Buddy Guy and Junior Wells
Drinkin' TNT 'N' Smokin' Dynamite
(Blind Pig BP71182)
This CD, recorded live at the Montreux Jazz
Festival in Switzerland back in 1974, is what a famous bluesman by the name of Willie
Shakespeare called, "The stuff that dreams are made on." Not only are we talking
Junior Wells and Buddy Guy; we are also talking Pinetop Perkins and some guy named Bill
Wyman who also produced the CD. Evidently, Wyman has a band too, the Rolling something or
other; You probably never heard of them. The story goes that Muddy Waters was finishing a
set with Wyman backing him up on bass. Buddy and Junior were setting up to do their set
but weren't happy with their backup band. They asked Wyman for some help and he provided
it. The resulting jam session has been captured in the digital and makes up the whole of
this release. Given my druthers, I would always prefer to hear a band live; either in
person live or doing a live performance on CD. I like studio produced stuff too, but you
just can't get the same sort of vicarious abandonment when you have to limit a song to a
certain time frame or you can go back and overdub all the rough parts. No, there is
something about a live performance that you cannot duplicate in a studio setting that
makes it special and this CD proves my theory. Well's vocal and harmonica work is at
maximum power. Guy's finger zingers are dazzling; sometimes whispering and subtle, other
times pushing out that fire and lightning attack that has made Guy a legend. These two
gentlemen have been working together since 1966 and the partnership seems beneficial to
both. Guy pushes Wells to push the music to new levels and vice versa. They seem to
challenge each other to rise to the occasion and the results bring out the best elements
in each musician. Listen to the give and take on "Ten Years Ago," you will hear
what I'm talking about. And who could go wrong with Pinetop Perkins on the piano? This is
a great CD for fans of Guy and Wells, but even if you had never heard of them, you would
still enjoy the truly incredible live jam from some really talented artists. It's a solid
Blues groove from start to finish.
- Bill Fountain -
Southwest Blues CD Review - February 1999
Current Reviews -
1999 Reviews
