Personnel: Buddy Guy (vocals, guitar); Phil Guy (guitar); J.W. Williams (bass); Ray Allison (drums).
Recorded at Condorcet Studios, Toulouse, France on October 31, 1979.
STONE CRAZY! is one of the real landmark blues guitar recordings. The powerful, (seemingly) out-of-control blues leads of Buddy Guy, scream and roar and rumble all up and down the groove. Influential guitarists like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan all point to Guy as a major mover in terms of their own stylistic breakthroughs.
STONE CRAZY! is a benchmark by which to judge Buddy Guy's contributions to the blues. On performances like "I Smell A Rat" and "Outskirts of Town" the listener is propelled along a roller coaster ride of emotions, as Guy's fierce attack and screaming tone mark him as one of the great electric blues virtuosos in the Chicago style. And on song after song, his fervent vocals match the epic, manic intensity of his guitar playing, making STONE CRAZY! one of the definitive desert island discs in the blues idiom.
