Buddy Guy’s farewell tour coming to Hancher

While sitting across a table from Buddy Guy in his Chicago club, Buddy Guy's Legends, in 1993, the iconic guitarist was incredibly humble while finally getting his due.

“I just go out and do what I love,” Guy said. “I try to keep it simple.”

It’s hard to believe it’s been 40 years since Guy finally received the respect he deserved as a guitar hero. More than 60 years has passed since Guy started to make a name for himself on the blues circuit.

Guy, 86, is on his farewell tour. The eight-time Grammy winner, who will perform April 28 at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City, is finally going to take it easy. However, Guy downplays the considerable rigors of the road.

“I’ve gotten to do what I love for all of these years so it never seemed like work,” Guy said while calling from Chicago. “I experience so much joy performing in front of an audience.”

Guy paused after being asked what it’s like when such lionized guitarists as the late Jimi Hendrix or Jimmy Page praised him. He turned it around.

“Those guys are the truly great players,” Guy said. “They blow me away with their music. I’m just a working musician doing my thing.”

Guy is routinely near the top of Rolling Stone magazine’s “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” list, and his pal and fellow guitar hero Eric Clapton believes Guy is the greatest living guitarist.

Guy, who learned his craft while playing with Muddy Waters, was a game-changer when he emerged during the 1960s. The soft-spoken but flamboyant performer combines the power of traditional Chicago blues with the flash of rock ’n’ roll. Guy is a showman. He plays behind his back or with his teeth and is an emotive vocalist.

When Guy influenced guitar monsters such as Jeff Beck and Billy Gibbons, among many others during the ’60s, he failed to receive rightful recognition.

However, Guy received long-overdue love during the ’90s. Albums were finally selling and Guy started headlining large theaters.

And when he hit pay dirt what did he do? He introduced other guitarists during his show. He invited a young guitarist on to his stage in Tampa in 1994 — Derek Trucks of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, who was just 14 years old.

“I’ll never forget that experience,” Trucks said while calling from Jacksonville, Fla. “Buddy didn’t have to do what he did, but he wanted to pass the blues torch, and I'll always appreciate what he did for me.”

It’s remarkable that Guy never resented white British bands, who were popular playing their blues-inspired rock while he and other Black blues artists got the fuzzy end of the lollipop.

“Those guys in the British bands did so much for us,” Guy said. “When the Rolling Stones played that show ‘Shindig,’ they said they would only play if Howlin’ Wolf could come on with them. They let white America know who was out there playing. I loved that. The Rolling Stones were and still are great people. There’s nobody like Keith (Richards). The same goes for Mick (Jagger).”

Jagger, who recorded a version of “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)” with Guy for a Chicago Blues Experience album, and Richards are huge fans. The Glimmer Twins have raved about Guy, who has made some of the greatest blues albums of all time. 1965’s “Hoodoo Man’s Blues,” 1981’s “Stone Crazy” and 1991’s “Damn Right, I Got the Blues,” are some of Guy’s finest sonic documents.

“I’ve always tried to spread the word about the blues,” Guy said. “I love that there are so many other great blues guitarists out there. So many people are spreading the word and that’s such a good thing.”