There’s not much more we can say about blues veteran Willie Buck than we did in this post on his previous album Willie Buck Way, except that Willie’s latest album Live at Buddy Guy’s Legends (Delmark Records) is the closest thing you can get to a live set of old-school Chicago blues today without incurring all of the costs associated with a trip to Chicago (unless Willie or one of the other very few remaining old-time Chicago players like John Primer happens to be coming through your area, which seems to be occurring less and less these days). A large part of that is, of course, Willie, who’s been, well, singing the blues in the classic Muddy Waters style for many decades now, having gotten his start performing with the likes of such greats as Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Magic Sam, Buddy Guy, Little Walter, Eddie Taylor, Magic Slim, Byther Smith, and Johnny “Big Moose” Walker, among others.
But we also have to give loads of credit to his backing band on this performance, featuring a number of other well-known names in the blues, including Willie “The Touch” Hayes on drums on what would turn out to be his very last recording, Billy Flynn and Thaddeus Krolicki on guitar, Johnny Iguana on keys, Melvin Smith on bass, and Scott Dirks on harmonica. While Buck of course commands a large part of the focus throughout the album, you do get a great taste for the band itself on the bubbly, swinging instrumental introduction “Jumping”, with lots more terrific harmonica, keyboard, and guitar parts over the course of the following nine songs, as Hayes and Smith expertly hold down the rhythm.
After heading to “Kansas City” upon Buck’s joining, the band dives into a number of Buck’s originals, including the midtempo shuffling “Tried to Work Something Out”, a strolling “Let’s See If We Can Come Together” with its thick harmonica and stinging Muddy-esque slide guitar, and a similarly tempoed, slow grooving “Snow”, with its references not only to the wintry precipitation but also perhaps to the COVID-19 pandemic keeping folks confined to their homes.
Covers of “Rock Me” and “Hoochie Coochie Man”–with particularly expressive vocals from Willie on the latter–are among the best versions of the songs you’ll ever hear, ranking right up with those from the masters who made them famous, with a “Catfish Blues”-like “Walking and Swimming” fitting in quite nicely between.
At the risk of sounding like an old codger, you don’t hear many albums these days with this genuine of a classic Chicago blues sound after the passing of other greats like Willie “Big Eyes” Smith and Pinetop Perkins, so be sure to take advantage of it when you can, by picking up a copy of Buck’s Live at Buddy Guy’s Legends!