Throughout his career, the ever-humble Buddy Guy has used his status as a blues player to help promote the next generation of guitar greats.
Eric Clapton has recalled how seeing Guy’s trio in London inspired him to quit the Bluesbreakers and form Cream in 1966. More recent followers of the bluesman include, Quinn Sullivan, who arrived on the scene after backing from Guy at just eight years old, and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram who has shared the stage with Guy on several occasions.
Derek Trucks is the latest guitarist to sing Guy’s praises. Like Sullivan, he was gracing stages from a scarily young age and getting support from more experienced hands.
“I was really lucky to play with a lot of my heroes early,” Trucks says during a reflective conversation on the podcast of Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett. “I started touring at nine or 10 years old, and remember doing shows with Buddy Guy and sitting in with Bob Dylan at 11.”
Indeed, by his 20th birthday, he’d added Joe Walsh and Stephen Stills to that list, having found Gibson SGs to be his preferred six-string.
Asked whether he was shy or boisterous at those early gigs, Trucks replied: “I was reserved naturally so they would have to pull you out of your shell a little bit. Buddy Guy was always great about that. He’d let you know, like, ‘Get your ass out here.’
But his time playing intimate blues clubs with the blues legend proved the most insightful. Guy had yet to see the revival that gave his latter career a shot in the arm, and it was in these low-profile venues Trucks learned something important about being a band leader.
“What I remember about Buddy Guy is that when he wanted to, he would bring the band down to a whisper,” Trucks says. “I could hear the amps humming.
“I remember that discipline and that use of dynamics just being a huge thing that went off in my head. It’s powerful when you can bring things down to that level but still hold the intensity. Then, when you take the lid off of it, it’s a big trip that you’ve taken.”
Guy has more than 70 years of playing beneath his fingers, and while he finally retired from touring last year, at 86, his humility is as resonant as ever. He’s dedicated his life to the blues, and in that, has been a determination to see its flame still burning bright long after his days are over.
Selwyn Birchwood, who first saw Guy as an impressionable 18-year-old, is another award-winning guitarist — including the Albert King Guitarist of the Year award in 2013 — that he has inspired to greatness.
“Anyone who’s seen Buddy live knows what an incredible showman he is, and it was then and there I said to myself, ‘Whatever this music is, this is what I want to learn, and this is what I want to do,’” he told Guitar Player.
Last year, Guy sat down with GP to reflect on his early career, from his first guitars to moving to Chicago and never leaving.
