Do you know of any source for info on Jimi's stint with Guy's band? As for the Guy record, I know many folks like his work, but I've heard him lots of times (and also seen him in performance on the tube) and doubt he could show me anything to change my mind about his style. That 'cat-strangling' (apt description in my view) aspect the reviewer refers to about Guy's guitar work is a large part of the reason why, but you should also probably know that I am not really a fan of any contemporary blues, stopping pretty much with electric blues recordings made by the late 60's/early 70's (although there were certainly some older-school performers I enjoyed seeing live into the 90's, but sadly most of the best ones are inevitably dead by now).
As for Jimi, I consider him to be far and away the best blues player to have worked mainly in the rock idiom, and one of the amazing things about him is that, had he never had his uniquely ground-breaking, paradigm-shifting, and meteoric rock career, he still would be qualified as one the greatest and most important second-generation post-war, urban-electric black American straight blues artists even without it.
But as far as the Guy comparsion, other than the fact that he routinely strays into rock mode with his blues, I don't think there really is any comparision IMO concerning their respective levels of touch, soul, meaning, sound, skill, or invention, although I'm sure Guy at the beginning of his career would be much more interesting and tolerable for me to look into further (and I have to admit that his subsequent work has caused me to pass on really checking out his roots), and of course more relevant to any Hendrixian influence-spotting. And I will add that other of Jimi's blues-guitar heros and influences are also easily recognized, like T-Bone Walker, Otis Rush, Guitar Slim and Lightnin' Hopkins, to Chess label rockers Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry, and beyond.
