Buddy Whittington
London Putney Half Moon
4th May, 2012

The erstwhile Bluesbreaker turned in two sets at the London pub, picked seemingly on a whim from an eclectic, 40-tune set-list including numbers from new album, Six String Svengali, vintage material, and covers such as Grits Ain’t Groceries and Black Cat Bone. With no guitarist histrionics to speak of, Buddy let his instrument do the talking, throwing out killer riffs and superb solos moving from basic Texas blues to fusion-style complexity with deceptive ease, accompanied by his able band of Pete Stroud (bass), Roger Cotton (keys) and Darby Todd (drums.) Top track was their take on ZZ Top’s slow blues, Sure Got Cold, which built to an ecstatic, anthemic close. Mention must be made too of Buddy’s excellent lyrics on songs like Had To Go See Alice, which had the room in stitches, making for a showman that doesn’t take himself too seriously.