The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 9, 1988 -- Page 13 Guy's guitar:. Blues come true BY BRIAN BONET PROPHETS do exist. About 35 years ago, Buddy Guy was a teenager sitting on his Lou- isiana front porch playing a beat up, two-string guitar. Then a stranger approached. "(He) said, 'Son, if you had a guitar, I bet you would learn how to play,"' Guy recalled to the Daily last March. "And I said, 'If I wouldn't, something would be wrong. And he said, 'Well, you be sittin' right here tomorrow." The next day Guy waited for the stranger. Sure enough, he returned and took Guy to a neighborhood mu- sic shop and bought him a Harmony guitar for 52 dollars. Was the stranger just a generous passerby? Maybe. But even Guy seems a bit mystified by the encounter. . "Strangely enough, since that night I haven't seen that guy. I still owe him the money." And the blues world owes him a fortune. Four short years later, the young guitarist was no longer on his porch in Baton Rouge - he had moved on to clubs in Chicago and, interestingly, his initial success wasn't because there was anything particularly new about his music. Instead, it had something to do with his refreshing attitude. "The stuff I was playing was just Jimmy Reed and 'The Things You Used To Do' by Memphis Slim," said Guy. "When I got to Chicago, most of the guys were playing sit- ting down in the old acoustic style and I saw that and said, 'Shit, if they can make a living sitting down I know I can make a living."' By the age of 23, Guy was turning heads at Chicago's Regal Theatre, his unpredictable, wild style stealing some of the limelight from older bluesmasters such as B.B. King. Among his young admirers was Eric Clapton who explained in a 1985 Rolling Stone interview why the impact of Guy and his Chicago peers was so vital. "They sounded like they were really on the edge, like they were barely in control and at any time they could hit a really bad note and the whole thing would fall apart - but of course, they didn't. I liked that a lot more than B.B." It was the same sentiment Jeff Beck expressed in a Musician mag- azine interview the same year. "Buddy Guy epitomized for me the artistry of electric blues guitar, esp- ecially Chicago style. It was the simplicity, the stabbing manic phrases that he came out with. It was me, that sound." Another admirer was Stevie Ray Vaughn, who used to play along with the records of Guy. And there was Keith Richards who was a fan of Guy's as a young art student. Even Hendrix was inspired by Guy's guitar riffs, and tape recorded Guy in the late '60s at a New York club so he could study the artist's playing at home. Indeed, Buddy Guy's fan club, reads like a "Who's Who" of today's rock 'n' roll guitar world. But while Clapton and friends have found wide acceptance and commercial success (as well as commercial appearances - i.e., Clapton's bluesy "After Midnight" stint for Michelob), Buddy Guy, at age 52, is a hallmark musician without a record contract. "I've been shortchanged all my life in record studios. Everybody wants a piece of the cake, which I don't mind giving up, but let me be free, man," said Guy about his refusal to give in to the whims of mainstream record executives. "I'm Buddy Guy and I don't want nobody to make me nobody else. When I first came to Chicago, fine. I was a little young and I hadn't heard that much and I was willing to take ideas. I still am but I am not willing to take ideas while I'm recording." Again, it has something do with his refreshing attitude. BUDDY GUY and JUNIOR. WELLs, another pioneer of the Chicago Blues Scene, will be performing two sets at the Blind Pig tonight. Showtimes are 10 p.m. and midnight. Tickets are $15 at the door, $13 in advance, and can be purchased at the Michigan Union TicketMaster outlet. 1' Ewa At Least It's Not Bob Pete Seeger, legendary folk singer, plays in 'Songs for Peace, Jobs, and Justice,'a benefit for the Worker's Culture Program tonight at 8 p.m. at the Power Center. Tickets are $15.50. Buddy Guy's blues have influenced such famous guitarists as Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. R2adio Ihaek 1SA- LE!. Welcome, Students Tandy® 1000 TX Stereo Rack System x PC Compatible With Dual Cassettes 89995 Save Save 31995 25-1600$29905 8o 13-231 Sale Ends 9/30/88 Reg. 1199.00 Monitor extra Reg. 399.95 GET AN EXTRA U .10%: : OFF! ~ ANY ITEM IN THISAD ® WITH TI COUPON ONLY. . 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