Pool got the blues
Buddy Guy, Pool Player
- Thread starter hang-the-9
- Start date
Huge fan of Buddy, I'll have to watch that later.
Wasn't the best in town, but he was the best, until the best came around,,WoW. Played guitar about as long as I have played pool and still do, and I play the blues. My kids band can really wail and the wife and I get the biggest thrill going to all the music festivals that have signed my Son's band up, over the past 10 years,,They are young kids in their late 20's and early 30's and playing Blues and Jazz that just sets your ears to smiling,,not into it for the money, in to it for the love of music,,sorta like playing pool
Nice. That's got to be a treat to your son play in a band that plays music you like. I always wanted to play guitar (I own 2) but never could get the hang of it. I've got my granddaughter in piano lessons again (had 6 months of lessons then out for 2 years and just got back into it.) and she's loving it now. She's always liked it but this new teacher is great and she's having a blast. I'm really looking forward to the future if she keeps trucking along.
And yeah, Buddy wasn't the best but man he could make that guitar sing. One of my favorite videos is of him and Junior Wells in a shithole bar somewhere down south. I'll have to see if I can find it. Juniors got his greased Jheri Curls and Junior was typical Junior - playing the crowd and just having a blast. Buddy was playing for a few minutes before Junior walked on stage and you could tell it was just one of those nights.
Now I'm going to spend an hour searching for that damn video...
To this day Buddy is the best live show I've ever seen. He tells a funny story in an interview that he tried to teach his son to play but of course the kid assumed Buddy didn't know enough to teach him.
Years later the son says, 'Dad, I asked Clapton, Stevie Ray and a bunch of others who their biggest inspiration was and they all said it was you, so can I get that lesson now?'
Or something along those lines.
Years later the son says, 'Dad, I asked Clapton, Stevie Ray and a bunch of others who their biggest inspiration was and they all said it was you, so can I get that lesson now?'
Or something along those lines.
Thanks to this day the manager of Buddy Guy’s in the late 90s. Did not know taxis would not come after midnight. Got into trouble playing a little pool there. He stepped up, saw what was going on and got me out of there. No South Chicago after midnight again!
My ex-FIL was from south-side. He was the only white guy in his High School picture. When my wife and I visited Chicago in '92 we decided to go see his old house. Been there done that, I'm good.
I've seen Buddy live several times. One time he said that his inspiration for Damn Right I've got the blues, at least the title, came from losing some cash in a pool game.
Edit, I posted before I watched the video. That was the story I was talking about.
Edit, I posted before I watched the video. That was the story I was talking about.
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That phrase , wasn't the best around, was a quote from Buddy Guy , and to me He is one of the best around. Watch the vid and you will hear him make the statement mentioned.
Used to frequent the Checkerboard Lounge (and Theresa’s...48th & Indiana) back in the 70s when I played with the drummer he cut ‘Hoodoo Man’ with. Never had any trouble. Not sure I’d go there now.
Re: Buddy: A real sweetheart of a guy, but liked his earlier/more tasty playing better (before the acid-rock hippies discovered/encouraged him).
One of my Fav's here
He has performed in my city. Top five all time live performer. He didn't have a lot of top chart records in large part due to the recording company he signed with which refused to record him in his live performance style. He flew under the radar as a session artist for a long time.
Years ago my company rolled up another division under my boss. This divisions sales team was pretty long in the tooth in an extremely mature industry and Tyco wanted to shake things up a bit. To further stir the pot my boss made me join their team and cover two states- Florida and Georgia- mainly just to put some uneasiness in their stomachs. We had the usual rah rah meetings in downtown Chicago and then went to see the Blue Man Group. (Really cool show btw) afterwards all the brass went back to the hotel and the local guy took the 11 of us out on the town. It was pretty late so things were winding down but this guy was pretty connected and had a table reserved up front at Buddy Guy’s place. A table for ten. I was wondering why they were all hurrying through the door. As planned I was left odd man out and wound up standing to the side of the stage at a bistro table. They were kind enough to tell the server to include me on their tab, which turned out to be a big mistake. Just as the band came back a group of 6-7 smoking hot women from Hawaii walked in and we all huddled around the only table left open. Turns out two of the girls had just gotten engaged and they were coming home to tell one of their parents about it. Since the parents didn’t know she was gay the other girls came for support. I spent the rest of the night buying these girls anything they wanted to drink all the while the seven guys amd three ladies at the front table kept looking over jealous. Especially when Buddy came over because he had to hear what the girls story was, and once he did he didn’t want to leave. Best night in Chicago ever.
That first club Buddy opened downtown (after the Checkerboard) turned out to be a less-than-optimal location for electric music. I think the power company had a transformer station in one of the underground service tunnels below the street, that caused a very loud hum in everyones amplifiers, especially if you had an old guitar. You definitely had to remember to turn down your volume between songs.
Nice stories here, but it was really a pool related post, really LOL
