Get Wise to Yourself is the third studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 released by blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

 guitarist

Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

 Guitar Shorty

Guitar Shorty

Guitar Shorty is an American blues guitarist. He is well known for his explosive guitar style and wild stage antics. Billboard magazine said, “his galvanizing guitar work defines modern, top-of-the-line blues-rock. His vocals remain as forceful as ever...

 (David Kearney). The album was recorded during August and September 1995 and released later that year on CD

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 by the label Black Top. The tracks "I'm the Clean up Man" and "Hard to Stay Above the Ground" would later appear on Shorty's compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

, "The Best of Guitar Shorty

The Best of Guitar Shorty

The Best of Guitar Shorty is the first true compilation album released by blues guitarist Guitar Shorty ; 1996's Billie Jean Blues was more of a live album. The album was released on June 20, 2006 on CD by the label Shout! Factory...

", in 2006.

Track listing

1. "I'm the Clean up Man" (Kearney, Scott) — 3:46
2. "You Better Get Wise to Yourself" (Jones, Swamp Dogg
   Swamp Dogg
   Jerry Williams, Jr., , is a soul music artist who is better known by his pseudonym Swamp Dogg.Born in Portsmouth, Virginia, Williams made his first recording in 1954 under the moniker "Little Jerry", a 78 rpm single on the Mechanic label titled "HTD Blues" / "Nats Wailing"...
   
   ) — 5:32
3. "I Don't Know Why" (Mitchell, Randle) — 5:29
4. "You Don't Treat Me Right" (Kearney) — 2:45
5. "My Baby Loves to Do the Bump" (Kearney) — 4:25
6. "Hard to Stay Above the Ground" (Kearney, Scott) — 5:41
7. "You Left Me Dreaming" (Kazanoff, Kearney, Scott, Zeno) — 4:26
8. "She's Built, She's Built to Kill" (Swamp Dogg) — 3:42
9. "A Fool Who Wants to Stay" (Kazanoff) — 4:10
10. "The Blues Done Got Me" (Kearney) — 5:33
11. "Ways of Man" (Reynolds, Tate) — 3:34
12. "Smells Good" (Kearney) — 6:43

Personnel

• Sammy Berfect — organ (hammond
  Hammond organ
  The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
  
  )
• Ernest Youngblood, Jr. — saxophone
  Saxophone
  The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
  
   (tenor
  Tenor saxophone
  The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
  
  )
• Guitar Shorty — guitar, vocals
• Mark "Kaz" Kazanoff — saxophone (baritone
  Baritone saxophone
  The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
  
  , tenor), associate producer
• Raymond Weber — percussion, drum
  Drum
  The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
  
  s
• Riley Osborne — piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  
• Charles Elam III, Phillip Manuel — vocals (background)
• Steve Howard — trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  , flugelhorn
  Flugelhorn
  The flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...
  
  
• Mark Mullins — trombone
  Trombone
  The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
  
  
• Ward Smith — saxophone (alto
  Alto saxophone
  The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
  
  , baritone, tenor)
• Lee Allen Zeno — bass
  Bass (instrument)
  Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
  
  , associate producer

Production:

• Matt Coby, Jay Gallagher — assistant engineers
• David Farrell, Steve Reynolds — engineers, editing, mixing, sequencing
• Patricia Gorman, Lisa Labo — production assistants
• Rick Olivier — photography
• Hammond Scott — producer, editing, mixing, sequencing
• Nauman S. Scott — executive producer
• Diane Wanek — design
• Heather West — production coordination

Reception

TWhile the most of Allmusic review of the album makes more mention of Shorty's live show, it does ipraise the album, saying that it "is one of his best recorded efforts ... that shows his abilities Toff in the best light."