Do yourself a favor and listen to Bob’s interview with blues legend Buddy Guy. This man is pure soul (just look at the twinkle in his eyes in that photo to the right) from a part of this country that no longer exists.
Born in 1936, Guy’s parents were sharecroppers who lived and worked on plantations in Lettsworth, Louisiana. Seventy-five years and many miles later, the man still hasn’t lost his accent, vernacular, nor that particular farm-raised wisdom – the same type of wisdom that caused him to improvise his own guitars long before he could afford his own. The now legendary guitarist says he used rubber bands and wire taken from their screen window (either tacked to the wall or tied to his ear) in attempts to recreate the sound of his favorite instrument.
Finally, when he was fifteen, his father bought a very used guitar with only two strings from a family friend for $4.35 – the only cash he had in the house that Christmas. From that point onward, Buddy Guy says life “ain’t never been the same.”
His memoir is titled When I Left Home: My Story and is a vivid read.
Here are a few videos that are fun to watch. Enjoy!
Ariana
“Champagne and Reefer,” performed with the Rolling Stones:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFDwq-H33Fo
Buddy’s version of “Strange Brew” in 2010:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNm0bHoNb98
(Note From Wikipedia: Recalls Guy: “Eric Clapton and I are the best of friends and I like the tune “Strange Brew” and we were sitting and having a drink one day and I said ‘Man, that “Strange Brew”…you just cracked me up with that note.’ And he said ‘You should…cause it’s your licks…’ “)
“Skin Deep,” title song of his 2008 album, was his first album of all original songs (he says he had tried to do original work earlier, but managers kept him playing others’ tunes). Here’s the song performed on Letterman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UccVUT8Q988
“Stone Crazy,” #78 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 best Guitar songs of all time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK1vkls4Kjg