Willie Buck "The Life I Love"

 (Delmark) Recorded in 1982 and 1984 these amazing blues recordings (with Dave Myers and his brother Louis and John Primer backing him up) are as solid as anything recorded in Chicago in the early 60s. Hard to imagine why this didn't lead to a long, prolific recording career, Z.Z. Hill was giving relatively authentic blues its last real radio presence at the same time and Buck should have become a frontrunner instead of the solid journeyman he's become. I suppose the fact that this set has a lot of standards (plus a surprising Al Green cover) rather than new material didn't help, but you'll be damned if you hear these standards sound this fresh or real today no matter who plays them.