn’t just happen, you feel like Buddy Guy NEEDS these songs to be sung or else he’s going to explode. It’s got to get out, and they just so happened to have tape rolling when it did.

Vintage pressings of this LP are not that hard to find, and of course this is the best way to listen, but I would listen to this album through a rotary phone receiver if I had to. If you’ve never heard this album, I encourage you to not just casually look it up listen in the background - give it a real listen. If you can, go home, grab a strong drink and turn it up as loud as you and your neighbors can stand it. The more you think you know about blues, the less prepared you will be.