Recent benefits raised money for legendary guitarist Buddy “Bugs” Henderson, but all the love, greenbacks, and well wishes in the world couldn’t stave off the inevitable. Henderson reportedly died last night after a months-long struggle with cancer. He was 68.
Henderson grew up in Tyler and spent years performing in Fort worth clubs and all over the world, forging a reputation as a creative blues-rock guitarist who never hit the Big Time but worked his entire life as musician and established a cult following. His guitar style impressed contemporaries such as Eric Clapton, Freddie King, Johnny Winter, and Ted Nugent.
Fort Worth guitarist Buddy Whittington mirrored the feelings of many this morning when he expressed shock at Henderson’s death despite his publicized battle with cancer.
“I knew he was not doing well, but I had no idea it was going to be so quick,” said Whittington, who performed at a recent benefit for Henderson in Fort Worth. “He’s one of those guys that guys of my generation learned a lot from. Bugs learned it all from the masters. He used to hang around Freddie King. He played with B.B. [King] a little. Being the elder statesman that he was, Bugs was the most authentic quintessential Texas guitar player.”
Henderson’s music was a big part of my formative years as well, when I was a fledgling guitarist. I saw many of his shows in the 1970s and 1980s. The only time I’ve ever had a beer mug broken over my head in a bar fight occurred at a Dallas bar while I was standing about 10 feet away from a stage where Henderson was playing “Texas Ballbuster.” Many years later, I asked Henderson if he recalled a young kid getting knocked cold in front of the stage years before. He thought about it a moment.
“No, I just remember the girls,” he said.
Texas Music Magazine asked me to do a feature story on Henderson in 2009, and I visited his East Texas home in Jefferson, about 20 miles from the Louisiana border. A college intern was going to sit in on the interview, but the poor kid drove up to Henderson’s house and ran over his dog (named Lucky of all things). The intern felt terrible. Henderson went out of his way to comfort the kid and remained a gracious host to us for several hours.
We talked in “The Loud Room,” a spare bedroom where Henderson kept his electric guitars, a practice amp, shelves loaded with CDs and DVDs, and walls covered in mementos from a 40-year career as an axe master and longtime member of Buddy Magazine’s elite “Texas Tornado” Hall of Fame. He’s most often classified as a blues player, but rock, country, jazz, and pop guitar licks spilled willy-nilly from Henderson’s bag of tricks. He wasn’t bothered by the fact he never created a huge fan base outside of Texas and Europe.
“When I started out, all I wanted to do was play,” he said. “I never had any aspirations of having a reputation and playing all over the world or cutting, god, I don’t know, 17 or 18 albums, or any of that. I saw myself playing in a rock and roll band as a sideman and eventually I’d be doing some lounge gig sitting on a stool with a chick singer and a piano player, making enough money to get by.”
Henderson was a party dog for years but found sobriety later in life. In recent years, he was doing some of his best work in the studio and in live gigs.
Blue Music (2009) was among his best albums, although my personal favorite will always be At Last (1978).
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Henderson grew up in East Texas and enjoyed a moderately successful stint as a teenaged guitarist for the Tyler-based Mouse and the Traps in the 1960s. One-hit pop wonder Bruce Channel recruited Henderson into a band that included Delbert McClinton, and they played regularly at The Cellar, the notorious after-hours joint in Fort Worth. The first time a young Henderson walked down the stairway to The Cellar’s front door, he was nearly bowled over by a customer who was running out and being chased by a bouncer waving a .45 pistol.
“That was my introduction to the place,” he said. “I went in and everybody was sitting on cushions and all the waitresses were in panties and bras, and they were playing jazz.”
Although customers often arrived high, club owner Pat Kirkwood tolerated no drug use on the premises and especially cracked the whip on musicians, who were expected to follow a list of rigid rules. Pity the musician who went astray. Henderson played for several years at Cellar locations in Fort Worth and Dallas and was noted for his blazing guitar work, but Kirkwood banned him from his clubs in the late 1960s after an amphetamine bust.
“He took it personal with me because when I started working down there I had a pretty squeaky clean reputation,” Henderson said. “Thinking back, I probably was pretty squeaky clean. He had even taken me aside and talked to me once about being a good influence on everybody and trying to keep everybody straight. When I got in trouble he really got pissed.”
More busts followed and Henderson found himself unemployed and desperate. He called Kirkwood, begged forgiveness, and asked for his job back.
