Phil Guy (April 28, 1940 – August 20, 2008) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

guitarist. He was the younger brother of blues guitarist

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaugh ...

. Phil and Buddy Guy were frequent collaborators and contribute both guitar and vocal performances on many of each other's albums.

Biography

Guy was born in

Lettsworth, Louisiana Lettsworth is an unincorporated community located in the extreme northern tip of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the east bank of the Atchafalaya River near its intersection with the Mississippi and Red rivers at the ...

. He played with the

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

player

Raful Neal Raful Neal (June 6, 1936 – September 1, 2004)Biography '' AllMusic'' was an American Louisiana blues singer, harmonicist and songwriter from the United States. Neal was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, and reared by his aunt ...

for ten years in the

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counti ...

area. He then relocated to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

in 1969, where he joined his brother's band, at the time when his brother was becoming known as an innovator in blues guitar. The brothers collaborated extensively with

Junior Wells Junior Wells (born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., December 9, 1934January 15, 1998) was an American singer, harmonica player, and recording artist. He is best known for his signature song " Messin' with the Kid" and his 1965 album '' Hoodoo Man Blues ...

in the 1970s. Guy recorded a number of albums under his own name in the 1980s and 1990s, branching out into soul and funk. He can be seen in his self-described hippie phase in the film '' Festival Express'', in which the Guy band tours southern Canada by train in 1970 with the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, world music, ...

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage presence. ...

and the

Band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

. Guy worked with

Maurice John Vaughn Maurice John Vaughn (born May 10, 1952) is an American blues musician from Chicago, Illinois, United States. He is a guitarist, saxophonist, keyboardist and singer. Biography Vaughn began playing professionally in 1968 as a saxophonist in Chica ...

in 1979, notably converting him into a blues musician. Guy died of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that su ...

on August 20, 2008, in

Chicago Heights, Illinois Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 27,480 at the 2020 census. In earlier years, Chicago Heights was nicknamed "The Crossroads of the Nation". Currently, it is nicknamed "The Heights". Geogra ...

, just a few months after diagnosis of the disease.

Discography

*'' The Red Hot Blues of Phil Guy'' (

JSP Records JSP Records is a British record label, founded in 1978 by John Stedman (John Stedman Promotions), releasing recordings by blues musicians such as Professor Longhair, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Witherspoon, Louisiana Red, Deitra Farr, Charlie Sayles, ...

, 1982) *'' Bad Luck Boy'' (

, 1983) *''It's a Real Mutha Fucka'' (JSP, 1985) *''Tina Nu'' (JSP, 1989) *''Tough Guy'' (Red Lightnin', 1989) *''Born to Get Down'' (Splash (h), 1989) *'' All Star Chicago Blues Session'' (JSP, 1994) *''Breaking Out on Top'' (JSP, 1995) *''Another Guy'' (Blues Special Records, 1997) *''Chicago's Hottest Guitars'', with

Lurrie Bell Lurrie Bell (born Lurrie C. Bell, December 13, 1958, Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American blues guitarist and singer. His father was renowned blues harmonica player Carey Bell. Career Bell started playing guitar at the age of six, ...

(Wolf Records, 1998) *''Say What You Mean'' (JSP, 2000) *''He's My Blues Brother'', with Buddy Guy (Black-Eyed Records, 2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guy, Phil 1940 births 2008 deaths People from Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana American blues guitarists American male guitarists Blues musicians from Louisiana Deaths from prostate cancer Deaths from cancer in Illinois 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Louisiana 20th-century American male musicians