Guy Davis

• You Don't Know My Mind [Red House, 1998] **
• Butt Naked Free [Red House, 2000] ***
• Give in Kind [Red House, 2002] ***
• Chocolate to the Bone [Red House, 2003]
• Juba Dance Featuring Fabrizio Poggi [M.C., 2013] *
• Kokomo Kidd [M.C., 2015] **
• Be Ready When I Call You [M.C., 2021] A-
• The Legend of Sugarbelly [M.C., 2024] A-

Consumer Guide Reviews:

You Don't Know My Mind [Red House, 1998]
blues his heritage, his politics, his craft ("Best I Can," "If You Love Somebody") **

Butt Naked Free [Red House, 2000]
"Ain't no bluesman, I'm the bluesman's son/But I'll sing this song until my daddy comes" ("Ain't No Bluesman," "Let Me Stay Awhile"). ***

Give in Kind [Red House, 2002]
country blues in the spirit of friendship, like John Hurt did it ("Good Liquor," "I Don't Know") ***

Chocolate to the Bone [Red House, 2003]

Juba Dance Featuring Fabrizio Poggi [M.C., 2013]
Well-mannered modern bluesman partners with Italian harmonica virtuoso and reveals that he learned "Prodigal Son" from Josh White, not the Stones (but not Robert Wilkins either) ("Love Looks Good on You," "Lost Again") *

Kokomo Kidd [M.C., 2015]
Ossie and Ruby's Seeger-schooled kid sounds freshest on new originals, a feat for any 63-year-old ("Kokomo Kidd," "Wish I Hadn't Stayed Away So Long") **

Be Ready When I Call You [M.C., 2021]
I've long been mildly impressed by Ossie and Ruby's blues-soaked son, who turns 71 in May. But as I listened harder to his 21st album I found there wasn't much mild about it. Yes there are fun songs here: the near-novelty "Badonkadonk Train," the hopeful "I Got a Job in the City," in its mean way the Trump-thumping bonus cut "It Was You." But it's the specificity and bite of the overt protest songs that had me listening harder, with three earning my full attention: the all too leaden "Flint River Blues," Davis's undiminished outrage at the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, and "Palestine, Oh Palestine," one of the rare responses to that horror to achieve something resembling felt balance without beginning to pretend that all evils are equal. A-

The Legend of Sugarbelly [M.C., 2024]
Subscriber-only review. A-