Chicago blues guitarist Buddy Guy began his recording career with a pair of roaring singles, "This Is the End" and "Try to Quit You Baby," for Cobra Records' Artistic subsidiary in 1958, then moved on to Chess Records, where he worked as a session guitarist on sides cut by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Koko Taylor, among others, before headlining his own singles for the label beginning in 1960, a run that lasted through 1967 when Guy left Chess for Vanguard Records. This concise and tight 11-song set from those years collects early versions of his signature tunes "I Got My Eyes on You," "Stone Crazy," "Watch Yourself," "When My Left Eye Jumps," and the edgy "My Time After Awhile," as well as his first single for Chess, "First Time I Met the Blues," all of which feature Guy's trademark stinging guitar style. Also included here is "Talkin' 'Bout Women Obviously," a track released in 1970 by Blue Thumb Records that finds Guy working alongside Junior Wells and Junior Mance. Guy went on to more commercial success in the ensuing decades, but his Chess legacy is still a strong one, and if these were the only tracks he ever cut, his place as one of Chicago's finest blues guitarists would still be ensured. ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi
