Hendrix blues

Lugnut is on the right track here in referring to Buddy Guy. When I play Buddy's newest CD ("Sweet Tea"), the first reaction of many people is "Damn! He sounds like Jimi Hendrix!"

Truth is, Jimi was in Buddy Guy's band way back when and learned from the master. So, it's more accurate to say that Jimi sounds like Buddy, not the opposite.

"Sweet Tea" is on Jive Records (released in 2001).

My opinion on this CD is in line with the reviewer at Amazon:

"Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Very few artists have attempted--or succeeded in--improving the standard template for classic blues records set some 40 years ago in the golden age of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. Perhaps R.L Burnside's recent heavily produced work on Fat Possum Records has come closest to adding an original slant.
On his new album, Buddy Guy looks to the same source for inspiration; seven of the nine songs here are written by Fat Possum's hill-country blues roster, including T-Model Ford and Junior Kimbrough. Working with producer Dennis Herring (Counting Crows, Jars of Clay) and a small collective of Mississippi-based musicians, Guy sings with a passion that can only come from the same source as the songs. The noise generated in the studio through vintage amplifiers has a live and dangerous feel to it. The acoustic opener, "Done Got Old," does not prepare the listener for the colossal aural assault of "Baby, Please Don't Leave Me." Fading in on a percussion track, Guy's guitar hits its cat-strangling best and never looks back, while the voice sounds energized, vital, and wholly contemporary. Through the 12-minute "I Got to Try It, Girl" to the closing Guy composition "It's a Jungle Out There," Sweet Tea has all the hallmarks of a classic blues album, mixed with a twist of the new. --Rob Stewart"

It's on my personal "essential" list and it's a great stocking stuffer for blues lovers!

As for joint Buddy/Jimi recordings...there are none in existence that I know of. Shame.

If you like the way Jimi plays, then you really must give this a listen! You can hear Jimi's roots. Borrow a copy (or listen at a record shop).

zaikesman,

I have read about the Hendrix/Guy connection and am damned if I can remember where. Rolling Stone? Or maybe it was in a "Sweet Tea" review in the Chicago Tribune. I'm going to ask Greg Kot (Tribune) about this, because I did not make it up. If it proves to be unsubstantiated, then I'll publicly offer a mea culpa.

Zaikesman,

I contacted Greg Kot (rock reviewer for Chicago Tribune and Rolling Stone) and asked about the Hendrix-Buddy Guy connection. He did not know if Jimi actually played with Buddy or not (I'm still trying to find the source of this), but did say that Jimi attended Buddy Guy's live sessions and picked up some of his technique directly.

This is what Greg told me (nothing new, really): "Buddy Guy's live performances in the early and mid '60s are legendary for how they advanced the sound and technique of electric guitar playing, and Hendrix witnessed a few of those and incorporated Guy's innovations into his own playing."