A Tribute To Phil Guy

The Chicago blues community lost part of its soul August 20th when guitarist/vocalist Phil Guy, 68, passed away from prostate cancer complications. Just a month earlier, Guy was onstage with other blues luminaries at the Pritzker Pavilion to watch his older brother, Buddy, receive the very first Great Performer Of Illinois Award. He was also at the celebration later that night at Legends looking frail but displaying that same warmth, affability, and sly wit that made him such a genuinely well-liked person. At Guy’s funeral, fellow musician Big James Montgomery said in all the years he had known Guy, he never heard anyone say a bad word about him.

Guy was a straight-ahead player and one of the last practitioners of modern Chicago blues. A native of Lettsworth, Louisiana, he was exposed to the region’s rich musical gumbo and could also throw down with some mean funk, R&B, and soul.

Phil learned to play on one of his brother’s old acoustics, left behind when Buddy moved to Baton Rouge. Whereas the elder Guy cites the wild and flamboyant Guitar Slim as an early influence, little brother was blown away when he first heard the amplified swamp blues of Lightnin’ Slim. “It was like a bomb went off for me,” he told the Chicago Tribune in 2004. Guy followed his brother to Baton Rouge, serving as his replacement in legendary harp player Raful Neal’s band when Buddy moved to Chicago. He stayed with Neal for 10 years, working odd jobs during the day and playing music at night.

He eventually moved to Chicago in 1969 and enjoyed a successful career during the next decade, touring the world with Buddy and backing Son Seals, Koko Taylor, John Lee Hooker, Byther Smith, Junior Wells, and Big Mama Thornton. Content to let others take the spotlight, Guy told the Tribune “I always wanted to be a sideman, not a leader.” He didn’t step up front until his first solo recording, Bad Luck Boy (JSP), in 1983. He went on to record seven more albums and tour the world to critical acclaim with his band Phil Guy And The Chicago Machine. On his last album, 2006’s He’s My Blues Brother (Black Eyed Sally), he teamed with his sibling on the title track. He wrote “Last Of The Blues Singers” for his peers who had passed on, leaving him to keep the tradition alive.

Guy’s August 26th funeral was an uplifting celebration of his life. The Chicago Horns led the family into the chapel in true New Orleans fashion and concluded the service with a rousing version of “When The Saints Go Marching In.” Between, family and friends spoke lovingly of Guy. His beautiful sister, Ms. Annie Mae Holmes, moved the crowd with a stirring version of gospel standard, “I Can’t Complain.” It was a fitting farewell to a much-beloved man and his music.

MORE AUGUST BLUES: West Side harmonica ace and club owner Little Arthur Duncan also passed away August 20th. Duncan entered Kindred Hospital in Northlake in April for emergency brain surgery and remained there until his death.

Duncan moved to Chicago in 1954 and was a part-time musician for much of his career, working construction by day and playing music at night. In 1980, he opened the popular Artesia Lounge on Lake St. and later the Backscratcher’s Social Club on Madison. When Backscratcher’s closed, he seized the opportunity to play music full time, recording two highly acclaimed Delmark albums, Live At Rosa’s Lounge (CD/DVD) and Singin’ With The Sun.

Duncan was another well-liked figure in the Chicago scene. Delmark’s Kevin Johnson paid tribute to him in an e-mail, writing “He was a great friend, a proud and very well-respected man, a wonderful storyteller with a great sense of humor, and one of the last of the down-home Chicago blues singers and harp players . . . we’ll miss you, Mr. Backscratcher” . . . South Side guitarist Albert “Pete” Allen passed away in early September from an asthma and diabetic-related heart attack. Allen was a blues stalwart who played with vocalist Zora Young for more than 30 years. He also played with many Chicago blues legends, including Magic Slim, Buddy Guy, Carey and Lurrie Bell, Artie White, and Piano C. Red.

SPEEDY RECOVERY AND BEST WISHES TO THE BLUES MACHINE: The Blues Machine, Koko Taylor‘s band, was involved in a serious van accident near Black River Falls, Wisconsin on August 23rd; they were en route to Thief River Falls, Minnesota to meet Taylor for a concert.

Traveling were guitarist Calvin Louden, guitarist Shunsuke Kikuta, bassist Ricky Nelson, drummer Bryant Parker, keyboardist Stanley Banks, driver Jesse Hutson, and road manager Lee Threatt (who is also Taylor’s son in law).

When news reached the blues community, it was rumored the band members were near death or paralyzed. (Alligator did not issue a press release until two days later, and curiously, the mainstream media choose not to report the accident at all). Thankfully those rumors proved to be wrong, and though Louden, Kikuta, Nelson, and Parker all suffered broken bones that required surgery, they are expected to make full recoveries. You are in our thoughts, guys.

– Beverly Zeldin-Palmer

Category: Columns, Monthly, Sweet Home