Blues Legend Buddy Guy Graces the Stage at Belly Up
Buddy Guy will perform at the Belly Up in Solana Beach.
Buddy Guy is a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation. In the 1960s Guy was a member of Muddy Waters’ band and was a house guitarist at Chess Records. He can be heard on Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor” and Koko Taylor’s “Wang Dang Doodle” as well as on his own Chess sides and the series of records he made with harmonica player Junior Wells, despite Chess Records owner Leonard Chess once denouncing Guy’s playing as “noise,” Guy’s career really took off during the blues revival period of the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was sparked by Eric Clapton’s request that Guy be part of the ’24 Nights’ all-star blues guitar lineup at London’s Royal Albert Hall and Guy’s subsequent signing with Silvertone Records.
Ranked 25th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”, Guy is known for his showmanship on stage: playing his guitar with drumsticks or strolling into the audience while playing solos. His song “Stone Crazy” was ranked 78th in Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
At age 76, Buddy Guy is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, a major influence on rock titans like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, a pioneer of Chicago’s fabled West Side sound, and a living link to that city’s halcyon days of electric blues. He has received six Grammy Awards, 28 Blues Music Awards (the most any artist has received), the Billboard magazine Century Award for distinguished artistic achievement, and the Presidential National Medal of Arts. Rolling Stone ranked him in the top 25 of its “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.” He played at the White House last year, and it was at Guy’s insistence that President Obama got up and sang the first few bars of “Sweet Home Chicago.” Over a span of 48 years, he’s released an astounding 69 albums.
Famous for his Fender Stratocaster, and the “Buddy Guy Model” Fender issued in his honor, Guy doesn’t weigh his roadies down with a ton of guitars like some artists, who seem to think it looks cool to have eleven guitars strung across the stage behind them and play a different ax for every song. “Why did they keep changing guitars and amplifiers when they were perfect? “ Guy muses, “They did the same thing with cars if you ask me. They forgot how to make them right because they focused on style and bells and whistles.” Buddy Guy loves to play the blues, and is known far and wide for never missing a gig for any reason, kind of the anti- George “No Show” Jones in reverse. “I’ve never missed a gig yet. Music makes people happy, and that’s why I go on doing it – I like to see everybody smile. Listen to the lyrics – we’re singing about everyday life, rich people trying to keep money, poor people trying to get it, and everyone having trouble with their husband or wife!”
This will be one fantastic show, take it from Eric Clapton: “Buddy Guy was to me what Elvis was for others.” Clapton said in a Musician magazine article that “Buddy Guy is by far and without a doubt the best guitar player alive…if you see him in person, the way he plays is beyond anyone. Total freedom of spirit, I guess. He really changed the course of rock and roll blues.”
This is your chance to catch the living legend in concert at the Belly Up in Solana Beach, 8 p.m., Monday, October 28. Tickets are $67 in advance, $72 day of show. That gets you in the door and a spot on the immense floor, maybe a side seat here and there, and seats in the lofts are $118 and may well sell-out, but that’s just a fact of life at the Belly Up. It will be worth the effort and expense to see Guy in action. Loft seats may still be available for reservation by calling 858-481-8140 or at www.bellyup.com.
Category: Entertainment, Music
