I once saw a documentary about Buddy Guy with a story about Jimi Hendrix, who was apparently such a fan of Buddy Guy that he either cancelled, or abruptly shortened, a show of his that was down the street from where Buddy was playing that night. There follows footage of Buddy’s performance from that evening, complete with a pan over to Jimi right up front, loving every note. With a career that has spanned over sixty years, Buddy Guy has been a powerhouse of the blues for longer than most of us can remember. It’s quite staggering to consider the number of black people that have died at the hands of American police in the amount of time that he has been a performing artist. To reach the level of notoriety that he has had while always knowing that some angry, power-mad public “servant” could take it all away in a moment without facing any lasting repercussions must be a truly infuriating thing to live with. How famous does one have to be to overcome their natural appearance in the eyes of law enforcement? No one should need to ask such a question and it’s possible for us to eliminate that situation from society, but is America capable of it?
New Album A Day 