1. Kokomo Kidd [4:12]
2. Wish I Hadn’t Stayed Away So Long [5:56]
3. Taking Just A Little Bit Of Time [3:55]
4. She Just Wants To Be Loved [6:27]
5. Like Sonny Did [4:08]
6. Lay Lady Lay [4:53]
7. Little Red Rooster [6:36]
8. Maybe I’ll Go [3:01]
9. Blackberry Kisses [5:58]
10. Have You Ever Loved Two Women (But Couldn’t Make Up Your Mind?) [4:09]
11. Cool Drink Of Water [3:57]
12. Bumblebee Blues [4:58]
13. Wear Your Love Like Heaven

Guy Davis - Acoustic Guitars, Banjo, Guitar, Harmonica, Keyboards, Percussion, Vocals
Gary Burke - Drums
Dave Helper - Vocals (Background)
Ben Jaffe - Tuba
Chris James - Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Rhythm), Mandolin
Audrey Martells - Vocals (Background)
Mark Murphy -  Bass (Acoustic), Cello
Charlie Musselwhite - Harmonica
John Platania - Guitar (Electric), Slide Guitar
Fabrizio Poggi - Harmonica
Professor Louie - Electro-Acoustic Piano, Organ (Hammond)
Zhaná Roiya - Vocals (Background)
Marie Spinosa - Vocals (Background)

Along with Eric Bibb and Corey Harris, Guy Davis is one of the black American musicians who followed Taj Mahal in looking to the early acoustic blues for inspiration. He’s a singer-songwriter and impressive multi-instrumentalist, at his best mixing strong stories with vintage blues. The title track is a delight, a stomping, semi-spoken piece in which he is backed by tuba and banjo for the story that “may or may not be true”, of a black fixer providing services from phone-hacking to drugs and sex to the Washington elite. Then there’s a poignant ballad, Wish I Hadn’t Stayed Away So Long, influenced by Pete Seeger, and a rousing harmonica tribute to Sonny Terry. Elsewhere, it’s more patchy. There are sturdy revivals of blues classics, from Willie Dixon’s Little Red Rooster to Tommy Johnson’s Cool Drink of Water, but the Dylan and Donovan covers are unremarkable. --- Robin Denselow, theguardian.com

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01 – Lost Again
02 – My Eyes Keep Me in Trouble
03 – Love Looks Good On You
04 – Some Cold Rainy Day
05 – See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
06 – Dance Juba Dance
07 – Black Coffee
08 – Did You See My Baby
09 – Satisfied
10 – That’s No Way to Get Alone
11 – Saturday Blues
12 – Prodigal Son
13 – Statesboro Blues

Harmonica, Harp [Bass], Harmonica [Low] – Fabrizio Poggi
Vocals, Twelve-String Guitar, Guitars, Harmonica [High], Cowbell – Guy Davis
Vocals – Lea Gilmore
Vocals – The Blind Boys Of Alabama

A new album from Guy Davis is always a notable occasion, each invariably providing lots of traditional rootsy blues alongside a few unusual but enjoyable interludes.

This new CD is no exception, recorded in Italy (mostly) and with the tasteful blues harp of Fabrizio Poggi (on about a half of the tracks) providing the only instrumental support to Guy's own acoustic guitars, banjos, tambourine and occasional harmonica playing by Guy himself.

Some of the most notable highlights come from Guy's vocal exchanges on a couple of songs - particularly good is the vocal support of the Blind Boys Of Alabama on an expanded version of Blind Lemon Jefferson's See That My Grave Is Kept Clean. I also like the version of Bertha ‘Chippie' Hill's Some Cold Rainy Day on which Lea Gilmore and Guy's vocal duelling are reminiscent of the excellent recordings released over recent years by Diana Braithwaite and Chris Whitely on Electro-fi.

The other covers (of Blind Willie McTell, Muddy Waters, Reverend Robert Wilkins and Ishman Bracey) are more faithful to the originals but, as always with Guy, have enough of his personality stamped over them to make these versions his. And the originals are excellent: I particularly enjoy Love Looks Good On You, an evocative and beautifully paced song that calls to mind the early recordings of Taj Mahal. --- DixieFrog, redlick.com

Guy Davis to jedna z legend współczesnego akustycznego bluesa. Ma dziewięć nominacji do „Handy Award”, wciąż komponuje i bawi słuchaczy tradycyjnym bluesem. Fabrizio Poggi to harmonijkarz uhonorowany przez Hohnera i współpracownik wielu gwiazd bluesa. Wspólnie nagrali akustyczną perełkę – „Juba Dance”. --- bluesonline.pl

