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When I Left Home: My Story
[MP3CD audiobook format in vinyl case.]
According to Eric Clapton, John Mayer, and the late Stevie Ray Vaughn, Buddy Guy is the greatest blues guitarist of all time. An enormous influence on these musicians as well as on Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck, he is the living embodiment of Chicago blues.
Guy's epic story stands at the absolute nexus of modern blues. He came to Chicago from rural Louisiana in the fifties -- the very moment when urban blues were electrifying our culture. He was a regular session player at Chess Records. Willie Dixon was his mentor. He was a sideman in the bands of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. He and Junior Wells formed a band of their own. In the sixties, he became a recording star in his own right.
When I Left Home tells Guy's picaresque story in his own words, those of a storyteller who remembers everything, including blues masters in their prime and the exploding, evolving culture of music that happened all around him.
According to Eric Clapton, John Mayer, and the late Stevie Ray Vaughn, Buddy Guy is the greatest blues guitarist of all time. An enormous influence on these musicians as well as on Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck, he is the living embodiment of Chicago blues.
Guy's epic story stands at the absolute nexus of modern blues. He came to Chicago from rural Louisiana in the fifties -- the very moment when urban blues were electrifying our culture. He was a regular session player at Chess Records. Willie Dixon was his mentor. He was a sideman in the bands of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. He and Junior Wells formed a band of their own. In the sixties, he became a recording star in his own right.
When I Left Home tells Guy's picaresque story in his own words, those of a storyteller who remembers everything, including blues masters in their prime and the exploding, evolving culture of music that happened all around him.
MP3 CD
First published May 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 165 reviews
April 17, 2023
A read that captivated me from the start, from a soul full of love, music and life who knew his calling from nearly babyhood. His awe at the musicians who came before him, his gratitude that he could have some part of that world, his acceptance when it didn’t seem the universe was going his way, and utter joy when it did.
You feel you’re sitting with the legend telling you his story as just a regular guy you want to sink your own love into. A terrific job by his collaborator/writer.
4 1/2 stars. ❤️❤️❤️❤️🥰
You feel you’re sitting with the legend telling you his story as just a regular guy you want to sink your own love into. A terrific job by his collaborator/writer.
4 1/2 stars. ❤️❤️❤️❤️🥰
May 23, 2012
I have read many bios and auto-bios on both pre and post war blues artists ... this one is shaping up to be one of the best of the lot.
It is not a straight autobio. It is Buddy kicking back and telling stories and anecdotes about his life and his life in the blues.
It is very much in his own voice. You can just about feel his passion for the blues in the way he tells his tales.
The part when Buddy's daddy bought him his first guitar was a near tear jerker.
Just finished this book. I couldn't put it down. I walked away with a deeper appreciation for the man that Buddy is. His moral compass kept him on the right track and his passion for the blues keeps him on top of his game ... even at 75. I saw him last summer in London and he blew the mother-fucking room of the joint.
Damn right. Don't skip this book.
I am listening to this one on the audible.com app. I am about an hour or so through it. Damn good.
It is not a straight autobio. It is Buddy kicking back and telling stories and anecdotes about his life and his life in the blues.
It is very much in his own voice. You can just about feel his passion for the blues in the way he tells his tales.
The part when Buddy's daddy bought him his first guitar was a near tear jerker.
Just finished this book. I couldn't put it down. I walked away with a deeper appreciation for the man that Buddy is. His moral compass kept him on the right track and his passion for the blues keeps him on top of his game ... even at 75. I saw him last summer in London and he blew the mother-fucking room of the joint.
Damn right. Don't skip this book.
I am listening to this one on the audible.com app. I am about an hour or so through it. Damn good.
May 23, 2014
Lively and fun to read. Buddy Guy followed the same path as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and other great Delta bluesmen who emigrated north to Chicago. Since he was some years younger he arrived when the scene was at its apex and became a participant, getting to know many of the best players along his bumpy road toward establishing himself in the same league.
Known for being an all-around good-guy, he comes across well in this book. Telling it in his conversational style rather than in formal English lends the reader a further sense of Guy's own personality. He's not afraid of admitting some of his own shortcomings and never wallows in his own hard-earned success. He just tells us how it was, both for good and for bad. He respects his elders deeply, but doesn't idolize them, giving us a well rounded look at some of the imperfect men who made such amazingly perfect music.
For fans of the Blues this is an essential book. The only failing here is its brevity. It could have been twice as long and still seemed too short. But it's written the way Guy plays: right to the point. He's still going strong in his seventies, and we can only wish him many more years to enjoy his well deserved regal position in the Blues world. This book is just icing on a cake he's been serving us for over half a century.
Thanks, Buddy.
Known for being an all-around good-guy, he comes across well in this book. Telling it in his conversational style rather than in formal English lends the reader a further sense of Guy's own personality. He's not afraid of admitting some of his own shortcomings and never wallows in his own hard-earned success. He just tells us how it was, both for good and for bad. He respects his elders deeply, but doesn't idolize them, giving us a well rounded look at some of the imperfect men who made such amazingly perfect music.
For fans of the Blues this is an essential book. The only failing here is its brevity. It could have been twice as long and still seemed too short. But it's written the way Guy plays: right to the point. He's still going strong in his seventies, and we can only wish him many more years to enjoy his well deserved regal position in the Blues world. This book is just icing on a cake he's been serving us for over half a century.
Thanks, Buddy.
January 10, 2021
Probably more of a 3-star read but love his music and have a bit of personal history with Buddy. I have spent time in his old Chicago blues bar, 'Checkerboard Lounge' and spoken with him several time by telephone. He's a great 'guy', and generous with his time. I can't argue with the finest guitarists in the world that include him among the best.
