Click here to read reviewer Steven Rosen's take on When I Left Home.
Guitar legend Buddy Guy is the bridge between blues greats like Muddy Waters
and BB King and the wave of English rock and rollers who ruled the '60s and '70s such as Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones. Upwards of 70 years old, Guy still tours and plays with a fierce passion. He's made it his life mission that the blues will never die, and he testifies to that end every night.
Many of Guy's contemporaries (especially those outrageous rock stars he inspired) have written salacious tell-alls. Those books were more about rock-star shenanigans than anything else. Guy steers clear of the backstage parties, instead displaying a humble, extremely likable, and infectiously optimistic passion for music and a love for the men he has performed with or grew up idolizing. The book could as well be called "Why I Love the Blues." Fans looking for dirt will be disappointed. Fans excited about music and the musician will find much to like about Buddy Guy.
Guy's biography serves as an excellent primer for learning about the blues and the best blues guitarists of the 20th century. This is Blues 101 taught by Professor Guy, and this dude knows what he's talking about. He was in the center of it with a ferocious sound and style that is pioneering. That he comes from such humble beginnings working on his family's farm makes his story remarkable, like so many of the essential American artists who grew out of the South.
Buddy Guy is a music legend, but in his book he's just a man who loves the blues.