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Tough Enough on CD

Tough Enough completes singer/guitarist Buddy Reed's transformation from sideman (veteran of the blues group Canned Heat) to solo star. In terms of maturity of concept, this is the newest, boldest entry in what at times appears to be a year-by-year plugging away at the blues business. Reed is finally calling his shot. Recorded in the spring of 1985, this album features Buddy with his working band, the Rip It Ups. He has never sounded better, and it may be because he has never been recorded with such spirit or clarity before. The 1982 Tough Enough album, which had been the intention of it's producer to support with larger-than-life figures like Mama Thornton and John Lee Hooker, was, for some, only the beginning. Reed wrote or arranged all the songs on this album, and unlike some who "go solo" and take a studio approach, this album shows Buddy and the Rip It Ups played tightly like the Little Richard and Jimmy Liggins-influenced party band they are.