February 9, 2013
Buddy Guy is one of the most influential guitarists to come out of the blues. Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck and many other guitarists were influenced by him. As well has having a very successful solo career, he has known and played with a number of the great blues legends: like Muddy Walters, Howling Wolf, John Lee Hooker, plus many others. Despite now entering his mid to late seventies, he still plays the guitar with an energy, depth and enthusiasm of someone half his age. By opting for David Ritz, Buddy Guy really did pick the right man to collaborate with him on this biography. They obviously were very much at ease with each other. For anyone who is interested in ‘the blues’ this biography has a great feel to it. Reading this biography is like sitting at a bar with him while he tells you stories in his own relaxed and casual way. They are stories of being raised by a loving family of sharecroppers in the Southern States of America in the 1940’s and lots of interesting stories of his time playing with the great blues legends and his musical partnership with Junior Wells. In my humble opinion, I think this book is a must for anyone interested the Chicago blues scene in the late 1950’s to early 1960’s.
November 24, 2022
This was pretty good - not a great deal of insight, but an interesting survey of the early 60s in particular. The lost years are simply not covered - still lost. Then we get back into it with some 80s and early 90s 'comeback' stuff. It was pretty interesting still.
May 27, 2022
Ce figură este omul ăsta! Am crescut cu muzica lui, a lui Muddy Waters, B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, iar lista poate continua. Indiferent câți ani ar trece peste mine și ce revelații muzicale aș avea, tot timpul mă întorc la blues cu o plăcere dementă, pentru că, așa cum subliniază chiar Buddy spre final, „odată ce au fost plantate semințele, te bucuri de recoltă toată viața”.
Aici, Buddy Guy reușește să fie un povestitor excepțional. Plin de umor și extrem de pasional, își evocă viața și cariera precum într-un jam session în care el rămâne în permanență pe scenă în timp ce oamenii care-l acompaniază se schimbă între ei o dată la câteva melodii. Fără reguli, fără pretenții, doar mânați de o pasiune nebună pentru blues, ca în cluburile din Chicago sau, la altă scară, în Big Mamou-ul dâmbovițean. În evocările lui Buddy Guy îi vedem și îi auzim pe Muddy, pe John Lee, pe B.B., pe Howlin', pe Junior Wells, pe Clapton, pe Stevie Ray Vaughan și pe mulți alții, de la Hendrix la Rolling Stones. Le ascultăm poveștile de viață și facem cunoștință cu personalitățile lor și cu mediul în care s-au format. Și ce povești au oamenii ăștia! Te afli printre ei și nu îți mai dorești să pleci.
Aceasta este una dintre acele foarte puține cărți care merită mai degrabă ascultate decât citite. Recomand cu căldură varianta audiobook și un tab de Youtube deschis lângă, pentru că referințele muzicale sunt multe și delicioase.
Damn right, he's got the blues!
Aici, Buddy Guy reușește să fie un povestitor excepțional. Plin de umor și extrem de pasional, își evocă viața și cariera precum într-un jam session în care el rămâne în permanență pe scenă în timp ce oamenii care-l acompaniază se schimbă între ei o dată la câteva melodii. Fără reguli, fără pretenții, doar mânați de o pasiune nebună pentru blues, ca în cluburile din Chicago sau, la altă scară, în Big Mamou-ul dâmbovițean. În evocările lui Buddy Guy îi vedem și îi auzim pe Muddy, pe John Lee, pe B.B., pe Howlin', pe Junior Wells, pe Clapton, pe Stevie Ray Vaughan și pe mulți alții, de la Hendrix la Rolling Stones. Le ascultăm poveștile de viață și facem cunoștință cu personalitățile lor și cu mediul în care s-au format. Și ce povești au oamenii ăștia! Te afli printre ei și nu îți mai dorești să pleci.
Aceasta este una dintre acele foarte puține cărți care merită mai degrabă ascultate decât citite. Recomand cu căldură varianta audiobook și un tab de Youtube deschis lângă, pentru că referințele muzicale sunt multe și delicioase.
Damn right, he's got the blues!
July 2, 2018
I've read a lot of musician autobiographies and biographies and this one by Buddy Guy with David Ritz was by far the best. You don't need to know who Buddy guy is, one of the great bluesmen with Muddy Waters and BB King, to get absorbed by this book.
It is essentially a snapshot of what it meant to be a poor sharecropper in the 1940's, what it took to find a new life in music, and how a life unfolds under some of the most challenging circumstances because you loved music, particularly the blues. From a life in rural Louisianna to the rough city of Chicago, Buddy Guy followed the pull of the blues on his soul. Somehow the music was his guide through a hard life where he did his best to follow what he thought was good and right, even when what was suspect tried to pull him in other directions.
It's clear that Buddy cared about people, loved those who helped him, and was grateful for any good that came his way. There's a fascinating lesson here about the power of love in the family that raises us. Buddy never feared being poor, down and out, or booed when he performed because he felt a kind of love that was hard-wired within, originating from his parents.
He published the book when he was 75 and at 82 today is still out there playing the blues, reminding us that a touch of it resides in all of us if we look for it.
It is essentially a snapshot of what it meant to be a poor sharecropper in the 1940's, what it took to find a new life in music, and how a life unfolds under some of the most challenging circumstances because you loved music, particularly the blues. From a life in rural Louisianna to the rough city of Chicago, Buddy Guy followed the pull of the blues on his soul. Somehow the music was his guide through a hard life where he did his best to follow what he thought was good and right, even when what was suspect tried to pull him in other directions.
It's clear that Buddy cared about people, loved those who helped him, and was grateful for any good that came his way. There's a fascinating lesson here about the power of love in the family that raises us. Buddy never feared being poor, down and out, or booed when he performed because he felt a kind of love that was hard-wired within, originating from his parents.
He published the book when he was 75 and at 82 today is still out there playing the blues, reminding us that a touch of it resides in all of us if we look for it.
March 16, 2024
In the Preface, Buddy Guys tells the reader that his is a “helluva story” and indeed it was! His roots are in Louisiana but most of his blues journey was in Chicago. So many blues artists influenced Buddy and he in turn influenced many artists. Lots of struggles to make it in the business but Buddy believed in working hard wherever and whenever he could play. It wasn’t about the money but about sharing the blues with the world. There was a lot of drinking and sex and really crude language which seem to be prevalent in the lives of many musicians. But I still really liked Buddy. After seeing him in concert, I was compelled to read his memoir and learn more about his life. I’m glad I read his book, glad I’ve seem him in concert, and glad I’ve been to Legends in Chicago.
