Feels Like Rain
Info
|
Label |
Silvertone BMG/Jive/Novus |
|
|
Released |
March 9, 1993 |
|
|
Original year of release |
1993 |
|
|
Recorded |
1993 |
|
|
Total playing time |
48:18 |
|
|
Producer |
John Porter |
|
|
||
|
Buddy Guy |
Guitar, Vocals |
|
|
Tony Braunagel |
Percussion |
|
|
Tom Canning |
Organ (Hammond) |
|
|
Rick Cortes |
Guitar (Bass) |
|
|
Mike Finnegan |
Background vocals |
|
|
Renee Geyer & the Bump band |
Background vocals |
|
|
Marty Grebb |
Organ, Background vocals, Sax (Baritone), Tenor (Vocal) |
|
|
David Grissom |
Guitar (Rhythm) |
|
|
Richard Hayward |
Drums |
|
|
Darrell Leonard |
Trumpet |
|
|
John Mayall |
Piano, Vocals |
|
|
Ian McLagan |
Piano |
|
|
Bill Payne |
Piano |
|
|
John Porter |
Guitar |
|
|
Jimmy Powers |
Harp |
|
|
Bonnie Raitt |
Slide guitar, Vocals |
|
|
Paul Rodgers |
Vocals |
|
|
Greg Rzab |
Bass |
|
|
Johnny Lee Schell |
Guitar |
|
|
John Philip Shenale |
Organ, Synthesizer |
|
|
Joe Sublett |
Sax (Tenor) |
|
|
Travis Tritt |
Vocals |
|
|
Mick Weaver |
Organ |
|
|
Joe Yuele |
Drums |
|
Tracks
written by |
playing time |
||
| 1. |
Buddy Guy |
5:03 |
|
| 2. |
James Brown |
2:26 |
|
| 3. |
John Hiatt |
4:38 |
|
| 4. |
Muddy Waters |
5:42 |
|
| 5. |
J. Ellison |
3:29 |
|
| 6. |
E. Jones (Guitar Slim) |
3:33 |
|
| 7. |
John Fogerty |
4:38 |
|
| 8. |
Junior Wells |
5:08 |
|
| 9. |
Ray Charles |
3:13 |
|
| 10. |
Marvin Gaye |
4:07 |
|
| 11. |
Buddy Guy |
6:15 |
Reviews
All-Music guide (Bill Dahl) - Hideous duets with the likes of Paul Rodgers (talk about some bad company!) and lame country hat act Travis Tritt render this the weakest contemporary disc by far in Guy's massive catalog. Duetless revivals of Ray Charles's "Mary Ann," Guitar Slim's "Sufferin' Mind," and Muddy Waters' "She's Nineteen Years Old" are among the set's precious few highlights.
Rolling Stone (4/1/93) - ...Guy reigns supreme among flashy, high-energy blues guitarists....these songs/ sound tailor-made for Guy's heated, gospelish vocal turns...
Spin (5/93) - ...achieves a greater cohesiveness than anything he's recorded to date....Guy's great gift is that he can create revolutions without knocking walls down...
Entertainment Weekly (4/2/93) - ...when he starts strafing the landscape, it's hard not to surrender to the blinding intensity of this living legend's white-hot blues...
Emap Consumer Magazines Limited (Mat Snow) - The best guitar player alive, reckons Eric Clapton of his mentor Buddy Guy, and to see them side by side is instructive: the former in his suit is a prosperous ex-Mod who plays carefully buttoned-down blues; the latter, though nine years his senior, is an unreconstructed dude who has no qualms about cranking the axe to 10 and letting rip, just like Eric Clapton before he caught a lethal dose of taste. So, after Buddy Guy's 1991 comeback Damn Right, I've Got The Blues, here's a second, electrifyingly plugged-in, instalment. Again, a crisp production by John Porter and the assistance of Bonnie Raitt, Paul Rodgers, John Mayall and Travis Tritt offers a welcome to the rock fan as well as the bluesologist. Better still, Buddy Guy plays to his strengths-stringmanship and singing-while letting others take the songwriting strain, never his best suit. Highlights include John Hiatt's title track ballad and Marvin Gaye's Trouble Man, successful excursions from the 12-bar format, which Buddy Guy still enlivens with guitar breaks (often wah-wahed) that dance with panache, recalling how much he influenced Jimi Hendrix. Don't wait until he's John Lee Hooker's age to turn on to this man.
All-Music guide (Cub Koda) - The followup to the Grammy winner Damn Right I've Got The Blues!, this mines similar turf with similar results. Buddy turns in powerhouse renditions of James Brown's "I Go Crazy," Guitar Slim's "Sufferin' Mind," and Ray Charles' "Mary Ann," while the obligatory guest duets reach their high point with Bonnie Raitt's turn on John Hiatt's title cut. The synthesizer lushness of Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man" may enrage true believers, but Guy pours his heart into it, making it a surprise highlight.
Q Magazine (4/93) - ...an unreconstructed dude who has no qualms about cranking the axe to 10 and letting rip....Guy plays to his strengths--stringmanship and singing--while letting others take a the songwriting strain...
Entertainment Weekly (4/2/93) - ...when he starts strafing the landscape, it's hard not to surrender to the blinding intensity of this living legend's white-hot blues...
