George "Buddy" Guy (Lettsworth (Louisiana), 30 juli 1936) is een Amerikaanse blues- en rockgitarist en zanger die reeds vijfmaal een Grammy Award won. Hij is bekend als inspiratie van Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, en andere bekende bluesgitaristen uit de jaren 60. Hij is de vader van rapster Shawnna en Michael.
Guy groeide op in Louisiana en begon in zijn jeugd gitaar te spelen. Zijn inspiratie was Muddy Waters. Begin jaren 50 begon hij met bandjes op te treden in Baton Rouge. In 1957 verhuisde hij naar Chicago, in 1958 kreeg hij een platencontract. Vervolgens heeft hij onder verschillende labels heel veel albums uitgebracht.
In 2005 werd Guy opgenomen in de Rock and Roll Hall of Fame en in 2014 in de Musicians Hall of Fame.
Soon after moving to Chicago on September 25, 1957, Guy fell under the influence of Muddy Waters. In 1958, a competition with West Side guitarists Magic Sam and Otis Rush gave Guy a record contract. Soon afterwards he recorded for Cobra Records. During his Cobra sessions, he teamed up with Ike Turner who helped him make his second record, "You Sure Can't Do" / "This Is The End", by backing him on guitar and composing the latter.
Guy's early career was impeded by his record company, Chess Records, his label from 1959 to 1968, which refused to record Guy playing in the novel style of his live shows. Leonard Chess, denounced Guy's playing as "just making noise". In the early 1960s, Chess tried recording Guy as a solo artist with R&B ballads, jazz instrumentals, soul and novelty dance tunes, but none of these recordings was released as a single. Guy's only Chess album, I Left My Blues in San Francisco, was released in 1967. Most of the songs were influenced by the era's soul boom, with orchestrations by Gene Barge and Charlie Stepney. Chess used Guy mainly as a session guitarist to back Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Koko Taylor and others. As late as 1967, Guy worked as a tow truck driver while playing clubs at night.
|