July 25, 2012
A quick and easy read, breezy in tone about music making and reverent regarding the blues greats who came before him. While I would love a more detailed account of Buddy's fascinating life in and out of the blues, reading this is like a cup of gumbo and a beer, tasty, satisfying and leaving you wanting more.
August 22, 2014
Five stars for Buddy Guy....
October 21, 2014
The great bluesman Buddy Guy’s story in some ways was the story of any bluesman who left the South for Chicago near the middle of the 20th century, lured by the electified sound of what’s now called the Chicago Blues, created by earlier artists like Muddy Waters, Earl Hooker, and Howlin’ Wolf. In some ways it’s not like so many other artists’ stories at all, for so many of them lived and died in complete obscurity. That was not Buddy Guy’s destiny, and of course that’s the bulk of what this book is about.
Buddy’s early life as a sharecropper’s son in Louisiana, however, is not given short shrift. There’s a good deal of fascinating detail about what life for a black man was like at that time and in that place, the strong values his parents imbued in him, and what led him to music in the first place. This information has to inform the reader’s understanding of the next phase of his life, when he left home to make his fortune in Chicago.
In those early days, however, there wasn’t a lot of fortune to be had. Buddy was sharing a flat with a family friend, an apartment so small they had to take turns sleeping. He played guitar at any club that would let him, entering and winning so-called open guitar contests where the winner was award a pint of whiskey. Buddy often won, but whiskey isn’t money and his roommate usually drank it anyway before Buddy was done with his set. After about a year of this he was broke with few prospects, and almost ready to give up. It was then that he was taken under the wing of the legendary Muddy Waters who provided both encouragement and the occasional sandwich to keep Buddy going.
The situation did improve, but slowly. Buddy started cutting records, first on the Cobra label, then with Chess. Chess, especially, is legendary for its early blues records, but almost as legendary for the way it exploited its artists. There was money to be made in blues, but by and large it wasn’t the performers who were making it. While the records were helping with name recognition, it was performing in the clubs that kept the musicians going. Then came the 1960’s.
Here’s where Buddy Guy’s story as well as the history of blues itself veers off into the ironic. By the end of the 1950’s the younger black audiences were drifting away from traditional blues to pop, soul and R&B. Blues was considered “old folks’ music.” The blues clubs around Chicago were dying off and shutting down. But a funny thing had happened along the way—performers like Big Bill Broonzy and Muddy Waters had done tours in England, where the blues and especially later the electrified variety by Muddy Waters was serving as the seed for a new generation of English musicians inspired by American blues. When groups and musicians like the Rolling Stones and the Beatles and Eric Clapton came to America, it was the blues musicians that they wanted to hear, talk about and promote. It’s probably an exaggeration to say that the British Invasion saved American blues as a musical form, but it did mean new opportunities and greatly expanded audiences for many of the performers who had dedicated their lives to the blues, and Buddy Guy was one of them.
It would be foolish to attempt to summarize Buddy Guy’s career in a review. If you don’t know who he is but have an interest in the music and the scene in Chicago during one of the blues' most formative periods, this is a great book to pick up. David Ritz does a good job of capturing Buddy Guy’s distinctive voice. If you already know, but want something a lot closer to the “whole story,” then this is also the book for you. Highly recommended.
Buddy’s early life as a sharecropper’s son in Louisiana, however, is not given short shrift. There’s a good deal of fascinating detail about what life for a black man was like at that time and in that place, the strong values his parents imbued in him, and what led him to music in the first place. This information has to inform the reader’s understanding of the next phase of his life, when he left home to make his fortune in Chicago.
In those early days, however, there wasn’t a lot of fortune to be had. Buddy was sharing a flat with a family friend, an apartment so small they had to take turns sleeping. He played guitar at any club that would let him, entering and winning so-called open guitar contests where the winner was award a pint of whiskey. Buddy often won, but whiskey isn’t money and his roommate usually drank it anyway before Buddy was done with his set. After about a year of this he was broke with few prospects, and almost ready to give up. It was then that he was taken under the wing of the legendary Muddy Waters who provided both encouragement and the occasional sandwich to keep Buddy going.
The situation did improve, but slowly. Buddy started cutting records, first on the Cobra label, then with Chess. Chess, especially, is legendary for its early blues records, but almost as legendary for the way it exploited its artists. There was money to be made in blues, but by and large it wasn’t the performers who were making it. While the records were helping with name recognition, it was performing in the clubs that kept the musicians going. Then came the 1960’s.
Here’s where Buddy Guy’s story as well as the history of blues itself veers off into the ironic. By the end of the 1950’s the younger black audiences were drifting away from traditional blues to pop, soul and R&B. Blues was considered “old folks’ music.” The blues clubs around Chicago were dying off and shutting down. But a funny thing had happened along the way—performers like Big Bill Broonzy and Muddy Waters had done tours in England, where the blues and especially later the electrified variety by Muddy Waters was serving as the seed for a new generation of English musicians inspired by American blues. When groups and musicians like the Rolling Stones and the Beatles and Eric Clapton came to America, it was the blues musicians that they wanted to hear, talk about and promote. It’s probably an exaggeration to say that the British Invasion saved American blues as a musical form, but it did mean new opportunities and greatly expanded audiences for many of the performers who had dedicated their lives to the blues, and Buddy Guy was one of them.
It would be foolish to attempt to summarize Buddy Guy’s career in a review. If you don’t know who he is but have an interest in the music and the scene in Chicago during one of the blues' most formative periods, this is a great book to pick up. David Ritz does a good job of capturing Buddy Guy’s distinctive voice. If you already know, but want something a lot closer to the “whole story,” then this is also the book for you. Highly recommended.
February 26, 2013
Being a blues "nut", and a Buddy Guy fan since the late '60's means that I was pretty biased before I started reading his autobiography. But the fact is its just a great read. From the outset Buddy comes across as a really down to earth guy, modest and self effacing. His life hasn't always been easy, trying to make it as a professional musician playing the blues became fraught when black Americans moved onto other genres like soul and later hip hop. That was when he had to drive trucks by day and play the blues by night in Chicago, after he moved from Louisiana in his teens. Fortunately as the appeal of the blues tapered off for the black audience, a young white college audience was introduced to the genre by the British blues boom that was led by the likes of the Stones, the Animals, the Yardbirds and John Mayall. Aside from sharing Buddy's journey his anecdotes about the likes of Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf and Leonard Chess are priceless. They also represent an insiders viewpoint of the Chicago blues scene which is unique. I was lucky enough to meet Buddy and hear him play at his Legends Club in Chicago a few years ago. In person he's every bit as gracious and unpretentious as he comes across in "When I Left Home".