“This is the kind of guy Kirkwood was: He said, ‘You can come back in if you come over to my house and play ‘Malaguena’ for 300 hours without stopping,’ ” Henderson recalled.
He didn’t get the job.
“I didn’t know ‘Malaguena’ that well,” he said with a laugh.
When The Cellar announced it would be closing for good in the mid-1970s, Henderson asked Kirkwood to let him play at the final reunion show. By then, the guitarist was gaining momentum as a solo performer.
“He let me in on closing night, and when I got up onstage he introduced me as Bugs the Junkie,” Henderson recalled. “Kirkwood was a hard case.”
Kirkwood was also correct. Henderson was a junkie.
“I don’t even like to give blood now but back then I was jabbing myself all over,” he said.
The 1970s were a blur, mostly spent playing around the Dallas-Fort Worth area. By decade’s end, however, his band recorded a monumental first album, At Last, live at the infamous Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin. His songwriting and reedy voice were still forming, but the sheer power of his playing left no doubt that Texas had another guitar hero.
“When we cut that album I had just started singing and I was aware of the fact I couldn’t sing,” he said. “The songs were built around long, huge guitar solos with me singing as little as possible.”
I was a teenaged kid wanting to be a guitar hero, and Henderson was the local guy whose playing excited me the most. Back in those days, Henderson looked like a junkie. His blonde hair, although receding, was long, stringy, and oily. Faded T-shirts, cut-off shorts, bare feet, and a motel tan were his stage attire. He made little effort to endear himself to audiences, preferring to let his guitar do the talking.
The 1980s, however, brought salvation. He kicked drugs and cigarettes, slowed way down on the booze, and paid more attention to his growing family.
Former Stratoblasters bandmate Jimmy Wallace recalled Henderson as the “most unfamous famous person” he ever knew.
“He had this God given talent that just drew people to him,” Wallace said. “It’s been an honor to get to play with him and for him to be a part of my life. I can’t express how much I’m going to miss him.”
Here are some of the quotes Henderson gave me during our last interview in 2009:
On being known as a blues guitarist: “I know I’m thought of as a blues guy and the blues is in everything I play but I’m not a purist blues guy, what Jimmie Vaughan calls the blues nazis. I’m not that and sometimes people get pissed off because we’re billed as a blues band and if it’s not that three-chord deal – which I have tremendous respect for and the guys who do that is fine, and we do some of that – but I can’t do that all night. I’m a compulsive button pusher when I’m in my car. I can’t listen to one kind of music, I’m just looking for good stuff.”
On never having a major label backer, millions of bucks, and private jets: “We had a shot once when I was managed by Showco. They managed me and Freddie King and John Nitzinger. They called me in one day and said we had a good shot at a record deal but we needed a singer. Literally this is what they said, ‘We need a skinny, good looking, lead singer to front the band.’ They brought in this kid who was skinny and a good singer, had long blonde hair and he learned all my songs and we did a rehearsal and it just sucked. He had no feeling for what we were doing and I said I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to get up and not be happy with what I’m doing. What we get paid for is all the other crap, the driving or the airplanes or whatever. I can’t stand it when I see musicians looking at their watches on stage. Why the fuck would you want to get off stage? That’s what it’s all about. That’s one reason we play such marathon sets. Since I got clean and sober there’s nothing for me to do on breaks anymore. That’s what I used to break for, we’d play a short set and then go out and get high or hustle chicks. I just want to be up there playing.”
On his early years of jamming with Fort Worth guitarist John Nitzinger when both used Fender quad amps – four JBL speakers in each – and ran them full blast even at rehearsal: “I’ve got hearing aids in now. I’ve suffered for it. I wear plugs when I play on stage now. I got my hearing checked about 10 years ago and the doctor said ‘You’ve lost almost all your mids in your right ear and a bunch of highs in your left ear.’ He said what you’re doing is like standing next to a jet engine. He said you need to get hearing aids and start wearing plugs on stage. That was hard at first, not playing but singing. But I couldn’t do without it now. We were in Wichita one night and got an encore and ran back up and I forgot to put em in and it was unbelievable. I hadn’t heard it in so long. I thought, man I can’t believe people sit out there right up front.”