CMJ New Music Report (James Lien) - It's your time now, baby, but it'll be mine after a while"-so the song goes, and it couldn't ring any truer than it must for veteran Chicago bluesman Buddy Guy. After years of never quite capturing his frenzied blues intensity and wild showmanship on wax, Guy experienced a breakthrough two years ago with his Grammy-winning comeback LP Damn Right I've Got The Blues. Although it seems like ever since then the media's been trying to shove him onto that "Elder Statesman Of The Blues" pedestal, the cat doesn't look a day over 30, and plays like he's a hungry 19-year-old with no tomorrow. Produced by John Porter (who also did Damn Right), Feels Like Rain once again features an all-star band-including Richie Hayward and Bill Payne of Little Feat along with cameos from Bonnie Raitt, Paul Rodgers, John Mayall (on the excellent "I Could Cry") and Travis Tritt - whose supporting presence never once seems heavy-handed. But for real Buddy-ness and guitar fireworks, the stunner would have to be Guy's "Country Man," or his bluesy covers of James Brown's "I'll Go Crazy" and Guitar Slim's "Sufferin' Mind.
Dirty Linen (Joe. F. Compton) - To follow the immense success of Damn Right, I Got The Blues, Guy has assembled another killer studio band that includes drummer Richie Haywood, and reunites Bump Band members keyboardist Ian McLagen (ex-Small Faces) and guitarist Johnny Lee Schell (ex-Bonnie Raitt), but does not meet with the same success as last year's release. The Hiatt title tune is wonderful, but its arrangement does not give Bonnie Raitt much of a chance to shine and Paul Rodgers messes up "Some Kind of Wonderful" making it some kind of horrific. Country star Travis Tritt makes Fogerty's "Change in the Weather" the best of the guest cuts. On his own, Guy does a splendid hyper-kinetic cover of James Brown's "I Go Crazy," Guitar Slim's "Sufferin' Mind," and digs deep into the Ray Charles box set for a stellar "Mary Ann." A decidedly mixed bag from the guitar master this time out.
San Diego Tribune (George Varga) - The title of
veteran bluesman Buddy Guy's new album may not wash with still-wet Southern
Californians drying out from this year's deluge of winter storms. But
for anyone who enjoys heartfelt music that exudes
passion and soul so thick you can feel it, "Feels Like Rain"
delivers a welcome flood of musical treats and excitement from the man
Eric Clapton has hailed as "the best guitar player alive."
The boldly confident sequel to the guitarist-singer's acclaimed 1991
album, "Damn Right, I've Got the Blues," this 11-song collection
features equal doses of searing urban blues, sizzling uptown funk and
gritty rock 'n' soul music that should appeal to a far broader audience
than most blues albums attract. So broad, in fact, that "Feels
Like Rain" could duplicate the multiplatinum success of Robert
Cray's 1986 breakthrough album, "Strong Persuader."
That's because, like Cray, Guy and his producer, John Porter, have managed
to broaden the appeal of Guy's blues-drenched music without diluting
the emotional essence so vital to its success. Then again, Guy -- who
performs April 17 at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach -- could probably
sing a nursery rhyme or a jingle for underarm deodorant without losing
an iota of
the bluesy spirit that informs his every note and breath.
It is for this reason that Guy, 56, can (and does) turn in first-rate
performances of James Brown's "I Go Crazy" and Marvin Gaye's
intricately arranged "Trouble Man" without making either sound
out of place on a conventional, or even an unconventional, blues album.
Both songs/ demonstrate Guy's versatility and his ability to stamp any
style with his own mark, so much so that his "I Go Crazy"
actually surpasses Brown's incendiary original. "Trouble Man"
showcases Guy's surprisingly supple falsetto and lithe, jazz-inflected
guitar work.
And while two of the four guest artists featured here -- Bonnie Raitt
and Travis Tritt -- were chosen at least in part for the commercial
allure they bring to such a project, both acquit themselves with pizazz
and panache. Ditto John Mayall and ex-Free/Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers,
who duet with Guy on the blues standard "I Could Cry" and
the Marvin Gaye/Grand Funk hit "Some Kind of Wonderful," respectively.
Singing and playing as if his very life, not just his career, depended
on it, Guy attacks each note on his sweat-soaked guitar with palpable
fervor and sings each lyric like it could be his last. His unmistakable
conviction is matched by Porter's sleek, sharp production, which is
polished and concise without being stifling or overly polite, and by
the alternately punchy and sensitive playing by his crack band.
Updating the blues one moment (his own "She's a Superstar"
and "Country Man") and paying homage to its rich past the
next (Muddy Water's classic "She's Nineteen Years Old," Guitar
Slim's svelte but mournful "Sufferin' Mind"), Guy shows himself
to be a musician for all reasons and seasons. His wonderful version
of Ray Charles' New Orleans-flavored "Mary Ann" brims
with infectious exuberance, as does his delightful duet with country
star Tritt on John Fogerty's "Change in the Weather."
All that stands now between Guy and the long-overdue stardom is an MTV-ready
video and a hit single or two (a la Cray's "Smoking Gun").
And "Feels Like Rain" boasts several likely contenders, including
the John Hiatt-penned title track that features vocals and slide guitar
by Raitt.
But even if Guy has to wait a while longer for the public to catch up
to him, this fine album leaves no doubt his time has come and then some.
Don't let him pass you by.
Extra Info
Feels like rain won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album.