July 16, 2012
This autobiography is a great life story of a blues music legend. Guy takes you on his journey with early life with his family sharecropping in Louisiana to his struggles in breaking into the blues clubs and music industry in Chicago to achieving recognition and success and keeping the blues alive and fresh at his club Legends. Filled with stories about the people who built the blues-- Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Guitar Slim, Junior Wells and many others. Heading into the sixties, Buddy is discovered by guitarists who worship his talent and style-- Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Keith Richards, and Jimi Hendrix and meets and plays with many of them.
Very entertaining and uplifting. Filled with humor and a determined perseverance in a life and times filled with adversity.
The only disappointments are the limited photo insert and the dash through the 1990s to the present.
Very entertaining and uplifting. Filled with humor and a determined perseverance in a life and times filled with adversity.
The only disappointments are the limited photo insert and the dash through the 1990s to the present.
May 5, 2013
Pretend you are on a long, international flight sitting next to blues guitar legend, Buddy Guy. You turn to Buddy and say, "tell me about your life". The monologue that would ensue is captured in WHEN I LEFT HOME. Don't look for sophisticated writing; this autobiography is 261 pages of narrative, spoken in the style of a savvy bluesman who emigrated from the sharecropper fields of Louisiana to the mean streets of Chicago. But the jargon and flawed syntax is part of what gives the story authenticity and charm. Any reader will recognize many famous musicians cited here, from Muddy Waters to Jimi Hendrix, to the Rolling Stones. Students of the blues will appreciate the tales of more obscure characters, like Guitar Slim, Howlin' Wolf, Lightnin' Hopkins, Willie Dixon and the notorious recording executive, Leonard Chess. I'm sure that some serious academic historian will fault Guy's rose-colored recollections. But to me, this is a whopping good tale well told.
November 16, 2020
What a book for a blues fan!
Buddy Guy's story is a story of a legend who got his due in life much later than you'd believe. Son of a sharecropper, a two string guitar to start with, small town guy from the South moving to Chicago with no support, cheated out of royalties, and surviving the 60s through 80s with little to show for in terms of recognition.
The book is full of anecdotes that involve Buddy Guy, but also other legends - Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins, Howlin' Wolf, BB King, Eric Clapton and who not. A treat for people who have at any point in time went down the blues rabbithole.
But perhaps the most unique bit about this book is the phrasing. Written as if it's a spoken word transcription, you can almost hear a Buddy Guy-style musicality in the punctuation, choice of words, sentence length, and so on.
100% recommend if you are a blues fan.
Buddy Guy's story is a story of a legend who got his due in life much later than you'd believe. Son of a sharecropper, a two string guitar to start with, small town guy from the South moving to Chicago with no support, cheated out of royalties, and surviving the 60s through 80s with little to show for in terms of recognition.
The book is full of anecdotes that involve Buddy Guy, but also other legends - Muddy Waters, Lightnin' Hopkins, Howlin' Wolf, BB King, Eric Clapton and who not. A treat for people who have at any point in time went down the blues rabbithole.
But perhaps the most unique bit about this book is the phrasing. Written as if it's a spoken word transcription, you can almost hear a Buddy Guy-style musicality in the punctuation, choice of words, sentence length, and so on.
100% recommend if you are a blues fan.
May 9, 2021
In the late 1980s, when I was a regular three-class adjunct at Columbia College in Chicago, it was great news to see Buddy Guy’s Legends open up across the street. It meant a chance to grab an after-class beer in an almost empty bar. It meant good music on the jukebox (or whatever recording tech they were playing). And it meant, every so often, the chance to see Buddy Guy himself grabbing a quick drink or passing through.
I never talked to the man, but I was grateful for what he was doing for one of my corners in the city. I never even went to an evening show – though I was often tempted – but his move meant headline blues for another generation in Chicago.
When I read a music memoir, I ask first of all that it bring me a fresh way into the music. On that front, this one scores. Guy has a gift for getting to the essence of the matter. When he describes the blues, he boils it down to a feeling and a rhythm. He rarely talks technique, but he makes clear what happens when gifted musicians join in the experience. I don’t learn anything about how he and Junior Wells played together, but I do learn more of what to listen for. They’re saying the same thing, in almost the same language, but the differences do matter. Unlike jazz, where the individuals tell their musical tall-tales and then acknowledge each other, the blues starts with agreement and only later moves to divergence.
That is, yes, much of the Chicago blues sounds the same, but the art – the suffering and the endurance that follows – is distinct. Guy gives us a familiar rhythm, skillfully, but his greatness comes when he selects a just slightly different note than, say, Matt Murphy might, when he bends into a moan that no one else would ever quite do.
As a result, I have found myself listening to stuff I haven’t heard for a while, especially the amazing Hoodoo Man Blues. I confess to preferring jazz to that sound. Lee Morgan simply does more for me than James Cotton, though I do love both, and I’ve put much more of my listening energy into jazz over the last couple decades.
So, on that front, this book is a gift, a way back to a music I’d nearly forgotten how to hear.
When I read memoir in general, I want to get a glimpse of the life, or at least the part of the life that the memoir concerns. In terms of Guy’s experience as a musician, this works as well. He’s still with us, still playing solid shows (so the reports go), so it’s crazy to think that he was an actual sharecropper’s son. He picked cotton as a child, and he knew what it meant to go hungry and have rain fall through a leaky roof.
At the same time, he had the abiding good fortune to be born into a loving and supportive family. His parents wanted something more for him, and they did what they could to provide. When they saw his passion for music – at one point, desperate to see what it would be like to play an instrument, he unwound wire from a window screen and made his own primitive guitar – they dipped into their savings to buy him a broken-down, two-stringed guitar. To Guy’s credit, he loved that wreck and learned the basics on it.
