Bio

Buddy Guy (born George Guy, July 30, 1936 in Lettsworth, Louisiana) is an American blues music and rock music guitarist, as well as a singer. Known as an inspiration to Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and other 1960s blues and rock legends, Guy is considered as an important exponent of Chicago blues made famous by Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. He has influenced both widely known and local blues guitarists. He is the father of female rapper Shawnna.

Guy is known for his showmanship; for example, he plays with drumsticks and walks into the audience whilst playing, the latter being a gimmick he picked up from a local blues guitarist at an early age (joining or leaping into the audience has also long been common in both American popular and gospel music, as in the earlier work of Big Jay McNeely or the Dixie Hummingbirds).

Guy grew up in Louisiana where he learned to play guitar. In the early 1950s he began performing with bands in Baton Rouge. Soon after moving to Chicago in 1957, Guy fell under the influence of "Mighty" Muddy Waters. In 1958 he won a record contract with Artistic Records after beating the West Side guitarists Magic Sam and Otis Rush in a competition at the Blue Flame Club. Soon afterwards he recorded for the Cobra label.

In the early 1960s, Guy was a session guitarist for Chess Records. He recorded on Junior Wells sessions for Delmark Records under the pseudonym Friendly Chap in 1965 and 1966. His career took off during a blues revival period in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and was sparked by Eric Clapton's request that Guy be part of the '24 nights' all-star blues guitar lineup at London's Royal Albert Hall and Guy's subsequent signing with Silvertone Records.

Notable albums include Stone Crazy, Damn Right I've Got The Blues, Feels Like Rain, Blues Singer, Buddy's Baddest: The Best Of Buddy Guy, and Junior Wells' Hoodoo Man Blues.

Guy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 14, 2005 by Eric Clapton and B.B. King. Clapton recalled in 1965, seeing Guy perform in London’s The Marquee Club and was impressed by Guy’s playing, his looks, his star power. He remembered seeing Guy pick the guitar with his teeth and play it over his head – two tricks that later influenced Jimi Hendrix. Seeing Guy’s power trio perform also gave him the idea for a power trio format Clapton later used in his rock band Cream. Guy’s acceptance speech was concise: “If you don’t think you have the blues, just keep living.”

For almost 50 years Guy performed flamboyant live concerts of energetic blues and blues rock, predating the 1960s blues rockers. As a musician’s musician, he had a fundamental impact on the blues and on rock and roll, influencing a new generation of artists.

Guy's reputation spread to Great Britain, where young rockers like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and the Rolling Stones were seeking out American blues music and learning about Buddy Guy. His first trip to the UK was in February 1965, during which Rod Stewart acted as his valet and Guy shared a bill with the Yardbirds. Guy’s tour exposed his music to a whole new generation of British musicians eager to soak it up, repackage it, and turn around and sell it to Americans as the hip new thing. Guy was surprised to see how influential his music had become to white English guitarists.

Guy came to know Eric Clapton, who said that he'd driven a long way in a van and slept in it to hear Guy play. “Of course, I had a lot more energy than I have now—I was playing the guitar with my feet and throwing it up in the air—crazy stuff! But although I was getting to play overseas, back home I still didn't have a record. I thought that maybe it was because I played too loud and with too much feedback, then the next thing I know, Clapton and Hendrix are out there using the same tricks and selling millions of albums,” recalled Guy.

More Info on Wikipedia