Live! The Real Deal

Silvertone Records has done a smart job of resurrecting Buddy Guy's career. When the label signed the Chicago blues guitar master in 1990, the 54-year-old legend hadn't had an American release in nine years. Silvertone introduced him to a new audience by having him play duets with such rock-star admirers as Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, and Jeff Beck on the 1991 album, Damn Right, I've Got the Blues. In 1996 the label unleashed the hardcore Buddy Guy stretching out on vintage blues numbers in a live setting on Live! The Real Deal. The payoff is not only a terrific blues album but also an album built on the kind of financial foundation that will insure many more to come. --Geoffrey Himes