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1. Talkin' 'Bout Wings 'N' Brew (Davis) - 0:04
2. Waiting on the Cards to Fall (Davis) - 3:55
3. Let Me Stay Awhile (Davis) - 4:15
4. Writing Paper Blues (Mitchel) - 4:37
5. Sometimes I Wish (Davis) - 3:05
6. High Flying Rocket (Davis) - 2:16
7. Never Met No Woman Treats Me Like You Do (Davis) - 2:45
8. Sugarbelle Blue (Davis) - 4:11
9. Meet Me Where the River Turns (Davis) - 2:15
10. My Rambling Ways (Davis) - 2:34
11. Come on Sally Hitch a Ride (Davis) - 2:48
12. Ain't No Bluesman (Davis) - 3:06
13. The Place Where I Come from (Butt Naked Free) (Davis) - 2:13
14. Raining in My Soul (Davis) - 5:24

Personnel:
John Platania - Guitar, Tambourine
Mark Murphy - Acoustic Double Bass
Guy Davis - Vocals, 6- & 12-String Guitars, Steel Dodied Dobro, Harmonica, Tambourine
Gary Burke - Percussion
Tommy "T-Bone" - Mandolin, Hammond B-3 Organ, Electric Bass
Levon Helm - Mandolin, Drums

Making sure that country-blues starts the 21st century off on the right foot, Guy Davis' Butt Naked Free, whose title was inspired by the comments of Davis' young son, is one of the most accomplished statements the genre has offered in a few years. Picking up where 1998's You Don't Know My Mind left off, Davis once again has decided to fill out his sound, but this time adding touches of mandolin, organ and accordion, with the results being altogether more satisfying and never sounding even slightly overproduced. Where Davis on his previous album sounded, at times, unsure of his new direction, Butt Naked Free rocks with a loose liveliness, still allowing Davis' derivative yet idiosyncratic sound to shine through. "Waiting on the Cards to Fall" and "Never Met No Woman Treats Me Like You Do," the latter with Levon Helm contributing drums and mandolin, showcase how well Davis' sound fills out and offers the unique experience of hearing what it might have sounded like if Mance Lipscomb or Reverend Gary Davis had ever recorded with full-band accompaniment. Ballads like "Let Me Stay a While" and the narrative "Sugar Belle Blue" are some of the strongest Davis has written and, if anything, benefit considerably from the more filled out sound. Of course, Davis still delivers more than a few of his stripped-down solo country-blues tunes with the humorous "High Flying Rocket," the mean slide playing on "Come On Sally Hitch a Ride," and the gorgeous instrumental "The Place Where I'm From (Butt Naked Free)." More than anything, Butt Naked Free shows that Guy Davis is still more than happy to carry the banner of country-blues, yet remains able to add to the dialogue of the genre and put his own stamp on it in the process. ---Matt Fink, allmusic.com

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01. Limetown 3:38
02. Tell Me Where the Road Is 4:34
03. Step It Up and Go 2:13
04. I Believe I'll Lose My Mind 4:10
05. Right on Time 3:18
06. Set a Place for Me 5:19
07. Shortin' Bread 2:32
08. Driftin' Blues 4:05
09. Sho 'Nuff Satisfied 2:56
10. Matchbox Blues 2:55
11. Honey Babe 3:34
12. Back Door Man 3:03
13. Railroad Story 4:11
14. Saturday Blues 3:10

Guy Davis - Vocals, Guitar, Banjo & Harmonica
T-Bone Wolk - Organ, Accordion & Mandolin
Nerak Roth Patterson - Guitar
Mark Murphy - Bass
Gary Burke - Drums
Howard Johnson - Tuba
David Helper - Background Vocals

With each new release, the clothes of an old bluesman fit Guy Davis more and more comfortably. By now the blues are completely a part of who he is, so when he reworks an old Sleepy John Estes song into the opener, "Limetown," it feels completely natural; even with the familiar "Rollin' And Tumblin'" riff. He mixes it up well between covers and originals, taking in quite a range -- there's John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon, and Blind Lemon Jefferson all sitting amicably together in his style; as well as some pieces like "Step It Up And Go" that are just plain old. His own material is less familiar, of course, but just as good, with the careful (if not wholly accurate) patina of age about it. Perhaps the best thing about Davis is that he never tries to be something he's not; there's no fake Southern accent. What you hear is what you get. And while he's hardly the guitar genius that Charley Patton and Robert Johnson were, he's more than adequate, and his excellent band backs him up solidly and subtly, never stepping out too far. There's plenty of talent in Davis, but there's also an obvious and deep love for the blues, especially the rural country blues, and he brings to his music a real timelessness. The man just keeps getting better and better. ---Chris Nickson, allmusic.com

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