This is the sixth in a series of Rock & Roll features I'm writing for this site. I'm a rock and roller, so this column is a way for me to feature a different album that I like, from different genres every month.
Blues may just be one of those genres you either love or hate depending on your personality, but it is and always will be the basis for all rock and roll. I consider some blues to be just another form of rock music and some rock to just be another form of blues the two genres overlap so much, but I thought it was time to discuss an “actual blues album”, if you want to call it that.
I first came to the blues primarily when I was getting heavily into Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton during my college days and it made sense that I would progress into artists that might be considered “actual blues artists”. One of the first I sought out was Chicago blues legend Buddy Guy. I'd seen Guy perform at a show earlier and had liked his music, but had not become fully entrenched in blues yet, and so I didn't pick up his latest release at the time, Sweet Tea. Remembering that release later when I was finally getting into blues more and more, I decided to start there when I started exploring Guy's large musical catalog.
Buddy Guy is one of the most interesting blues artists. Having been around and releasing albums since the 60s, his career is massive and includes a range of styles ranging from straight up blues to the psychedelic. Although some call his career more inconsistent than anything else, he is still an inspiration to thousands, a heck of a performer and guitarist (even now in his 60s), with lots of worthwhile albums to his credit. I find Sweet Tea to be one of my favorites not only by him, but by all blues artists and even of all time.
Released in 2001 after a successful comeback in the 90s, this album was labeled as something of a return to the blues, but I see it as far more than that; a great blues album yes, but also just a great feel and that makes it great from more than just a blues perspective.
Article comments