On David Letterman's Netflix show, 'My Next Guest Needs No Introduction' episode with Tina Fay, Buddy Guy, one of the last remaining blues OGs, sat down with David to have some chicken and talk the blues.
Check it out, it's a treat! Here's a clip from Youtube, the episode is longer and has some live performances!
An interview on Reverb with Buddy Guy was posted in January but I never got around to posting it until now. Please mind my delay... music and what not got in my way!
Buddy Guy is one of the last remaining OGs of the blues alive today. He's been through it all man... this is a great video for all blues, music, and guitar fans!
My man in Chicago, Steve Harper, went to Buddy Guy's Legends Blues Club, and met the OG himself.
Being the great guy he is, he asked Buddy to autograph his most recent Grammy winning release 'Born to Play the Guitar' and address it to me:
I now have fulfilled a dream, even if it was by proxy. Thank you Steve for this amazing gift; although I have this album on vinyl, it will be great in the car!
The results are in! The 58th Grammy Awards took place last night, and the blues ambassador himself, Buddy Guy, won Best Blues Album with 'Born to Play Guitar'.
Congrats to the OG of the Blues for his deserved win (as I predicted). Below is the title song off the album, performed at a concert held in the White House in the presence of President Barack Obama:
The last remaining OG bluesman Buddy Guy has spoken about the future of the blues in a recent interview with NPR (full interview here):
I wonder if there aren't as
many young black musicians devoting themselves to the blues. Do you worry about
the future of blues music?
I worry about the future of blues music whether you are
black or white. If they don't hear it like I did and listen to it and don't
know about it — you ever been to Louisiana
where they cook all this gumbo?
I have. I love it.
I do, too. [Laughs.] So if you never tasted it, you
wouldn't love it. That's what's happening with the blues. Now, the young people
don't know nothing about it unless — I know satellite [radio] do play blues,
but we need more than that. I tell everybody I would love to hear Muddy Waters
twice a week. I'm not telling you to play him all day, all night; just play
him. Let the young people know where it all started."
His new album, 'Born to Play Guitar' has been released and I'll be reviewing it soon.
Here's a song off the new album; no embed is available sorry:
A few days ago at one of their concerts in Milwaukee, The Rolling Stones performed 'Champagne & Reefer', a Muddy Waters classic. Joining them as a special guest was blues legend Buddy Guy (who played and recorded with Muddy many years ago.)
Nice to see the Stones pay tribute to one of their biggest influences!
This is some big blues news! Current blues ambassador Buddy Guy is set to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming Grammy Awards.
Buddy has been on a huge blues campaign in the last few years to bring it to the mainstream, with high profile concerts and a critically acclaimed album. Buddy has paid the cost with the blues, performing with everyone from Muddy Waters to Stevie Ray Vaughan, and has several Grammy awards under his belt; his contribution to the world of blues is immense.
Jeff Beck had the following to say about this occasion:
"I truly cannot think of another instrumental artist who has done so much after coming from such humble beginnings. Buddy's early experiences in the Chicago blues circles to his time at Chess Records sitting in with Muddy Waters all led him to the pinnacle of the blues 'n' rock genre."
For more Grammy information check out my previous blog post [here].
Buddy Guy is a living blues legend. The 77 year old guitarist has been playing the blues since he was a youngster, and eventually made his way to Chicago in the mid 50's like many of his blues compatriots. Here he made friends with Muddy Waters and Junior Wells among others, and started performing with these giants as a session player.
He hit stardom in the early 90's when his album 'Damn Right I Got The Blues" won a Grammy award (he's won 5 more along the way), and since then he's been kicking ass all over. He's one of the only blues artists to be signed to a major record label. And with this album, his took this ass whoopin' to new heights, as it's his highest selling album in opening week and reached number 27 on the Billboard charts. [SOURCE]
This album is divided into two CDs: the first being 'Rhythm' and the second being 'Blues'.
The 'Rhythm' CD is a bit unusual to hear at first because you don't expect to hear soul/R 'n' B from Buddy. What it actually turns out to be is a collection of songs of funk and soul that are not in the expected repertoire of a Chicago bluesman, which shows Buddy's musical abilities and versatility and perhaps, his confidence out of his usual comfort zone.
The first track, 'Best in Town' sets the tone; a heavy funky song, where Buddy says: 'You don't have to be the fastest gun, or a hoochie coochie man, or a seventh son', paying homage to the Chicago bluesmen Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon.
This CD features covers songs, like Junior Wells 'Messin with the Kid' which features Kid Rock, and Guitar Slim's 'I Done Got Over It'. Both feature the rock and R n B sound respectively, done well, with great guitar solos by Buddy. 'One Day Away' which features Keith Urban, was a weak song, only because I'm not into modern country-rock. And Keith Urban is there. The song although has a great message, it comes off cheesy.
Moving to CD 2, the 'Blues' CD, which obviously is my favorite of the two, is pure Chicago blues heaven.
Starting with 'Meet Me in Chicago', Buddy gets to take you to town. The songs 'Too Damn Bad', a raunchy blues about a lover trying to come back to his love, hits you right in the head, 'Evil Twin', which features Steven Tyler and Joe Perry from Aerosmith, is a slow and rockin' blues track and is just a joy to hear. Hearing Buddy and Joe square off in guitar battles creams pants.
Most of the songs on the CD such as 'All That Makes me Happy is the Blues' and 'My Mama Loved Me', while strict blues, features very pure and real songwriting, where he talks about his personal upbringing, about his single mother, and all his hardships. It's very personal and it makes the music much more relatable.
Of course, there's time for fun, with 'Blues Don't Care', saying "Try to run but there's no escape, just a middle finger in the hand of fate", describing that you can't escape the blues.
The album is a must-have for blues lovers, for guitar slinger lovers, and if you are wanting to explore your music options, GET THIS ALBUM.
I'm happy to see and hear Buddy still performing and leading the blues mothership at his growing age, and from the looks of it, he's not going anywhere anytime soon!
Look out for my review of 'Rhythm & Blues', Buddy Guy's latest release. He is currently ambassador of the blues, and in a recent [article] in The Huffington Post, Guy expressed that blues should be more prominent on the radio:
"I'm not saying play the blues every day like everything else," said Guy, who released the album Tuesday, the same day he turned 77. "Just play the blues two or three times a week and I'll be happy with that."
And who wouldn't agree? Stay tuned for the review soon!
Creative Allies has started a commemorative poster design contest, asking inspiration from Buddy Guy's new album Rhythm and Blues! The award is $500.
There's been some great entries so far; I've posted a few below. I'm no artist (at least not a visual artist - ZING) and would have loved to participate.
Living blues legend Buddy Guy has released the cover art for his latest album "Rhythm & Blues", which will be released on July 30. He's camouflaged in polka dots just like his signature Fender Stratocaster!
Buddy Guy is currently the ambassador of blues music today and it's awesome to see him perform and record even at this age!
Legendary blues great Buddy Guy is still going strong with the blues, and is one of the surviving pillars of the genre.
He just performed his classic song from the same titled Grammy winning album 'Damn Right, I've Got the Blues' on the 16th of January on the David Letterman show.
