Guy, Buddy

▪ 2005

      In early 2004 Buddy Guy's Blues Singer won the 2004 Grammy Award for best traditional blues album as well as the W.C. Handy Blues Award for album of the year. The news in 2003 that Guy, guitarist and owner of the Chicago nightclub Buddy Guy's Legends, had released his 24th album was hardly unusual; his energy was legendary. The noteworthy feature of Blues Singer, however, was that for the first time in his life the king of electric Chicago blues had created a classic acoustic album. On Blues Singer Guy's rich, raspy voice—heavy with experience and backed by such musical greats as B.B. King and Eric Clapton—wraps around the mostly spare and lonely sound associated with hard times in the Mississippi Delta.

      The Delta sound was certainly not alien to Guy. He was born George Guy on July 30, 1936, in the hamlet of Lettsworth, La. As a boy listening to the radio, he yearned for a guitar. He made his own at age 13 and, inspired by the music of classic bluesmen such as John Lee Hooker, taught himself to play by trying to reproduce the sounds he heard on the radio. Guy moved as a young man to Baton Rouge, where he started to play in the clubs, and in 1957 he went on to Chicago, the northern capital of the blues. There he was discovered by blues legend Muddy Waters, who helped him find his first steady job—at the well-known 708 Club, where he met other legendary masters of the blues, including King and bassist-arranger Willie Dixon. Guy was signed briefly to Cobra Records and (in 1960–67) to the famous Chess label, for which he recorded several early hits, including “Leave My Girl Alone,” “Let Me Love You, Baby,” “Stone Crazy,” and “No Lie.” He also worked as a sideman for Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Koko Taylor, and others.

      Although he continued to make recordings in the 1970s and '80s, performing often with blues harmonica player Junior Wells, Guy (like many other blues musicians) fell victim to the growing popularity of rock music. It was not until younger white musicians, among them Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Keith Richards, and Jeff Beck, acknowledged a heavy debt to Guy and other bluesmen that his fortunes again began to rise. In the 1990s he accepted four Grammy Awards: three times winning for best contemporary blues album—Damn Right, I've Got the Blues (1991), Feels like Rain (1993), Slippin' In (1995)—and once (with Bonnie Raitt, King, and others) for best rock instrumental performance, on the track “SRV Shuffle” from A Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan (1996). Between 1982 and 2002 Guy received 19 W.C. Handy Awards, and the three he won for Blues Singer—for best album, best acoustic blues album, and contemporary blues male artist—showed that he had found yet another way to display his unique musical gift. In late 2004 it was announced that Guy would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the following year.

Kathleen Kuiper

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▪ American musician

original name  George Guy 

born July 30, 1936, Lettsworth, Louisiana, U.S.

 

 American blues musician noted for his slashing electric guitar riffs and passionate vocals.

      Guy made his own guitar at age 13 and taught himself to play by trying to reproduce the sounds of bluesmen such as John Lee Hooker (Hooker, John Lee) that he heard on the radio. He started playing clubs in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, while still a teenager and in 1957 went on to Chicago. There he was discovered by blues great Muddy Waters (Waters, Muddy), who helped him find work at the 708 Club, where he met other legendary bluesmen, including B.B. King (King, B.B.) and Willie Dixon (Dixon, Willie). In 1960–67 he recorded several hits for the Chess label, including "Leave My Girl Alone" and "Stone Crazy." He also worked as a sideman for such artists as Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and Koko Taylor.

 In the 1970s and '80s Guy continued to record and performed often with blues harmonica player Junior Wells, but he fell victim to the growing popularity of rock music. It was not until younger white musicians, among them Eric Clapton (Clapton, Eric), Stevie Ray Vaughn, Keith Richards, and Jeff Beck, acknowledged their debt to Guy and other bluesmen that his fortunes again began to rise. He made several acclaimed albums in the 1990s, including Damn Right, I've Got the Blues (1991) and Feels Like Rain (1993), and in 2003 released his first acoustic blues recording, Blues Singer. In addition to his work as a musician, Guy has owned two renowned blues clubs in Chicago, the Checkerboard Lounge (1972–85) and (since 1989) Buddy Guy's Legends.

 

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