Later, in the midst of bad luck, he had peculiar last-minute good fortune. Once a stranger bought him a $50 instrument just because, says Guy, he thought Guy looked like someone who could play the blues. Another time, just as he was on the brink of giving up on his dream of making it in Chicago, a passerby hired him for the price of a beer to play a quick dance number. Impressed, the man brought Guy down to Theresa’s, a premier blues joint, and got him the audition he hadn’t been able to line up on his own.
We get a fair bit on the history of the industry and the blues scene. I am struck by his portrait of Leonard Chess, a man often maligned as a skinflint who took advantage of Black talent while doing nothing. Here, that blame gets split between Chess and Willie Dixon, each of whom seems to take more than his share of the available money, but each of whom contributes something distinct to the development of the music.
And, in many ways, we get a sense of why Guy – an excellent musician but, by his own admission, someone a notch below the greats like Muddy Waters and Little Walter – is the one to tell this story. In addition to his thoughtful, unboastful voice, he’s the key middle generation of the scene. He knew all the early figures, from Lightnin’ Hopkins to Howling Wolf, since he was a kid or young man in their heyday. Then, given his deserved recognition later, he was in position to mentor younger players like Robert Cray and Stevie Ray Vaughn. He has, in other words, lived the history of the genre – at least in the several decades of its recorded period.
This does fall a bit short in the end, though, of a final feature of the best memoir. Like many musicians who write of their lives, he gives little attention to the people he’s hurt along the way. I gather that Guy is less guilty of self-centeredness than many of his peers (I found Willie Nelson’s generally strong book suspicious in the way he casually married and then dropped so many women) but he doesn’t reckon with all that he probably should. For a man who describes avoiding relationships so that he wouldn’t burden himself and others, it’s strange to hear him so casual in acknowledging his two early out-of-wedlock children (whom he abandons to their supposedly willing mother in Louisiana) and so vague in describing the break-up of his first marriage.
On balance, though, this is a strong example of what the genre can do. I’m glad to get a fuller glimpse of the Guy I sort of “knew” hanging around his just-opened (and now landmarked) club, and I am glad to have a way back into a music I’ve neglected for too long.
I never talked to the man, but I was grateful for what he was doing for one of my corners in the city. I never even went to an evening show – though I was often tempted – but his move meant headline blues for another generation in Chicago.
When I read a music memoir, I ask first of all that it bring me a fresh way into the music. On that front, this one scores. Guy has a gift for getting to the essence of the matter. When he describes the blues, he boils it down to a feeling and a rhythm. He rarely talks technique, but he makes clear what happens when gifted musicians join in the experience. I don’t learn anything about how he and Junior Wells played together, but I do learn more of what to listen for. They’re saying the same thing, in almost the same language, but the differences do matter. Unlike jazz, where the individuals tell their musical tall-tales and then acknowledge each other, the blues starts with agreement and only later moves to divergence.
That is, yes, much of the Chicago blues sounds the same, but the art – the suffering and the endurance that follows – is distinct. Guy gives us a familiar rhythm, skillfully, but his greatness comes when he selects a just slightly different note than, say, Matt Murphy might, when he bends into a moan that no one else would ever quite do.
As a result, I have found myself listening to stuff I haven’t heard for a while, especially the amazing Hoodoo Man Blues. I confess to preferring jazz to that sound. Lee Morgan simply does more for me than James Cotton, though I do love both, and I’ve put much more of my listening energy into jazz over the last couple decades.
So, on that front, this book is a gift, a way back to a music I’d nearly forgotten how to hear.
When I read memoir in general, I want to get a glimpse of the life, or at least the part of the life that the memoir concerns. In terms of Guy’s experience as a musician, this works as well. He’s still with us, still playing solid shows (so the reports go), so it’s crazy to think that he was an actual sharecropper’s son. He picked cotton as a child, and he knew what it meant to go hungry and have rain fall through a leaky roof.
At the same time, he had the abiding good fortune to be born into a loving and supportive family. His parents wanted something more for him, and they did what they could to provide. When they saw his passion for music – at one point, desperate to see what it would be like to play an instrument, he unwound wire from a window screen and made his own primitive guitar – they dipped into their savings to buy him a broken-down, two-stringed guitar. To Guy’s credit, he loved that wreck and learned the basics on it.
Later, in the midst of bad luck, he had peculiar last-minute good fortune. Once a stranger bought him a $50 instrument just because, says Guy, he thought Guy looked like someone who could play the blues. Another time, just as he was on the brink of giving up on his dream of making it in Chicago, a passerby hired him for the price of a beer to play a quick dance number. Impressed, the man brought Guy down to Theresa’s, a premier blues joint, and got him the audition he hadn’t been able to line up on his own.
We get a fair bit on the history of the industry and the blues scene. I am struck by his portrait of Leonard Chess, a man often maligned as a skinflint who took advantage of Black talent while doing nothing. Here, that blame gets split between Chess and Willie Dixon, each of whom seems to take more than his share of the available money, but each of whom contributes something distinct to the development of the music.
And, in many ways, we get a sense of why Guy – an excellent musician but, by his own admission, someone a notch below the greats like Muddy Waters and Little Walter – is the one to tell this story. In addition to his thoughtful, unboastful voice, he’s the key middle generation of the scene. He knew all the early figures, from Lightnin’ Hopkins to Howling Wolf, since he was a kid or young man in their heyday. Then, given his deserved recognition later, he was in position to mentor younger players like Robert Cray and Stevie Ray Vaughn. He has, in other words, lived the history of the genre – at least in the several decades of its recorded period.
This does fall a bit short in the end, though, of a final feature of the best memoir. Like many musicians who write of their lives, he gives little attention to the people he’s hurt along the way. I gather that Guy is less guilty of self-centeredness than many of his peers (I found Willie Nelson’s generally strong book suspicious in the way he casually married and then dropped so many women) but he doesn’t reckon with all that he probably should. For a man who describes avoiding relationships so that he wouldn’t burden himself and others, it’s strange to hear him so casual in acknowledging his two early out-of-wedlock children (whom he abandons to their supposedly willing mother in Louisiana) and so vague in describing the break-up of his first marriage.
