| Alone & Acoustic | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by | |
| Released | 1991 |
| Genre | Blues |
| Label | Alligator [1] |
| Producer | Didier Tricard |
Alone & Acoustic is an album by the blues musicians Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, released in 1991. [2] [3] It was recorded in 1981, in Paris, France, while the two were touring. [4] [5]
The album has sold more than 100,000 copies. [1] Along with Damn Right, I've Got the Blues , it marked a return to commercial success for Guy. [6]
The album was produced by Didier Tricard. [7] Guy played acoustic Guild guitars and Wells played harmonica; they both sang. [8] [9] [3] Guy wrote three of the songs, including the opening "Give Me My Coat and Shoes". [10] Ten tracks were originally released via an import album. [2]
Rolling Stone called Alone & Acoustic "reflective and subdued," writing that "a warm spontaneity runs through the album." [17] Robert Christgau praised ""High Heel Sneakers" and "Give Me My Coat and Shoes". [13]
The Orlando Sentinel determined that Guy's playing "on 12-and six-string acoustics is uncomplicated but as awesome as any daredevil run he has played on his Stratocaster." [15] The Chicago Tribune thought that "the extroverted Guy now sounds like a soft, lyrical Mississippi bluesman virtually singing to himself … Wells remains a strong, dramatic, post-Muddy Waters singer, but the intimacy of the setting leads to his widening his already impressive dynamic range." [12]
AllMusic wrote that "this is acoustic street-corner blues at its best, performed with incredible expressiveness, ease, and joy." [11]
McKinley Morganfield, known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago blues". His style of playing has been described as "raining down Delta beatitude".
George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, Gary Clark Jr. and John Mayer. In the 1960s, Guy played with Muddy Waters as a session guitarist at Chess Records and began a musical partnership with blues harp virtuoso Junior Wells.
Junior Wells was an American singer, harmonica player, and recording artist. He is best known for his signature song "Messin' with the Kid" and his 1965 album Hoodoo Man Blues, described by the critic Bill Dahl as "one of the truly classic blues albums of the 1960s". Wells himself categorized his music as rhythm and blues.
Otis Rush Jr. was an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter. His distinctive guitar style featured a slow-burning sound and long bent notes. With qualities similar to the styles of other 1950s artists Magic Sam and Buddy Guy, his sound became known as West Side Chicago blues and was an influence on many musicians, including Michael Bloomfield, Peter Green and Eric Clapton.
Lonnie Brooks was an American blues singer and guitarist. The musicologist Robert Palmer, writing in Rolling Stone, stated, "His music is witty, soulful and ferociously energetic, brimming with novel harmonic turnarounds, committed vocals and simply astonishing guitar work." Jon Pareles, a music critic for the New York Times, wrote, "He sings in a rowdy baritone, sliding and rasping in songs that celebrate lust, fulfilled and unfulfilled; his guitar solos are pointed and unhurried, with a tone that slices cleanly across the beat. Wearing a cowboy hat, he looks like the embodiment of a good-time bluesman." Howard Reich, a music critic for the Chicago Tribune, wrote, "...the music that thundered from Brooks' instrument and voice...shook the room. His sound was so huge and delivery so ferocious as to make everything alongside him seem a little smaller."
Carey Bell Harrington was an American blues musician who played harmonica in the Chicago blues style. Bell played harmonica and bass guitar for other blues musicians from the late 1950s to the early 1970s before embarking on a solo career. Besides his own albums, he recorded as an accompanist or duo artist with Earl Hooker, Robert Nighthawk, Lowell Fulson, Eddie Taylor, Louisiana Red and Jimmy Dawkins and was a frequent partner with his son, the guitarist Lurrie Bell. Blues Revue called Bell "one of Chicago's finest harpists." The Chicago Tribune said Bell was "a terrific talent in the tradition of Sonny Boy Williamson and Little Walter." In 2023, he was inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame.
Folk Singer is the second studio album and fourth album overall by Muddy Waters, released in January 1964 by Chess Records. The album features Waters on acoustic guitar, backed by Willie Dixon on string bass, Clifton James on drums, and Buddy Guy on acoustic guitar. It is Waters's only all-acoustic album. Numerous reissues of Folk Singer include bonus tracks from two subsequent sessions, in April 1964 and October 1964.
Lurrie Bell is an American blues guitarist and singer. His father was renowned blues harmonica player Carey Bell.
Hoodoo Man Blues is the debut album of blues vocalist and harmonica player Junior Wells, performing with the Junior Wells' Chicago Blues Band, an early collaboration with guitarist Buddy Guy. Released on LP by Delmark Records in November 1965, the album has been subsequently reissued on CD and LP by Delmark and Analogue Productions.
Aaron Corthen, better known as A.C. Reed was an American blues saxophonist, closely associated with the Chicago blues scene from the 1940s into the 2000s.
Crawfish Fiesta is an album by Professor Longhair, released in 1980 by Alligator Records. It features Dr. John, who reprised his original role as guitarist in Longhair's band, Johnny Vidacovich on drums, Tony Dagradi and Andrew Kaslow on sax, and Longhair's long time conga player Alfred "Uganda" Roberts. The album was recorded at the Sea-Saint Studios in New Orleans and it was co-produced by Kaslow, his wife Allison and Bruce Iglauer. It won the first W.C. Handy Blues Album of the Year award in 1980.
The Son Seals Blues Band is the debut album by Son Seals, released by Alligator Records in 1973. It was produced by Son Seals and Bruce Iglauer, and was reissued on CD in 1993.
Live and Burning is a live album by the blues musician Son Seals, released through Alligator Records in 1978.
Selwyn Birchwood is an American blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter from Tampa, Florida. He was the winner of the Blues Foundation’s 2013 International Blues Challenge, as well the winner of the Albert King Guitarist of the Year award, presented at the same event. To win, he bested 125 other bands from around the world. Birchwood plays electric guitar and electric lap steel guitar. His live performances feature his original songs. Living Blues magazine said, "Selwyn Birchwood is making waves, surprising people and defying expectations. Be on the lookout. He revels in the unexpected." The Tampa Tribune said Birchwood plays with "power and precision reminiscent of blues guitar hero Buddy Guy. He is a gritty vocalist [who is] commanding with his axe." Rolling Stone said "Birchwood is a young, powerhouse guitarist and soulful vocalist. Don't Call No Ambulance is a remarkable debut by a major player." The Washington Post said, "Selwyn Birchwood is an indelibly modern and original next-generation bluesman; his tough vocals, guitar and lap steel touch on classic Chicago blues, Southern soul and boogie."
Toronzo Cannon is an American electric blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He grew up on the South Side of Chicago near the Robert Taylor Homes and Theresa's Lounge where he heard blues artists including Buddy Guy and Junior Wells.
Stone Crazy! is an album by the American musician Buddy Guy. It was recorded and released in 1979.
Heavy Love is an album by the American blues musician Buddy Guy, released in 1998. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Contemporary Blues Album".
"After Awhile" is an album by country music singer-songwriter Jimmie Dale Gilmore. It was released in 1991 as his debut album for Elektra Nonesuch Records.
Fish Ain't Bitin' is the second album by the American musician Corey Harris, released in 1997 through Alligator Records. Harris supported the album with a North American tour that included shows opening for B.B. King. Fish Ain't Bitin' won a W. C. Handy Award for the best acoustic blues album of 1997.
