Buddy Guy speaks the truth on 'Living Proof'

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Buddy Guy speaks the truth on 'Living Proof'
November 3, 2010
By Steve Jones
USA TODAY

Enlarge image Enlarge By Ronda Churchill
Buddy Guy, left and BB King film a video for Guy's song Stay Around a Little Longer.
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By Steve Jones, USA TODAY
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Buddy Guy stalked among the tables at Birchmere Music Hall recently, sending concertgoers into a frenzy as he unleashed a torrent of notes from his guitar while singing Albert King's Drowning on Dry Land.

The Chicago blues legend has been stirring up audiences like that for nearly a half-century, and he leaves no doubt he speaks the truth on his new album, Living Proof, when he says he's "74 years young" in the song by that name. He's as charismatic as ever, brimming with energy and still capable of the technical wizardry on his ax that inspired such young guitarists as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughn and a host of others.

Faith, death shape songs

For Living Proof, he once again teams with producer/songwriter Tom Hambridge, who worked with him on 2008's acclaimed Skin Deep. Together they co-penned the album's dozen songs, which reflect on Guy's life, career and spirituality, and also include several of his signature swaggering, bawdy tunes.

"The songs came from conversations we would have," Guy says. "I would say 90% of blues songs come from things you heard somebody say. For years, a lot of people didn't pay attention to what was being said, but with the economy the way it is now, I think a few more people are listening to the stories we've been singing about for some time."

Hambridge says Guy told him that, for years, he had no emotional investment in most of the songs he was singing. Hambridge wanted to do songs that meant something to Guy, and many of them were written as he rode the singer's tour bus. Guy's recollection of driving his family nuts as a child teaching himself to play a two-string, wood guitar became Thank Me Someday, while the 2008 death of Guy's brother, blues guitarist Phil Guy, inspired Everybody's Got to Go. The title track is Guy's testament to the power of faith. Hambridge says he'd pen the lyrics and leave it to Guy to bring them to life.

"When he delivers it in the studio, he closes his eyes and makes a song his own," Hambridge says.

The album's centerpiece, a poignant duet with B.B. King called Stay Around a Little Longer, was sparked during a joint concert in Nashville by the two icons. At the beginning of his set, the 85-year-old King thanked the audience for coming and thanked God for letting him continue to play. From that, Hambridge wrote the song for the two of them that expressed their love for the blues.

"The good Lord blessed me to be around, and I guess that's why me and B.B. put that song together," says Guy, who cites King as one of his influences.

"It was so good to record again with the great Buddy Guy, who I am also proud to call my friend," says King, who played with Guy on I Pity the Fool on King's 1993 album, Blues Summit. "We had such a wonderful time doing this project."

A Rock Hall of Fame career

Stay Around a Little Longer talks about what a great career ride they've had, and for Guy, it's one that started on Sept. 25, 1957, when he arrived in Chicago from Louisiana. Muddy Waters took the young guitarist under his wing. His flamboyant style electrified live audiences, and years later, rock stars began singing his praises and copping his licks. Eric Clapton, who along with King inducted Guy into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, has often said, "Buddy Guy was to me what Elvis was for others."

Guy, who grew up on a sharecroppers' farm outside tiny Lettsworth, La., remains humble despite accolades that include five Grammy Awards, a record 23 W.C. Handy Blues Awards and the National Medal of Arts.

"Every award I've ever received, it's been in honor of the many people who should have gotten it long before me," says Guy, who owns the popular Chicago blues club Buddy Guy's Legends. "The first person with an electric guitar I ever saw was Lightnin' Slim, who came out in that country where I was in Louisiana, where you only had one light pole. I don't forget that."

The road still beckons Guy, who never tires of touring and maintains a steady string of concert dates. He says he is still learning and is always open to trying something new.

"I've dedicated my life to the blues, and if I'm invited to the moon, you can check that date when I blast off."