Phil Guy

Phil Guy never overtook the stature of his elder brother Buddy as a leading figure in blues, nor did recordings ever fully convey the funky essence of his own approach to the idiom. He stayed visible as a performer on Chicago stages, tracing the path his brother had taken while holding out for wider recognition that never arrived before the end. Following a decade alongside harpist Raful Neal, he departed the Baton Rouge area in 1969 and settled in Chicago. Once there he performed in his sibling’s high-energy ensemble and also supported harpist Junior Wells, sharing guitar responsibilities with Sammy Lawhorn on the latter’s mid-’70s Delmark release On Tap, an album that has remained underappreciated. For JSP he issued his own recordings, which conveyed energy even when they fell short on fresh ideas. In August 2008 Phil Guy succumbed to liver and kidney cancer.