Biography
Born on 27 February 1947 at the US Navy Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Guillory passed away on 31 December 2000 in England. From an early age he handled both piano and guitar, though his initial engagement with the electric instrument took place in Florida alongside the Illusions. After relocating to Chicago in 1965 he enrolled at Roosevelt University to pursue studies in Theory and Composition. Two years later he entered the city’s pop group the Cryan’ Shames as bassist, contributing to a pair of albums prior to his departure in 1969. The following year he left the United States to begin travelling. His first appearance on British soil occurred at the Cambridge Folk Festival in 1971, where Al Stewart asked him to provide accompaniment. Growing demand for his session skills led Atlantic Records to offer a solo deal in 1973, resulting in the release of his self-titled debut the next year. Additional recording work followed on Peter Sarstedt’s Tall Tree, Al Stewart’s Past, Present And Future and Elkie Brooks’s Two Days Away. Demonstrating broad range, he also performed with the jazz-fusion outfit Pacific Eardrum—filling the chair left by Big Jim Sullivan on two 1970s releases—as well as Donovan, Buggles, Nick Heyward and Barbara Dickson, for whom he later served as musical director. From 1986 onward he maintained an active solo schedule, performing across the UK, USA, Europe and Canada. He further contributed to music education as a guest lecturer in the Guildhall School Of Music’s summer programme and supplied every technical detail for Ralph Denyer’s The Guitar Handbook, the authoritative volume that prompted the BBC series Rock School. On separate occasions he backed Joan Baez during a televised French concert and shared stages with John Renbourn and Pierre Bensusan. Although solo recordings brought limited commercial reward, Guillory excelled as a live performer and remained a sought-after virtuoso. His death from cancer in December 2000 deprived the music community of an exceptional artist.
Albums
