SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BUDDY GUY – AIN’T DONE WITH THE BLUES

BUDDY GUY
AIN’T DONE WITH THE BLUES
RCA

Despite announcing his retirement from the road with his 2024 Damn Right Farewell Tour, blues legend Buddy Guy has returned with his first studio record since 2022, following a string of live releases since. Ain’t Done With The Blues lives up to its title with Guy, now 89, sounding absolutely remarkable. Additionally, the record features collaborations with Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Joe Walsh, Joe Bonamassa, Peter Frampton, and The Blind Boys Of Alabama.

Ain’t Done With The Blues opens with perhaps its most intimate of moments. “Hooker Thing” starts with Guy in the distance, asking either the engineer or audience, or both, if they’re ready for him before pulling the strings of an unplugged electric guitar in tribute to John Lee Hooker, before claiming this was the first thing he learned on the instrument. Lasting just over a minute, the song feels like a brief prelude to the album, a moment of reflection as Guy looks to his roots long before his career actually took off before diving into his thirty-fourth solo studio album. “Been There Done That” truly opens the record with the blues revelry one would come to expect. Of all the tracks on the Ain’t Done With The Blues, “Been There Done That” is among the most straight-ahead rockers ripe with pulsing shots and ripping lead guitar lines, but it certainly packs a punch. Guy’s singing still rings with a youthful energy while his guitar feels like a natural extension to his own voice, both with an immaculate tone. This is continued in the following track, “Blues Chase The Blues Away”, a sauntering number driven by boogie-woogie piano and crunching guitars set atop a weighty backbeat. Even at his most traditional, the blues always feel fresh when in the hands of Guy.

Of the collaborations, Guy and company simply can’t miss. Between hanging with contemporaries like Walsh, Frampton, and Bonamassa, to championing the new generation of blues men with Kingfish, Ain’t Done With The Blues is overflowing with quintessential blues jams and moments of greatness. Beyond these, however, there are an abundance of highlights that stand equally as strong without collaborators. From the moody swing behind “Love On A Budget” to the funky strut of “I Got Sumpin For You”, or the gentle balladry of “Blues On Top” to the mean groove behind “Upside Down”, there truly is not a moment of weakness throughout Guy’s latest outing. Much like “Hooker Thing”, it is the acoustic blues of “One From Lightnin’” that speaks to the timelessness of Guy and the blues as a whole as he delivers a striking number you’d wish that he’d indulge further in, even just for a single moment. In addition to this, the distinctly modern “I Don’t Forget” is a recollection of the African American experience of segregation and racist, systemic oppression amid their quest for survival and equal citizenship, respect, and dignity. Such a degree of contemporary tone demonstrates a level of innovation and continued relevance to Guy that is often reserved for modern troubadours of the blues such as Gary Clark Jr.

Buddy Guy has enjoyed an infinity unprecedented career of 72 plus years. Ain’t Done With The Blues, as the name suggests, acts as a creative statement that needlessly reminds us of the pioneering nature behind Guy’s songwriting and performance. Released on his 89th birthday, Ain’t Done With The Blues is his gift to us, an exhilarating promise that serves as the ultimate love letter to the blues, further justifying Guy’s legendary status within the genre and popular music as a whole.

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