Record of the Day: Buddy Guy, “Can’t Quit the Blues”

Buddy Guy
“Can’t Quit the Blues” (3 CD Sony/Legacy 8287681967-2)

A few months before his death, Muddy Waters met Buddy Guy at a concert and told him: «Don’t let the blues
die with me.”
This symbolic passing of the baton makes us understand the esteem and affection that Waters had for this musician from Louisiana, an esteem shared by blues giants such as Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson and B.

B. King. His powerful guitar style made him one of the pioneers of electric blues, making him a major source of inspiration for artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton (who claimed to have formed Cream after hearing Guy perform as a trio in London).

On the occasion of his seventieth birthday (he was born in 1936) Sony has decided to publish a box set entitled “Can’t Quit the Blues”. At a competitive price, over three hours of music of the highest quality are collected in 3 CDs; for obvious contractual reasons, the box deals with the musician’s most recent production, excluding the historic recordings he made for Chess in the 60s (which are also easy to find).

Given that Guy has not lost any of his brilliance over the years and has further refined his skills, we can
rest assured that there are no lapses in tone in the collection, which also sees an army of superstar musicians pay homage to Buddy’s art, from Carlos Santana to Keith Richards, passing through names such as Eric Clapton, Bill Wyman, Dr.

John, Keb’Mo and Bill Payne. The anthology is completed by a DVD containing 11 fantastic live performances recorded in Montreaux and Seattle, never released before, and an excellent 90-minute documentary, “My Time After Awhile” (unfortunately without Italian subtitles) in which Guy retraces some stages of his biography starting from his difficult childhood in Louisiana, describing the meeting with Muddy Waters (who first gave him food after Buddy was left without money and food.
for three days) and telling anecdotes about the blues icons he had the opportunity to collaborate with (the one in which Guy and Howlin’ Wolf steal cans of food from the supermarket to survive is hilarious and chilling at the same time), unraveling the thread of memories until he talks about the success that accompanied him around the world.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical subjects.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: Un disco per ogni giorno dell’anno” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.