Stone Crazy!

The Blues Giant (also known as Stone Crazy!) is the fourth studio album by Buddy Guy, recorded and released in 1979.

The Blues Giant / Stone Crazy!
Studio album by
Released1979
RecordedOctober 31, 1979
StudioConcorcet Studios, Toulouse, France
GenreElectric blues, Chicago blues, Blues
Length42:30
LabelIsabel / Alligator
ProducerDidier Tricard
Buddy Guy chronology
Hold That Plane!
(1972)
The Blues Giant / Stone Crazy!
(1979)
Breaking Out
(1980)
Alternative cover
The 1981 Alligator release cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic
Robert ChristgauB+
Rolling Stone

History

The 1970s was a very hard time for traditional blues musicians. Only one Buddy Guy studio album had been released in that decade (Hold That Plane! – recorded in 1969 and released in 1972), until he and his band entered Concoret Studios in Toulouse, France, for these sessions. Guy was pleased to record with French producer Didier Tricard. To release this album, Tricard founded a new label, which Guy named "Isabel" after his mother.

Recordings

On October 31, 1979, Guy and his band recorded 13 songs, for two albums – this one and the Junior Wells album Pleading the Blues (Wells only played on the tracks for his album, but the band is the same on both albums).

Guy's brother Phil played rhythm guitars, J. W. Williams played bass, Ray "Killer" Allison played drums. "Are You Losing Your Mind" is a version of Guy's earlier song "Stone Crazy", retitled due to copyright issues at the time.

Releases

Originally released on the French label Isabel in 1979 as The Blues Giant, in France and the U.K., but with alternate covers.[1] First released in the U.S. in 1981 by Alligator Records (retitled Stone Crazy!).[1] Released in Brazil in 1988 (with an alternate cover). First released on CD in 1990 (in the U.S. by Alligator as Stone Crazy!), in the UK by Isabel (as The Blues Giant). Released on CD in France by Isabel in 2002 as Stone Crazy!, but with an alternate cover to the U.S. release.

Track listing

All tracks written by Buddy Guy, except "Outskirts of Town" by Casey Bill Weldon and Andy Razaf.

  1. "I Smell a Rat" – 9:31
  2. "Are You Losing Your Mind" – 6:33
  3. "You've Been Gone Too Long" – 5:38
  4. "She's Out There Somewhere" – 4:26
  5. "Outskirts of Town" – 8:13
  6. "When I Left Home" – 8:20

Personnel

  • Buddy Guy – lead guitar, vocals
  • Phil Guy – rhythm guitar
  • J.W. Williams – bass
  • Ray Allison – drums

References

  1. "Buddy Guy - The Blues Giant". discogs.com. 1980. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
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