Documentary Watch: American Masters: The Blues Chase the Blues Away

American Masters: The Blues Chase the Blues Away did just what it was supposed to. Tell the story of Buddy Guy. And boy, am I embarrassed. I know the Jagger-championed Chicago Blues star and epitome of cool of the 70s and 80s. (Granted, at some point, I thought Dylan was just Tom Petty’s friend and sang ‘Silvio’, but I was considerably younger than I am now). But I have since forgot or didn't know that Buddy played guitar on all those classic 60s Blues albums made by Chess Records. We are taking Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Big Mama Thornton, Bo Diddley and Koko Taylor. Those early guitar heroics were an influence for a generation. To the point, the stereotypical guitar God poses we associate with Richards and Page and Clapton and Hendrix were copying Guy who was doing it first. The doc starts slow as Guy is quite soft spoken, but as it kicks into the history and the story unfolds and Kingfish Ingram, Gary Clark Jr, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana and others chime in, you begin to realize what a treat it is. Aged 85 and shaved bald, Guy isn’t as recognizable as his fiery image you associate with him, but comes across an aged blues man. There’s great old time stories and a reminder that there was always a new generation to champion him. Guy is a humble hero, and we are reminded that yes, Rock n Roll came down to us from the Stones and Yardbirds, they got it from musicians like Buddy Guy. I mean the American Masters series is generally well done, so no doubt that shouldn’t be surprising, but oh yeah, if you like rock n roll, no matter your knowledge, this one is a must see. As the old masters (Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf) have passed and their lives still exist in the stories about them that are shared, Guy (and Clapton and Richards) are the old masters. We are lucky to have this.