The first thing that jumped out at me was this booming, powerful voice. Tom Dudley, The Blues Buddha, is definitely a very talented singer with incredible range. He seems to float all over the place from Blues, Rhythm and Blues, Country. His thundering voice most definitely fits his Buddha-Like physic.
The lyrics are very catchy and this is without a doubt, one extremely talented bunch of musicians. The boogie-woogie piano and sax work throughout fits like a glove and I really like the stepped up feel of this release.
The song “Buddha Boogie” may seem a little cliche at first but give it a chance to kick in, that tune simply rocked my socks off. I loved the shuffle drum beat applied by Eddie Crucy and Mike Garner carries the lower end with some terrific bass lines, he is all over the fret board on that one.
I didn’t find anything I didn’t like on here and this is as good as any first blues release I’ve heard. In fact just as he says on the title track “I Like It A Lot”. How can something sound old and new at the same time?
I’m going to give this a 5 blue note rating.
1. Like I Do
2. Break My Heart
3. Better At Hello
4. Buddha Boogie
5. Don’t Worry
6. Give And Take
7. Morning Song
8. Trouble
9. I Like It A Lot
10. Low Cotton
