Album Review: Buddy Guy - Live At Legends

If you've ever seen a really good Buddy Guy show, then you'll already know that the bluesman – who's now 76 years old – is still a vital entertainer who knows his way around the fretboard and, most importantly, can get the most out of his shit-hot band. Live At Legends is another reminder of this fact.

Introduced as “the baddest motherfucker in town”, Guy jumps onstage and lets rip with soaring lead breaks and a couple of verses steeped in braggadocio on Best Damn Fool from 2008's Skin Deep. Towards its end he shows the control he has over his band, bringing them to a whisper before launching into the big riff from Muddy Waters' iconic Mannish Boy, the first of many covers on here, with Willie Dixon's I Just Want To Make Love To You, John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom, Hendrix's Voodoo Chile and Cream's Strange Brew and Sunshine Of My Love all massive parts of a regular Buddy Guy set. It's kind of a shame, as it's his own hit, Damn Right I Got The Blues, that impresses most here, the 1991 song holding up as a modern blues gem and this rendition is gloriously showy as Guy screams and shreds all over his slick band.

This is the distillation of the best parts of two sets (and possibly some strategic mixing), but it's one of the better live blues records we've been granted in years and ought to receive credit for that. While the three unreleased recent studio cuts that close things out are more than passable, you're probably best going back to track one once the show is over.