Phil Guy

All Music Guide:

Phil Guy didn't eclipse his older brother Buddy's status as a blues superstar, and in reality, Phil's funky brand of blues was not captured correctly for posterity. But he remained an active attraction on the Chicago circuit, following in his sibling's footsteps and patiently waiting for his own star to rise up until his death. Like his sibling, Phil Guy played with harpist Raful Neal (for a decade) before leaving the Baton Rouge scene for Chicago in 1969. There he played with his brother's high-energy organization as well as behind harpist Junior Wells (Phil handled guitar duties with Sammy Lawhorn on Wells' underrated mid-'70s Delmark album On Tap). Phil Guy cut albums of his own for JSP; they were generally lacking in originality if not spirit. Phil Guy lost his battle with liver and kidney cancer in August of 2008.

Wikipedia:

Phil Guy (April 28, 1940 – August 20, 2008) was an American blues guitarist. He was the younger brother of Buddy Guy.

Biography

Born in Lettsworth, Louisiana, Guy played with the harmonica player Raful Neal for ten years in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana area before relocating to Chicago in 1969 where he joined his brothers' band. He played in Buddy's band at the time his older brother was starting to become known to more and more people as one of the true innovators in blues guitar. They also collaborated extensively with Junior Wells in the 1970s, and Phil recorded a number of albums under his own name in the 1980s and 1990s, branching out into soul and funk. Phil can be seen in his self-described "hippie" phase in the film Festival Express in which the Guy band tours through southern Canada by train in 1970 with The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, and others.

Guy died of prostate cancer in August 2008 in Chicago Heights, Illinois, just a few months after being diagnosed.