On balance, though, this is a strong example of what the genre can do. I’m glad to get a fuller glimpse of the Guy I sort of “knew” hanging around his just-opened (and now landmarked) club, and I am glad to have a way back into a music I’ve neglected for too long.
April 16, 2015
I'm not a blues fan. But this was an interesting autobiography of Buddy Guy, a blues guitarist. It was a humbly told story. It amazes me how hard this business was to get into and how hard it was on the musicians. They must have been driven by their love of music to pursue this type of career, because it certainly wasn't money. The money came later.
I liked the professional and respectful nods he gave to other musicians. It is interesting how different types of people (rock, blues, etc.) are pulled together when they all desire the same things.
I liked the professional and respectful nods he gave to other musicians. It is interesting how different types of people (rock, blues, etc.) are pulled together when they all desire the same things.
March 14, 2014
I really enjoyed this book, a real down to earth view of his life and some of his experiences. Any blues fan will enjoy this book which tells the stories of Buddy's life, as well as his close relationships, particularly Junior Wells.
Buddy tells it as he saw it, as it was and draws you into his life and times as a good autobiography should.
Buddy tells it as he saw it, as it was and draws you into his life and times as a good autobiography should.
July 6, 2015
He still has the blues
Coming from a small town to following his dream and talent to become one the best Blues men. I wished he stayed in the Baton Rouge and glad that he still comes back every now and then. I had a hard time putting this book down. He is quite influence on other musicians, from rock to the blues.
Coming from a small town to following his dream and talent to become one the best Blues men. I wished he stayed in the Baton Rouge and glad that he still comes back every now and then. I had a hard time putting this book down. He is quite influence on other musicians, from rock to the blues.
April 19, 2022
I lked this book. Guy was tactful and diplomatic about the troubling things that went on in the lives of Junior Wells, and Muddy Waters. Overall it gave me a greater appreciation for this telecaster maestro.
February 11, 2025
Didn't know much about Buddy Guy before this, and learned a lot about him and some great stories about bb king, muddy waters and other legends!
March 31, 2022
Simply put, Buddy Guy is awesome. I am sure I had heard his name before, but didn’t know much about him. Before reading this book I wouldn’t have known him from BB King. Despite getting a bunch of Grammys in his 50s, he was really overlooked. For various reasons, he never really found a mass audience, although as a live act he was electric and always a cloud pleaser.
He knew and worked with all the original bluesmen, and influenced countless others. Without him, there would be no Jimi Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughn.
His storytelling style is humble and engaging, and he comes across as a hardworking guy, dedicated to his playing and entertaining. He never feels sorry for himself despite having plenty of reasons to do so, from the racism of the era, to the bad deals with record companies, etc. He always had gratitude for those who he worked with and whose paths he crossed, and rarely has a bad word to say about anybody.
Reading about his early years, I was struck by the similarities to biographies of Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis. They were all born in the south during the depression, dirt poor, working in the fields, hearing music in church, and looking for any possible way out. Guy and Lewis were both born in Louisanna, and the musical influences of the area influenced them both greatly.
If you like this biography, you might enjoy those as well. If you are not familiar with Buddy Guy, go find some of his videos on YouTube – you won’t regret it. Or check him out at his Chicago club before it is too late.
He knew and worked with all the original bluesmen, and influenced countless others. Without him, there would be no Jimi Hendrix or Stevie Ray Vaughn.
His storytelling style is humble and engaging, and he comes across as a hardworking guy, dedicated to his playing and entertaining. He never feels sorry for himself despite having plenty of reasons to do so, from the racism of the era, to the bad deals with record companies, etc. He always had gratitude for those who he worked with and whose paths he crossed, and rarely has a bad word to say about anybody.
Reading about his early years, I was struck by the similarities to biographies of Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis. They were all born in the south during the depression, dirt poor, working in the fields, hearing music in church, and looking for any possible way out. Guy and Lewis were both born in Louisanna, and the musical influences of the area influenced them both greatly.
If you like this biography, you might enjoy those as well. If you are not familiar with Buddy Guy, go find some of his videos on YouTube – you won’t regret it. Or check him out at his Chicago club before it is too late.
October 29, 2015
Having read my share of musician autobiographies, I can confirm that most do not survive the PR specialist’s editorial input! This robs the material of much of its raw power: exactly the stuff that attracts me to the music in the first place. What you end up with is a sugar coated image building job (okay, exclude Keith Richards from the foregoing!)
Buddy Guys biography promised to be different. It begins with a boy growing up in a sharecropper family in the back of beyond picking cotton all day living in a shack without electricity. It then continues to his migration to Chicago where he meets and works with the greatest of the greats - Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, B.B.King, etc – and describes evocatively the atmosphere of those Blues clubs of the time. It’s a beautiful portrait of Chicago in the 1960s and I lapped up every bit of it, till the whole thing came crashing down…. The book had promised great insight, only to deceive.
Once we hit the flower power era, the narrative loses its way. What is the musician describing? None of it is particularly personal or insightful. Yes he talks about people like Hendrix and Joplin, but only just. What is the purpose of the book? The questions blow in the wind.
And so, this book gets three stars for the promise of the first third of the book, but it gets three stars grudgingly. Two and a half would be more honest.
Buddy Guys biography promised to be different. It begins with a boy growing up in a sharecropper family in the back of beyond picking cotton all day living in a shack without electricity. It then continues to his migration to Chicago where he meets and works with the greatest of the greats - Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, B.B.King, etc – and describes evocatively the atmosphere of those Blues clubs of the time. It’s a beautiful portrait of Chicago in the 1960s and I lapped up every bit of it, till the whole thing came crashing down…. The book had promised great insight, only to deceive.
Once we hit the flower power era, the narrative loses its way. What is the musician describing? None of it is particularly personal or insightful. Yes he talks about people like Hendrix and Joplin, but only just. What is the purpose of the book? The questions blow in the wind.
And so, this book gets three stars for the promise of the first third of the book, but it gets three stars grudgingly. Two and a half would be more honest.
