There are many ways to measure a musician’s success. You can tally up their record sales, add up their tickets stubs or even highlight just how many awards they’ve won during their lifetime. Buddy Guy would come up trumps in all three.
However, there’s another way – a much less tangible way – that we can measure the success of Buddy Guy. Rather than look at the facts and the figures from his illustrious career, it can be much more enlightening to list the artists who have named him as an inspiration.
The list is long and winding but includes guitarists such as Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Jimi Hendrix. These are people associated with greatness – so it really does tell us a lot about Buddy Guy!
Guy himself knows all too well just how much another artist can inspire you to follow your dreams. After all, his own journey into the industry began when he first heard the bluesy stylings of the legendary John Lee Hooker.
Music To His Ears
Guy was born in Lettsworth, Louisiana in 1936. The first of five children born to parents Sam and Isabel Guy, he had a far from privileged upbringing. Guy’s family were sharecroppers and he would help them to pick cotton, receiving $2.50 for each 100lbs that he’d gather.
It wasn’t until 1949 – when the family’s home was first powered with electricity – that the young Guy first fell in love with blues music. Listening to the radio, he became mesmerised by the incredible talent of John Lee Hooker.
He became determined to follow in his footsteps. However, without any money the teenager would need to be resourceful. Using a two-string guitar that he’d made himself, he taught himself to replicate the sounds of Hooker. It wasn’t uncommon for him to play until his fingers started to bleed.
As he grew up he began to play around Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He even recorded two demos, but these were never issued. Guy was in love with the music-making process and vowed to make a career out of it. And if you wanted to become a blues musician at this time there was only one place to be: Chicago.
Buddy Guy – Getting Recognised
Guy arrived in the Windy City in 1957. Armed with a guitar and big ambitions, he was excited about the opportunity to enjoy talents such as Muddy Waters and Sonny Boy. Just being in their presence was a form of fulfillment in itself, but he soon began to carve out a name for himself.
“I didn’t go there thinking I’d be good enough to play,” he told Total Guitar in 2015. “I just wanted to watch these greats playing […] and I got stranded.”
Guy began to hit his first professional strides when he started recording for Cobra Records. He had two releases through them before signing with Chess Records. It wasn’t long before more and more people began to know his name and he was securing rather desirable gigs.
In particular, he performed along with Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin during the ‘Supershow’ held in Stains, England in 1969.
Riding The Revival Wave
Guy’s first mainstream record didn’t actually come until 1991. The blues genre had begun to experience a revival in the late 1980s, sparked by the likes of Eric Clapton. Blues was once again hot – and one of the leading reasons for this was Buddy Guy.
His album, Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues, was seen as a comeback of sorts. It was met with a solid critical reception and appeared on charts in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. It originally featured 10 tracks, with singles such as Five Long Years and There Is Something on Your Mind.
The album was even re-released in 2005, this time featuring two bonus tracks.
A Well-Respected Man
The 1990s can be seen as a turning point for Guy. While men such as Eric Clapton had helped put him back on the map, there were many more people clamouring to pay him the respect he deserved for the profound effect he’d had – and continued to have – on the world of blues.
The awards and accolades soon started to come. In fact, Guy can now lay claim to having won eight Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award. He won this in 2015, forever etching his name alongside the likes of Nina Simone, Etta James and David Bowie.
It looks like there could be even more awards in the very near future too. It was recently announced that now – at the ripe old age of 86 – Guy’s been nominated in the category of Best Traditional Blues Album for his record The Blues Don’t Lie.
The Rest Is Still Unwritten
The Guy we see today is an incredibly decorated artist. He can also lay claim to having achieved many personal accolades too, including being the father of eight children.
In 2012, he also had the honour of performing for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House. In what must have been an extremely special moment for him, he was even able to convince the president to join him in singing Sweet Home Chicago.
However, Guy has some concerns for the future. In particular, what will happen to the blues genre in the years to come. During an interview in 2020, he made an impassioned plea that people continue to support this vital form of music that began during the days of slavery and is still an important means of expression for many African Americans.
He said: “Please, don’t let the blues die.”
While there might be some uncertainly over the future of blues, Guy can rest assured that his own music will surely live on forever.
