Blues at the Saturday Music Hall

Blues master Buddy Guy doing 'First Time I Met the Blues' at Radio City Music Hall in 2003. Guy is another of my favorite guitarists. He can play any style and is an incredibly vibrant live performer. He was emulated by Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and many others. I used to see him perform live alot when I still lived in Chicago in the 1970s. At that time he was one of the kids among the blues legends who were still playing all over Chicagoland in funky clubs.

He had also been a session guy at the legendary Chess Studios at 2120 South Michigan Avenue, where British blues bands often stopped to record, in awe of the historic players on the Chess Records roster. In fact, during my high school years, I got to see both the Stones and Yardbirds record there. Quite a coup for a 16-year-old. 

After college, I was lucky enough to see Muddy Waters, Hound Dog Taylor, Howlin' Wolf, James Cotton, Junior Wells, Koko Taylor, Magic Sam, Magic Slim, Otis Rush, Son Seals, Willie Dixon, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, Otis Spann and many others play live at Chicago clubs, in various combinations. Buddy was often in the band and, of course, he also had his own band. Once I even got to see a very aged Big Mama Thornton doing the song she wrote, Hound Dog, which was made famous by Elvis Presley. She arrived with her things in a brown paper shopping bag and brought the house down.

The Chicago blues clubs were wild and wide open in that era. The very best ones were in old black neighborhoods, where blues fans of all dominations and colors were welcome. No frat boy blues crowds in those days -- this was the real thing. A special favorite was the Checkboard lounge (right), which was owned by Buddy Guy and Junior wells during the 70s. On Saturdays Chicago clubs can stay open until either 3 AM or 5 AM, and the late sets at these places were the cream of the crop -- magical, passionate, powerful and entirely uninhibited. It was common for musicians in town for concerts, especially Brits, to stop in afterwards and jam with the Chicago blues players. Quite a spectacle.

I had to miss Buddy when he recently played at the Lensic up in Santa Fe. The last time I saw him was a few years ago on a visit back to my old hometown. He owns his own club in Chicago called Buddy Guy's Legends. When we visited, Buddy did a few tasty songs and then hung out at the bar talking quietly with anyone who approached, including me. A legend indeed.