January 5, 2023
Reading through "When I Left Home" by Buddy Guy am had me feeling like it was one of the best books I've read lately. It's nice to hear how he started and the luck of getting those guitars, but just the number of funny stories he's telling, the behind the scenes stuff, it's just great. Raw isn't the right word because I called Miles Davis's autobiography raw. This one is more like behind the scenes stuff, the stories you tell your boys to get ready for the interview but that gets cut out because it's not pg. It's really nice to read this and how much guys like BB King and Muddy Waters helped him. It's nice to get stories of them as people and not just musicians. More than anything, this is like a great history lesson on Blues. You have the greats who are mentioned and who didn't get the respect they deserve and now they'll live on forever. I'm actually going on Spotify to download their stuff. This is just great.
August 23, 2013
Auto Bio of my original blues guitar hero Buddy Guy with David Ritz. Writing is decent. But that is not the reason to read this book. the reason is learning somethings about Buddy's amazing life I hadn't yet. In that respect a very good book. It is not quite as good as the Muddy Waters bio (I Can't be Satisfied), mainly because Buddy's is shorter and doesn't include nearly as much detail. But if you dig the blues you should read this book. Budddy is one of the nicest stars I ever met; each time I met him he took the time to talk and was positive and encouraging about my guit playing. Thanks, Buddy.
November 20, 2018
As a fan of the blues and a blues guitar player, I enjoyed reading about Buddy Guy's rise to fame as the last living icon of the generation that followed behind Muddy Water's and then B.B. King's. The biography reminded me of B.B. King's story: a rise to the top from a sharecropper's son through hard, hard work, and the duplicitous characters (e.g., Willie Dixon and Leonard Chess) they ran into when it came to the recording business. Too many of the other blues players Buddy mingled with were bad-tempered alcoholics and wife-beaters so surviving that life to be still playing in his early eighties alone deserves praise. A good read for blues aficionados.
July 1, 2014
I saw Buddy Guy a couple years ago and really enjoyed his show. So when I saw his book in the library I picked it up, right quick.
Like a lot of musician books there were struggles before making it big. Unlike the other books there was not the conscientious self-abuse and obligatory rehab followed by either death or a new lease on life...thus a refreshing read.
I love how he honors those that came before him and those that came during and after him. He did that at his show and it was really cool. Def worth reading.
Like a lot of musician books there were struggles before making it big. Unlike the other books there was not the conscientious self-abuse and obligatory rehab followed by either death or a new lease on life...thus a refreshing read.
I love how he honors those that came before him and those that came during and after him. He did that at his show and it was really cool. Def worth reading.
May 27, 2016
Quick, entertaining read. It's basically a love letter to the forefathers of blues music and Mr. Guy's influences. His love of the music and those who came before him and those who carry the torch today shines brightly in this brief memoir. The book is chock full of Buddy's stories about his life and the musical characters and friends he met over the course of his career. Often these stories are raunchy and hilarious but sometimes tragic. I love Buddy Guy's music and this book only adds to his legacy.
April 16, 2023
RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: “THE BLUES FROM A PLANTATION IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE TO THE KNIFE & GUN CONCRETE JUNGLE OF CHICAGO”
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A couple of pre-review statements and disclaimers: First… I am a fanatical electric blues fan… and I absolutely love Buddy Guy… and I firmly believe that he is the greatest living electric-blues-man. Second: I take great pride in the integrity of all my reviews and I would never… ever… falsely “tilt” a review simply because I like the artist. My love for Buddy Guy the entertainer has absolutely no impact on the rating of my review. The only thing my love for Buddy did… was make me buy this book to begin with… after that… it will stand on its own. I never forget that the review I write can influence whether a potential buyer will spend their money on this book. And I always hope that the person that writes the reviews I read… weigh heavy in their soul… that people like me decide whether to invest their money and valuable time on a book they review.
Now to the review…
This is a tremendously entertaining and enlightening biography of a true American original… Buddy Guy. The reader is taken from Buddy’s impoverished early life as the son of a Louisiana sheer cropper… all the way to becoming an international blues sensation… that not only played with the likes of the Rolling Stones… but was offered multiple contracts from the Beatles… and becoming idolized… by the likes of Eric Clapton… and innumerable other famous guitarists… and as engrossing as this purely American rags to riches story is… from picking cotton as a child… to being almost adopted by the infamous Muddy Waters… when this naïve and wet- behind-the-ears guitar player ventured from the cotton fields in the deep south… to the rough and tumble streets of Chicago… and everything in between and after… the reader is bestowed with what can only… in retrospect… be described as… not only the “icing-on-the-cake”… but the luscious “cherry-on-top”… the entire story is written in Buddy’s “native” tongue. If you’ve ever seen Buddy interviewed… he is a raconteur’s… raconteur. And that is exactly the way the writing is transferred from Buddy’s mouth… to the page… to the reader. By the time you’re done with this blues classic of a book… your inner voice is talking to yourself in Buddy’s cadence and style.
Mr. Guy pulls no punches about his dreams on the way to Chicago… and to his fears and hunger (literally)… when the reality of urban Chicago became a daily battle. Buddy may have been singing the blues in Louisiana and on his way to Chicago… but when he got there… he not only had the blues… he was living it. If you are a real historical-blues fan like I am… this book gets an A+ in this area and won’t disappoint. All the big (or not so big… but famous within the blues community) electric blues names are intertwined in Buddy’s story. GUITAR SLIM…(who Buddy patterned his wild acrobatics and showmanship after)… B.B. KING… MUDDY WATERS… T-BONE WALKER… LIGHTNIN’ SLIM… OTIS RUSH… MAGIC SAM… FREDDIE KING… SONNY BOY… HOWLIN’ WOLF… LITTLE WALTER… BIG BILL BROONZY… JOSH WHITE… LONNIE JOHNSON… WILLIE DIXON… ALBERT KING… SONNY TERRY… BIG MAMA THORNTON… JOHN LEE HOOKER ( Note: There are some absolutely-unbelievable-funny stories regarding Big Mama and John Lee… that only Buddy could do justice to!)… PAUL BUTTERFIELD… MICHAEL BLOOMFIELD… STEVE MILLER… ELVIN BISHOP… JIMI HENDRIX… JANIS JOPLIN… TINA TURNER… ETTA JAMES… RAY CHARLES… and so many more.