On playing Europe: “That’s our biggest market. I can’t explain why it works over there and not over here. Over there we have tons of airplay, every show is sold out, we headline festivals. Even the clubs are like concerts, crammed all the way to the front of the stage. They know the words to my original material and sing along. At the end of the night they line up to get you to sign stuff. They have stuff I did still sealed in plastic, you know, session work I did in the 1960s for other artists, they’ve got it all. Its amazing. We drove to a gig in Austria once and there was a bunch of people who’d driven up from Sweden or someplace and they all had little flags with the titles to my songs on them and they were all standing out front. That doesn’t happen here.”
On his love for Fender amplifiers: “I’m just a Fender guy, not only because of the way they sound, but the light always comes on. I’ve had Fenders fall off stage, fall out of vans, and the light always comes on. You got to have that when you’re on the road.”
On having Eric Clapton sit in with him at a Dallas gig: “We were at Whiskey River and he was in town on tour and Showco was doing the sound and they brought him out to the gig. Those were what I call the Dark Ages of my life when everybody was doing drugs, Eric included. He was a hell of a nice guy. When I got him up there on stage, this was our gig, and I got Freddie [King] up there too and Eric came over to me and said, ‘We don’t have a chance,’ talking about being up there with Freddie.”
Finally, his advice to young musicians: “Get the money up front and don’t date the waitress.”
Bugs was a real Texas treasure. One of our greatest guitarists and a very cool guy. I opened for him in Spicewood, TX at Poodie’s club not long ago. I hadn’t seen him in quite a few years. He hadn’t lost a bit of chops, style and enthusiam. Bugs was an inspiration to me and many other musicians. He will be greatly missed!
Bugs was not only one of the most interesting players I ever heard, he was funny, intelligent, sweet and he had a great memory. I used to sneak in underage to hear him almost forty years ago. We hadn’t seen each other in years and he remembered me-or, at least he acted like he did!! Wow, this is sad……so long old friend.
Bugs will be missed. I can’t count the hours I spent dancing to “Lost in Austin”. Saw him play with no less energy and fire the first time back on stage after he had a heart attack in the early 90’s (I think). And got to see him one night after the Benson & Hedges Blues Festival, he was playing at Poor David’s, and Albert Collins and Kim Wilson showed up (after playing the blues festival) and jammed with Bugs for hours. Realy magic for a guitar fan like me… But I love him most for the advice he gave my then teenage guitar playing son on his 18th birthday (when my son asked Bugs what he wishes he had known starting out)- he told him “I wish I had known to stay sober, I wasted a lot of years when I could have been getting even better”.
Bugs will truly be missed. His passing leaves a gaping hole in the Texas music scene. I’m left wondering who will carry on the analog traditions in a digital world….. Rest in Peace Bugs.
I remember seeing Bugs for the first time at a bar I frequented in Tulsa back in 80’s. The bar owner laid plywood across the pool tables and lined chairs up around them for folks to sit. The place was packed full everytime Bugs came to town. He was just a pleasure to hear. RIP Bugs, may you be well received on the other side.
Met Bugs a few times in Phoenix…nice guy. Last time I saw him he, had Chuck Hall jump up and play guitar while Bugs did the singing thing…cool night.
RIP Bugs. You rocked your ass off.
Congratulations on an article that showed the real Bugs Henderson. A one of a kind person with a sense of humor that was second to none and a guitar player that could bring tears to your eyes. RIP Bugs
I first saw Bugs in 1966 at Will Rogers. He was playing with Mouse & the Traps at a Byrds concert. He played a blue Mosrite guitar with Bugs Bunny on it. I was there the night at the Cellar when Canned Heat came in and Bugs jammed in. I was there in 1975 at the Electric Ballroom when he spanked Ted Nugent in a guitar battle. At the end Nugent knew he was beat and walked up to the mic , raised his hand, and said “Mr Bugs Henderson” I used to just walk up to him at his gigs and talk to him. He was allways approachable and friendly. We got to know each other and he would often come over and sit at our table. He was allways really cool. I wrote him about this a couple of years ago and he wrote me back. We will miss him, Hands down Bugs Henderson was one of the best guitar players in the world. No one ever [played quite the same style. He was one of a kind.
One of the great ones. Killer guitar player, and a really sweet man. I got to know Bugs a little from the PRS events that we both attended, and he was funny, smart, and could play almost anything. I remember one year, he played a medley of classic surf music songs, and I thought that was pretty off the wall for someone who is known to be a blues player. Miss him already.
