CD Review - Buddy Whittington - Six String Svengali

BUDDY WHITTINGTON: Six String Svengali
Manhaton Records
Available in September 2011
Buddy is on tour in the UK in August and September and back again in November
http://www.buddywhittington.com

When Rolling Stone produced their list of the 100 All-time Greatest Guitarists in 2003, Buddy Whittington was not on the list. Buddy was that the time with John Mayall who described him as “Probably the greatest Bluesbreaker” and when after serving with Mayall from 1993 to 2008 he went out on his own, his first eponymous CD was widely praised; this second album is gonna be a prize winner.

Not only is the mix of blues and country guitar styles, developed by Buddy over the years, a fascinating display of musicianship and skill, but also, Buddy here gives us 10 songs and an instrumental all of his own making, which are outstanding for their inventiveness and lyrical skill. Buddy is, like Gary Nicholson, a son of the Dallas/Fort Worth, Metroplex in Texas, and like Nicholson, who is a multi award winning songsmith with 350 of his songs recorded and 26 ASCAP nomination, Buddy’s song writing comes with a wry sense of humour and an observational capacity and ear for conversation that add immeasurably to his work.

The songs on this CD range from a heartfelt love song “My World Revolves Around You” (I’ll never get enough of your sweet love baby no matter what you do/ Never gonna lose the taste for your sweet stuff/ My world revolves around you.) through a play-on-words piece, “The Put On Song” (Reporter done put me in the papers/ TV put me on the news/ Tax man put me in an audit/ which put me smack-dab in the blues..) to paeans to guitars “Deadwood and Wire “ (I knew I had to have some deadwood deadwood, magnets, switches, solder and wire/ somethin’ straight offa Leo’s workbench/ both Lover/McCarty and Lennon/McCartney inspired.) and “Six String Romance “ and a fan letter to Texas Music, in “Texas Trios”, addressed to the likes of ZZ Top, Buddy Holly, Double Trouble and many more. “Ain’t Got The Scratch” is a lament for a shortage of money, while, “Back When The Beano Was Boss” references music and musicians who brought so many to the blues though Mayall’s seminal “Beano” (1966) album. The lyrics even manage to give a name-check to producer Mike Vernon!

The band consists of Buddy, with Wayne Six on bass and Mick Gage (who is also the producer) and the quality is excellent. Buddy struts his stuff with ever inventive lines, power chords, country and Western Swing licks and some thoughtful controlled fretwork, There is some overdubbing especially on a couple of tracks where Buddy plays an axe through a Leslie (Rotating Tremolo Speaker System) and sounds like a Hammond B3.

In short this is a terrific CD and needs the biggest audience it can find. One thing is for sure, if Rolling Stone ever do another Top 100 Guitarists, Buddy will be there!

Ian McKenzie
Editor Blues In The South
www.bluesinthesouth.com