PLAYING IT FORWARD
Buddy Guy says that in a lifetime of singing the blues, he continues to learn new things
Buddy Guy, 83, is a Grammy Award-winning blues guitarist and singer — and he still performs more than 130 gigs a year. Guy, who is currently on tour with one Canadian date (April 3 in Toronto) recently sat down to talk about his legacy and why he thinks it’s important to help nurture the next generation of bluesmen.
Q People have said you’re the last great bluesman. Do you think that’s true, and have you tried to help the younger generations carry it forward?
A Well, that’s my worry right now. I got a new album coming out sometime later this year, and Bobby Rush, he sung one song on there. We were just talking; he said, ‘You know what, I think me and you are the last two old blues guys still trying to carry it on.’ Because it’s not like when I came to Chicago 63 years ago. Everything was wide open then, but you had to prove yourself. You could go in a little small blues club, and somebody might pay attention to you. Word of mouth would get out, then the next day you might be in a bigger club.
And Muddy Waters would say, ‘Who in the hell is that?’ Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter would say, ‘Who is that?’ Those little clubs don’t exist no more. So whenever I can see somebody I think got the talent, I’ll just give them a chance to come up and play with me.
Q Do you remember when somebody first heard you and gave you a shot?
A When I came (to Chicago), I could play, but I didn’t think I was good enough because there was so many great guitar players.
I was almost too shy to play. But a guy talked me into playing. And I said, ‘If I go up there, I better jump off the stage so somebody pays attention to me, because I can’t play as well as these other guitar players.’
There was a great guitar player in New Orleans named Guitar Slim. He’d get attention because (while) he was playing, he was jumping off the stage and running. He had a 100-foot cord. When I first saw him, I said, ‘Oh my God, I would love to learn how to play like B.B. King, but I want to act like Guitar Slim.’ So when they called me up — the late Otis Rush called me up — I jumped off the bar. And somebody said, ‘They got a little wild man just come up from Louisiana.’
Q You’ve had a lot of big moments. What was the most exciting ?
A When B.B. King asked me to come up and play while he sang, and Muddy Waters asked me to play while he sang. I’m saying, ‘You’re asking me to play with you?’ Muddy Waters and those guys took me under their wing. I owe everything to those people.
Q Do you have advice you give others?
A Guitar players much better than I am right now will come up and ask me, ‘What do I need to do, Buddy?’ And I say, ‘I don’t know.’
I just didn’t give up. I was driving a tow truck and playing my guitar at night. Sometimes you get $2 and $3 a night. Both of my ex-wives told me, ‘It’s me or the guitar.’ And I just got my guitar and left. And now we are the best friends. But I loved what I was doing, and I didn’t want nobody to stop me from doing it.
Q You’ve said that you’ve never made an album that you liked. Is that a good thing or not?
A I don’t know. I really can’t answer that. I got that from B.B. King. Because, if you sing or play or whatever you do, if you listen to yourself, very seldom are you happy with it. But if somebody else come and say, ‘Boy, she’s good,’ then that makes you feel a little better about what you have done.
Some nights, I go out there and play and say, ‘Man, I was killing them.’ And a guy walks up to me and says, ‘You wasn’t feeling too good last night.’ And it turns it around: I go out there and say, ‘Oh my God. I sounded like nothing last night.’ And then a guy or a woman will come up and say, ‘Boy, you was on last night.’ I’m like, ‘What?’ I think that’s what keep me going. You never know when someone is going to say you’re on top. Because if you’re always right, what you got to look forward to?
Both of my ex-wives told me, ‘It’s me or the guitar.’ And I just got my guitar and left. And now we are the best friends.