King of the Chicago Blues Guitar
Buddy Guy brings a taste of old Chicago to River Run
By ADAM TANOUS
Express Staff Writer
Even a musical neophyte can say about the Blues what Supreme Court Justice
Potter once said about another subject entirely, "I know it when I see it." It
is a genre as distinctive and expressive as any America has to offer.
And anyone who has heard Buddy Guy perform knows that when he plays the
Blues he means it. Just listening to one of Guys recordingsthe stinging
electric guitar and plaintive voice reverberating in the air--one can imagine what it
would be like to be in one of the famed Chicago blues joints during the 50s.
It turns out that just because we live in a bucolic place like the Wood
River Valley doesnt mean we cant get a taste of the blues. For this Sunday,
July 16 at 6:30 p.m., the four-time Grammy award winner will play at the River Run Lodge
as part of the Twilight Blues Series presented by the Sun Valley Center for the Arts and
First Bank of Idaho.
When Guy started his career back in 1957, Muddy Waters was the elder
statesman of the Blues world. After over 40 years of late nights in the clubs, Guy has
taken over that role. It is well documented that Guy deeply influenced some of the
brightest stars of the guitar world including Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Eric
Clapton. Clapton has even gone so far as to dub Guy the best electric blues guitarist
alive.
In a 1993 interview with "Billboard" newspaper, Guy told a story
of meeting Hendrix. "I first met Jimi in 1967, but the time that sticks in my mind is
in 1968, on the night Martin Luther King died. I was playing a little place in Greenwich
Village called the Generation. I was up there with my guitar behind my head and people
started hollering, Hendrix! Hendrix! He came right up to me and said,
Pay them no mind. Can I tape what you play?"
With his 1998 release of "Heavy Love," Guy shed some light on
his view of the Blues. In a statement Guy said, "The Blues aint the Blues
unless theres real feeling, real
mileage behind the notes being played."
No one can doubt that Guy has those miles under his belt, the feeling in
his heart.
The road Buddy Guy has traveled to Sun Valley, Idaho at the start of a new
millennium has been a long one, peopled by the legendary characters of the world of the
Blues. Born to a Louisiana sharecropping family, in 1936, Guy was, as a small child, taken
by the deep Blues he heard on the radio. Playing on a crude, homemade instrument, Guy did
his best to imitate the music coming over the airwaves. Soon the young teenager was
playing in roadhouses between Lettsworth and Baton Rouge.
But it wasnt until 1957 and a move to Chicago that Guys career
begin to take form. It was not an easy road in Chicago. Guy spent a lot of days walking
the streets in search of work. He didnt eat much. Then a chance meeting with a
stranger on the street resulted in Guy landing at the 708 Club, the nexus of the Chicago
Blues scene at the time.
As the story goes, Guy was confronted on the stage by a stocky man who
said, "Im Mud." The man offered Guy a sandwich and said to him, You
aint gonna go home. Youre gonna stay here and play with me."
The starving Guy replied, "I dont need a sandwich if
youre Muddy Waters."
Not long thereafter, Guy began to play in the West-Side clubs. He even
entered a club-sponsored "Battle of the Blues" contest. In it Guy managed to
beat out two legendary Blues musicians, Otis Rush and Magic Sam. It led to his signing
with Artistic Labels and the release of two singles, "Sit and Cry" and
"This is the End."
Guys time on the West Side eventually led to his being credited as
the architect of the "West Side sound": a blend of the Chicago rhythm, elements
of gospel, and the guitar style of B.B. King.
In 1960 Guy signed with Chess Records and worked as a session artist
backing the likes of Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Little Walter, and Koko Miller. He
released his own record in 1962, "Stone Crazy." It quickly climbed to number 12
on the R&B charts.
Five years later Guy moved to the Vanguard label and released a string of
albums: "A Man and the Blues," "This is Buddy Guy," and "Hold
That Plane!" This is also when Guy teamed up with harp player Junior Wells to form
one of the more popular duos of the 60s and 70s.
During the 80s, Guy continued to be a fixture of the club scene in
the U.S. and blues festivals in Europe. In 1989, he opened his own blues club in Chicago
called "Legends," which quickly became a hot spot for visiting musicians. Then
in 1991, Guy joined Eric Clapton to play at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Guys
performances astounded everyone, including the heads of Silvertone Records. It led to the
release of "Damn Right, Ive Got the Blues" and "Feels Like
Rain."
Thankfully, the elder statesman of the Blues continues to perform and
record 43 years after stepping off a bus in downtown Chicago. Those who couldnt be
there for the heyday of the Chicago blues scene, might just get a glimpse of it this
Sunday. The River Run Lodge may not have the same ambiance as a late-night Chicago club,
nonetheless, Buddy Guy will do his best to bring us back to a glorious time.