When I Left Home: My Story…..
I just finished reading Buddy Guy’s autobiography a while back….. If you’re interested the history of the Blues/Rock and Roll, this is a great read…. You’ll find that you will Love/Hate Leonard Chess, owner of Chess Records….. You’ll love him because there would be a large portion of the great Blues performers who would never have been recorded if not for him – Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Lightnin’ Slim, John Lee Hooker, Check Berry – all the great Chess performers…. On the other hand, yes, they did get some fame, but, because of Leonard’s greed, they didn’t make any fortunes…. Most of time they were paid a set fee for the recording session – That’s It – No Royalties – No Copyrights!…. He made sure he got ALL the rights to anything they recorded…. His son, Marshall Chess was a bit better….. He talks of the help the British groups gave to all the Blues artists by crediting them when they played one of their songs by urging the audience to go out and buy the original records and by having them as opening acts…. He especially credited Mick and Keith of The Stones….
Buddy also touches on how Jimi Hendrix borrowed a lot of his on-stage antics from him, which he had borrowed from Lightnin’ Slim….. Buddy would use a 150 foot guitar chord and start playing a set out in the street or alleyway and work his way to the stage through the audience, along with playing behind his back, between his legs, and with his teeth….. Remember, this was way before wireless guitar transmitter/receiver set-ups!…. It’s an informative read – Check it out!…..