Buddy Guy

There’s no such thing as a bad Buddy Guy album. And though he’s put out better collections than Skin Deep, this one still deserves the attention of anyone who cares about state-of-the-art blues guitar. Buddy Guy celebrated his 72nd birthday this summer, and a lot of those years went into mastering his métier. No one brings more joy to the blues than Buddy Guy. When he exchanges licks with Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi on a song like “Too Many Tears,” the pleasure of giving expression to pain is palpable. The best song here is “Who’s Gonna Fill Those Shoes,” an homage to the blues giants who are either going or gone—Muddy Waters, Otis Spann and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Buddy could have put his own name in that roll call of blues greats, but modesty forbade.