Buddy Guy and B.B. King were both superstars of all times in blues music being the inspiration for other artist such as Jimmy Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
In my previous blog I talked about BB King, today I want to share with you George Buddy Guy. Buddy was another child born to a sharecropper back in 1936 in Louisiana, back when segregation was still in full swing. Buddy’s parents tried to keep as much of the reality of the segregation from Buddy and his other four siblings while growing up and always encouraged them to be the best they could be, regardless of their skin color. He used examples throughout Buddy’s life such as Jackie Robinson, and Joe Louis whom both made names for themselves regardless of their skin.
In his late teens, Buddy started working as a custodian at the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Buddy played the guitar when time allowed in blues bands. (Buddy Guy had a serious case of stage freight when he first started making public appearances. It took him quite sometime to conquer this fear and even throughout his whole career, Buddy would get an occasional twinge. Never before out of the state of Louisiana, Buddy decided to move to Chicago after a friend of his returned from a trip there and told him how he knew he would fare well there playing the guitar in the evening and working during the day. Buddy was more interested in working in Chicago rather then playing. It was only secondary to the thought of doubled income he could make working in Chicago as a custodian. The added benefit to Buddy in regards to his move was to see some of the blues greats play. Little did he know it wouldn’t be long when he would be playing right along side of some of the blues greats such as Muddy Waters and Otis Rush.
Guy’s success didn’t take right off, not at least in the style he would have rather played in. Guy’s did make some records under Chess label; however, it was not the style of music he necessarily wanted to record. It wasn’t until the later years of his career and a couple record label later that Guy was able to play how he always wanted to, and what he is known for today, a showman, provocative guitarist and commanding vocalist with just the right touch of the wild side that even make hard core rockers admire him.
Even after opening a blues club in Chicago back in 89, the Buddy Guy’s Legends, a very popular nightclub, Guy still manages to perform at the age of 73, with the same commanding presentation he has always had. Stayed tuned for more great blues artists you must hear. Until then, some Buddy Guy for your listening pleasure..
The background on the blues performers is very thought provoking. Seems like an awful lot of them had rough starts in life. Could be that the rough start was what had them feeling their music. Whatever the reason, the world is blessed by their lives and performances.
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