By Steve Newton
I saw a tweet from my blues-rockin’ buddy David Gogo a couple days ago, in which he sent “love and healing vibes” to Buddy Guy as the 87-year-old blues legend deals with the health issues that have postponed his farewell tour.
That got me thinking about how much I’ve appreciated Buddy myself, having seen him in concert several times, enjoyed so many of his albums, and interviewed him five times.
So I went and searched around in my stash of cassette tapes and dug the one out from 2008 that includes my most recent chat with him.
At the time Guy was in Vegas, touring behind his stellar Skin Deep album, and a woman named Isabel called me up and got him on the line.
As always, Buddy was a great interview, whether raving about the guest artists on Skin Deep–which included Eric Clapton, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Robert Randolph, and Quinn Sullivan–or decrying the lack of blues music being played on the radio.
Have a listen:
Talking to Buddy Guy has been a major highlight of my career as a music journalist. I really hope he gets well enough soon to get back out on the road one last time.
To hear the full audio of my other interviews with Buddy from 1991, 1993, and 2001, subscribe to my Patreon page, where you will also find my uncut, one-on-one conversations with such blues greats as B.B. King, Albert King, Albert Collins, Robert Cray, Derek Trucks, J.J. Cale, Roy Buchanan, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.