80-years ago today the legendary Buddy Guy was born in Lettsworth, Louisiana but came to rule the early blues explosion of Chicago – a powerful blues guitar great who influenced the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards and Stevie Ray Vaughan – he was truly the bridge from the early Southern Blues into modern Chicago blues and all points in between.
In his early twenties Guy moved to Chicago and was fascinated with Muddy Waters. He soon linked up with Junior Wells where they collaborated on early blues work. As his sound evolved, Guy found himself as a critical bridge between traditional blues and rock & roll – electric with a showmanship that appealed to rock stars from Led Zepplin to Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones
As many early blues musicians, financial reward and anything approach mainstream success eluded them.
In the blues revival years of 1980 both Stevie Ray Vuaghan and Eric Clapton championed the skill and influence Guy had on their careers revitalizing a career that had largely gone unnoticed.
With Buddy Guy’s Legends blues club in Chicago and a solid legacy of critically acclaimed blues music, Buddy now is one of the elder statesman of the blues. Since the death of blues legend BB King, guy has come under new focus as one of the last remaining links between the old blues and the newer blues artists including Gary Clark Jr and Kenny Wayne Shephard.
Here is a terrific performance at Red Rocks – watch as guy dominates the stage with his guitar, his voice and his personality. It is this domination that rock musicians took on their climb to rock and roll hall of fame…
Filed under Blues Legends, buddy guy, rock and roll by on Jul 31st, 2016. Comment. 
Pretty impressive paring, Plant sounds terrific of late and Jack White is just Jack White – an innovator always pushing the edges just the way it should be. What do you guys think?
I should have quite you a long time ago…who can’t relate?
Filed under Blog, Blues Legends, rock and roll by on Mar 22nd, 2015. Comment.
Jack White is perhaps the most unique and vibrantly creative artist active today…it just so happens his roots are in the Blues no matter how far his creative puruits take him.
That’s the way it should be, start with internalizing the foundation of music (the Blues) and build out from there.
Same formula as Jimi Hendrix, Gary Clarke Jr., Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, The Rolling Stones, The Black Keys…should I go on?
What do they get from the Blues?
- Learn to dig deep and find the emotional ’10’ that sits behind music that connects
- Simple before complex…instead of striking out to be complex, you start with the simple lessons of the Blues (less is more, space means as much as notes, rhythm, etc…) and then build out from there
- Music first…before anything else, staying true to the music is the first priority
- Always learn and improve
- Pay your respects to those who came before…keeps your ego in check
All of that said, when you come at Jack White, his versatility is incredible – you could just as easily hear him playing Bluegrass as something approaching maniacal punk rock. So, if you haven’t followed him and don’t have some background in Blues music you may be forgiven for passing right over – but guaranteed you will be pulled in again.
I’ve picked up a copy of his latest critically acclaimed (and yes – very highly recommended) Lazaretto – a rich, sometimes eclectic, but always rooted piece of creative mastery.
If you fancy yourself a music fan, then you MUST have Lazaretto in your portfolio as it will go down as one of the more important creative endeavors this decade – of that I am sure.
What’s your take?
Here’s one of the lead tunes – just to give you a sample – but go and get the full CD, you won’t be disappointed:
Filed under New Blues, rock and roll by on Jun 11th, 2014. Comment.
It’s hard to imagine any band lasting 50-years largely still intact but it is especially incredible when that band is a rock & roll band and even more fascinating when you consider it is the Rolling Stones!
Though not nearly the vital influence on Rock & Roll they once were, the Stones have managed to continue their legacy respectfully, still managing to stay in the top tier of bands (not relegated to playing festivals, country arenas and fairgrounds as many of the “had their day” rock bands do today).
You can thank leading man Mick Jagger for that as he is singly responsible for navigating the Stones through the last decade (some would argue their entire career) from a creative but mostly business, publicity and marketing point of view.
It is rare to see a passionate and capable creative rock & roll star rooted properly in the blues who also is educated and smart with money, business savvy and has the balls to stand up for what he knows to be right.
What I personally would really like to see from the Rolling Stones put some of their energy toward in the next few years is helping to boost the blues…after all, that’s where they have come from.
It was great to see Mick and the Presidential Gala a few months back helping to give celebration to Black History Month…but there is much more that the Stones can (and should) be doing to help boost the profile of some of the last living blues icons AND ensure the future of the blues so the next generation of rock&roll bands can be steeped in the same deep musical foundations that led to the incredible success of the Rolling Stones.
In any case, happy 50th Birthday to the Stones. Rock on…Mick, Keith, Ron, Charlie
Filed under blues guitar, rock and roll by on Jul 12th, 2012. Comment.
