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Buddy Guy on Guitar Slim Guitar Slim (1926–1959) was born Eddie Jones in Greenwood, Mississippi. Based in New Orleans by 1950, Slim performed live shows that were as high in volume as they were audacious in presentation, highly influencing the style of such younger regional performers as Earl King, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, and Buddy Guy. Slim’s recorded legacy is similarly significant, particularly the 1954 song "The Things I Used to Do." A #1 hit on the national R&B charts, it featured the arrangement and piano playing of Ray Charles, and was Charles’ first major recorded effort to prominently include both gospel and R&B elements. Within a year, his further blending of these two influences in the song "I Got a Woman" helped give rise to Soul music. Legendary bluesman Buddy Guy was born George Guy in 1936 in Lettsworth, Louisiana. He began building and playing homemade guitars at a young age, inspired by the mix of spirituals, blues, and country he heard on the radio and family record player. After hearing Lightnin' Slim playing an electric guitar at the local store, Guy was transfixed, and within a few years was beginning to master the instrument, honing his skills and stage presence in the roadhouses and bars of the Baton Rouge area. Attracted to Chicago in 1957 by the hope of steady work and the chance to see many of his musical heroes, Guy was soon playing and recording with most of them. The dynamic stage presence and fiery guitar style that brought him to their attention remain undiminished even today, and Buddy Guy continues to record and tour extensively, as well as maintain his renowned Chicago club Legends. This video is an excerpt from an interview conducted for the 2001 PBS series American Roots.
Watch Video
Read an excerpt from the interview: Buddy Guy: Guitar Slim's biggest record was “Things I Used To Do.” And at that point in time my dad had got a phonograph and I heard BB King, Lightin' Hopkins and T Bone [Walker]. And then this thing come out about “Things I Used To Do.” And the way the guitar was being played I said "what is that?," you know. And they brought him to Baton Rouge and I went up there. I had went to see Big Joe Turner and a couple of the doo-wop groups, what they were called back then. And when they introduced him, they was on the stage. And when they introduced Guitar Slim, I didn’t see anybody but I heard this guitar and I said, "wait a minute," you know, "am I being fooled? Who's playing it?" And I kept looking around. He had a big band, and finally a guy brought him in like you do your little baby, across his shoulder with a red suit on, hair red, the color of the suit and white shoes. And he was playing as this big heavy-set guy brought him in. He dropped him right on the stage. And I said, "I saw BB King once, and I saw T Bone, and I saw Joe Turner." I said, "I want to sound like BB King but I want to act like Guitar Slim." Video Copyright © 2000 Ginger Group Productions
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 Ten Things to Help You Become a Better Blues Musician, by Don Mock |
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 Sweet Home Chicago: Big City Blues 1946-1966 Excello Records and the Swamp Blues 2003 W.C. Handy Blues Awards Weekend (Feature Article) The British Blues A Once-in-a-Lifetime Lineup Salutes the Blues Memphis: A Century of the Blues Clarksdale: Delta Blues Past and Present The Piedmont Blues: Alive and Well in D.C. Q&A with Peter Guralnick Don Robey and Duke-Peacock Records Celebrating the Year of the Blues |
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This is an archived page, and no longer actively updated. As of 2/1/04, its contents, including but not limited to dates and contact information, may no longer be current or accurate. |
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