You’ll also learn, almost step by step, how these early artists were literally robbed of their royalties by the likes of Leonard Chess and others. The rise and fall of Buddy and blood brother Junior Wells is heartbreaking… and yet… unfortunately what the blues are all about. The duality of Buddy’s inner being and life experience… runs the gamut from being a witness to women being beaten… to knives being brandished (including partner Junior Wells being knifed in the back by a jealous married woman who he was involved with)… guns being used… drugs and alcohol abused to the extreme… to babies out of wedlock…
And yet… like the extreme of a placid ocean compared to a tsunami… Buddy was blessed with beautiful loving parents who he idolized… and provided early direction regarding hard work… music… religion… and life lessons he carries with him to this day. There’s also the touchstone of emotional and historical importance when Buddy and his Dad stood in the backyard of a white man listening to the radio broadcast of Jackie Robinson playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. When Buddy describes the day his very special friend Stevie Ray Vaughan died… and his subsequent recording of an emotional personal instrumental tribute to Stevie entitled “REMEMBERIN’ STEVIE”… a potential reader should clearly understand this is a brilliant… cover-all-the-bases… life story. And although this is obviously a rough-and-tumble-pull-no-punches… story of the real blues… perhaps the most touching part of the entire book… which will clearly convey to readers that want to know Buddy Guy the human being better… is the simple-yet-powerful sentence beneath a picture of Buddy’s Father… ***MY BELOVED FATHER***
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A couple of pre-review statements and disclaimers: First… I am a fanatical electric blues fan… and I absolutely love Buddy Guy… and I firmly believe that he is the greatest living electric-blues-man. Second: I take great pride in the integrity of all my reviews and I would never… ever… falsely “tilt” a review simply because I like the artist. My love for Buddy Guy the entertainer has absolutely no impact on the rating of my review. The only thing my love for Buddy did… was make me buy this book to begin with… after that… it will stand on its own. I never forget that the review I write can influence whether a potential buyer will spend their money on this book. And I always hope that the person that writes the reviews I read… weigh heavy in their soul… that people like me decide whether to invest their money and valuable time on a book they review.
Now to the review…
This is a tremendously entertaining and enlightening biography of a true American original… Buddy Guy. The reader is taken from Buddy’s impoverished early life as the son of a Louisiana sheer cropper… all the way to becoming an international blues sensation… that not only played with the likes of the Rolling Stones… but was offered multiple contracts from the Beatles… and becoming idolized… by the likes of Eric Clapton… and innumerable other famous guitarists… and as engrossing as this purely American rags to riches story is… from picking cotton as a child… to being almost adopted by the infamous Muddy Waters… when this naïve and wet- behind-the-ears guitar player ventured from the cotton fields in the deep south… to the rough and tumble streets of Chicago… and everything in between and after… the reader is bestowed with what can only… in retrospect… be described as… not only the “icing-on-the-cake”… but the luscious “cherry-on-top”… the entire story is written in Buddy’s “native” tongue. If you’ve ever seen Buddy interviewed… he is a raconteur’s… raconteur. And that is exactly the way the writing is transferred from Buddy’s mouth… to the page… to the reader. By the time you’re done with this blues classic of a book… your inner voice is talking to yourself in Buddy’s cadence and style.
Mr. Guy pulls no punches about his dreams on the way to Chicago… and to his fears and hunger (literally)… when the reality of urban Chicago became a daily battle. Buddy may have been singing the blues in Louisiana and on his way to Chicago… but when he got there… he not only had the blues… he was living it. If you are a real historical-blues fan like I am… this book gets an A+ in this area and won’t disappoint. All the big (or not so big… but famous within the blues community) electric blues names are intertwined in Buddy’s story. GUITAR SLIM…(who Buddy patterned his wild acrobatics and showmanship after)… B.B. KING… MUDDY WATERS… T-BONE WALKER… LIGHTNIN’ SLIM… OTIS RUSH… MAGIC SAM… FREDDIE KING… SONNY BOY… HOWLIN’ WOLF… LITTLE WALTER… BIG BILL BROONZY… JOSH WHITE… LONNIE JOHNSON… WILLIE DIXON… ALBERT KING… SONNY TERRY… BIG MAMA THORNTON… JOHN LEE HOOKER ( Note: There are some absolutely-unbelievable-funny stories regarding Big Mama and John Lee… that only Buddy could do justice to!)… PAUL BUTTERFIELD… MICHAEL BLOOMFIELD… STEVE MILLER… ELVIN BISHOP… JIMI HENDRIX… JANIS JOPLIN… TINA TURNER… ETTA JAMES… RAY CHARLES… and so many more.
You’ll also learn, almost step by step, how these early artists were literally robbed of their royalties by the likes of Leonard Chess and others. The rise and fall of Buddy and blood brother Junior Wells is heartbreaking… and yet… unfortunately what the blues are all about. The duality of Buddy’s inner being and life experience… runs the gamut from being a witness to women being beaten… to knives being brandished (including partner Junior Wells being knifed in the back by a jealous married woman who he was involved with)… guns being used… drugs and alcohol abused to the extreme… to babies out of wedlock…
And yet… like the extreme of a placid ocean compared to a tsunami… Buddy was blessed with beautiful loving parents who he idolized… and provided early direction regarding hard work… music… religion… and life lessons he carries with him to this day. There’s also the touchstone of emotional and historical importance when Buddy and his Dad stood in the backyard of a white man listening to the radio broadcast of Jackie Robinson playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. When Buddy describes the day his very special friend Stevie Ray Vaughan died… and his subsequent recording of an emotional personal instrumental tribute to Stevie entitled “REMEMBERIN’ STEVIE”… a potential reader should clearly understand this is a brilliant… cover-all-the-bases… life story. And although this is obviously a rough-and-tumble-pull-no-punches… story of the real blues… perhaps the most touching part of the entire book… which will clearly convey to readers that want to know Buddy Guy the human being better… is the simple-yet-powerful sentence beneath a picture of Buddy’s Father… ***MY BELOVED FATHER***
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