Buddy Guy seems to be a household name for us blues players, but most people don’t know how Buddy got his start and what you can learn from that.
I’ve been fortunate enough to see Buddy play live a handful of times and I can tell you it’s a pretty incredible thing to see him absolutely fly through passages at the age of 77 this year (I only hope my fingers will still move like that at his age!)
In fact, most modern blues and blues/rock players, myself included, will cite Buddy as a huge influence… some have even said that without Buddy Guy there would never have been an SRV!
But here’s what you need to know…
Buddy got his start as a session musician with the Junior Wells Band, among others. Most of his early recording career he played small parts that fit the track, not his own brand of over-the-top blues.
That’s a really hard thing to do sometimes, but it is a talent that reaps big rewards. Learning to play less is a lesson most of us can learn.
And learning to play all those little pieces so that we can mix and match them to fit within any tune, not just one tune, is really the mark of a blues musician and not just some run-of-the-mill copycat.
Blues basically falls into about 5 or 6 different feels. From there the 12 bar form is pretty strict about what the chords are going to be, but there are some variations.
At the end of the day, with a half a dozen rhythm patterns and a good knowledge of the 12 bar blues and the possible options along the way (so that you can hear when they happen at a jam) you could be up on stage having the time of your life nearly any night of the week (at least in my part of the world.)
And if climbing up on a bandstand isn’t your thing, at least you can sit with a buddy or a family member and trade choruses over a beverage or 2.
Learn the pieces and then fit them to the song you want to play… it’ll go a WHOLE lot faster than the other way around.
The first 14 lessons of Blues Guitar Unleashed are all various rhythm patterns and 12 bar blues variations. The next 15 lessons are all about how to solo in the same way as guys like Buddy Guy, SRV, BB King, Clapton, and many others. If that sounds like where you’d like to go, BGU will get you there.
Check out Buddy live on Letterman doing “Damn Right, I Got The Blues…”
15 replies to "Fastest (Blues) Man On Record…"
I actually preferred Buddy’s playing from the old days (as in back in the 60s and 70s). I think his most recent stuff has less substance and seems to be flashy for the sake of being flashy.
I saw Buddy Guy at a very small theater in upstate N.Y. in Oct 1976. He was playing with Jr. Wells and his brother, Phillip Guy on bass. It was a great show the only problem was a rather small turnout. Buddy played that same theater again about 1 1/2 years ago to a full house. Different band, same Buddt
I see Buddy live at Antones in Austin Texas.
All I can say is WOW
I saw Buddy Guy at the Birchmere in Arlington, Va. in 2012. It was loud for a small venue, but after your ears got used to it, it was very spectacular. He walked around the audience, while playing, with a wireless amp connection, looking for candidates to bless with his guitar, somewhat like a king would do when he Knighted someone with his sword, when he found someone who he thought was worthy (probably based on the degree of “Face Melt” they had) Buddy would point his Fender Strat at them and make this machine gun sound with triplets or some such tactic, and just “Shoot Them Down”. He was very careful to take extra time to find just the right “Victim”. When I saw his first choice I thought how lucky that guy was to get blessed by Buddy. But before the show ended, I was his last Victim. While he was shooting me down, I took special care to let every shot rattle me like someone getting possessed by Voodoo. It’s quite a thrill to see his performance live. It’s even more of a thrill to get anointed with the Blues by Buddy Guy himself. I hope I live up to this, and that’s why I’ve hired Griff to help me make sure I don’t let him down, because I believe Buddy was being so careful choosing who he shot down to be sure they were someone who might carry on with the Blues best and if he was going to pass the torch on to them, he needed to increase the odds that they would do him justice. And I also believe something magical really did happen to me that night, not completely unlike Robert Johnson at the Crossroads…go see him live, and if happens to you, and you’re receptive to it, you’ll tell me that it wasn’t just a stage performance gimmick, it’s real, kind of like hypnosis! If it’s the last thing I do, Buddy, I’ll play the Blues for you! Thanks Buddy, and I’m still trembling, over a year later.
Big SRV fan here but Buddy Guy is the best ever (IMHO)…
Amazing as it is Buddy Guy gives you best in performance
His music resonates your Soul
Buddy Guy arguably is one of the best blues guitar players ever. The last two shows of his I went to , I found that he doe”s far to much talking instead of playing. More recently I saw his show in LA. On the ticket it showed Buddy as the only act, how ever when the show started at 8:00 PM, a 14 year old named Quinn Sullivan came out and played for 50 minutes. Maybe some day I will pay $65.00 a ticket to see him but not yet. I have just about every CD that Buddy has out, I think that I will play his CDs at home instead of going to a show.
I saw Buddy up close in 1985 – tremendous !
I’ve always been impressed by his playing style.pick or no pick,the man can pick.wow
Like a magician he is deceptive in his moves yet produces beautiful music.
Sorry, I think Griff is better!
Have a great day,
Rex
Loved Buddy’s ability to move from ferocious stang to the most beautiful stroking of the strings. His young friend first name Quinn is already a monster.
Probably THE most underrated guitarist in history, and largely ignored back in the days when those who now call him mentor were household names.
I also wonder why nobody ever includes Jimi Hendrix along with SRV, Eric, and the rest. Jimi studied Buddy literally at his feet, and many videos at many shows, prove this true, as the very young Jimi is seen in the audience time and again, prior to his move to England. I often wonder how Buddy must feel knowing that, for the most part, others got the fame, and money, while he had to settle for just knowing that he was the best.
That is nothing but great Blues.
Buddy is amazing. His right hand work is incredible too. When I listen to Buddy, it’s easy to hear how much Clapton was influenced. Damn Right I Got The Blues has an opening not too different than Clapton’s opening for Sweet Home Chicago.