Missing you already Bugs!! What a sad day in Tejas!!
Legions of players and fans – and I’m both – are going to miss Bugs and his music! In the early ’90s I was the GHS guitar string rep in Texas, and I couldn’t believe no one had ever given him an endorsement deal. Believe me, THAT was soon corrected! Having played in bands with horns ‘n Hammonds for over fifty years, my favorite album of his was “American Music.” It has all of that plus a great selection of songs!
My dad met Bugs when Dad opened up for him at Poor David’s. Since then, Bugs and his family have become dear friends of ours. I went out to their house just this week, but Bugs was asleep. I wish I would have gotten to see him just one more time to tell him how special he was to our family, not just as a musician, but as a friend. You will be dearly missed, Bugs! Our prayers are with Patty, Zoe, and the entire Henderson clan.
I used to open for Bugs a lot in the 1980’s in St. Louis. He was always a super nice guy and easily approachable. I gave him a “Free James Brown” button once (he used to wear t-shirts that said the same message), and he seemed so tickled by that. One thing that used to always crack me up was when Bugs (who always had about 10 guitars on stage) would bring people onstage to hold the guitars, kind of like the Robert Palmer girls. Inevitably, one person was an actual guitar player who suddenly realized how silly he looked with an unplugged guitar. hahaha. Rest in peace, Bugs. You will be missed.
I am so sad to hear about Bugs Henderson. I just recently started playing guitar and found some of his instructional material on Truefire and dangerousguitar.com. Just listening to his take on guitar and blues and his stories made me a fan in a heartbeat. I am sad I never met the man but grateful I found his influence!
I got turned onto Bugs late (mid 80’s) but he soon became one of my greatest inspirations and can’t miss shows when he came to town. I had many chances to talk with him and he was so personable and disarming. About every show I saw, I left thinking I should use my guitars as kindling because he was SO AMAZING and I will never achieve that level of play. My heart is heavy and I will miss him.
Sigh…. what a sad day. I remember Bugs opening night at Nicks Uptown. Cutoff jeans and barefeet and sizzling chops.
We were so excited about watching him that we paid scant attention to another band making the same circuits on lower Greenville – a little band no one had ever heard of called The Fabulous Thunderbirds Rest peacefully, my friend!
Thank you Jeff for such a wonderful article. You’ve always been eloquent and honest! I received a text today from a fellow musician friend of mine who wanted to inform me of Bugs’ demise. I moved to Maui 10 years ago and had no idea. I have been thinking about nothing since. I used to go see Bugs play every chance I got. Fort Worth, Dallas, Arlington, wherever he happened to be. I was turned on to him for the first time in ’78 when I was 16 (yes, too young to be in the place but the drinking age back then was 18 and no one asked!). I couldn’t believe how warm his presence was. SOMEHOW I was introduced to him in the early 80’s and he was the first ‘big name’ to invite me to sit in with him to sing a couple of songs. From time to time when I’d go see him he’d ask if I wanted to join in on a few songs. Are you kidding? Absolutely! He was a huge boost to my confidence. I’ll always be indebted to him for that. Bugs, you were/are the KIING in Shuffleking . . . . . You are missed already. We love you.
Please fix the headline…it’s BUGS, not BUG. Thanks…
I may have been his only SoCal fan – and I called him one day and asked him to come back to Palm Springs where he was born, to play one more time. We talked about his ‘Floating Head’ album, and I felt bad that it was no longer in print.
I missed a great performer when he never got to Palm Springs again, but I have each and every album with that one exception.
Tomorrow I start my personal music marathon of all of the CDs I have of his.
Miss ya Bugs.
I first saw Bugs in Amarillo Texas in 1980 I believe it was… instantly I became a HUGE fan and I will always enjoy listening to his music.
Acting School, you me and Karen,.,. lots of fun. the gigs were great. You will be missed. Rest in Peace Man.
I agree with “Joe C” … fix the header… it’s BUGS!!
Buggs will be really missed I loved his music Anyone know when the ceremonial concert will be playing at the Palladium in Texas Id love to go He was the best
Bugs was a dear friend and will be missed but not forgotten. Too many memories to count from the mid 80’s – early 90’s when I was bestowed the pleasure of being his sound engineer for his gigs in Houston. I found myself mesmerized by his guitar magic and humorous insertion of iconic legendary riffs at will. I will never forget the time he and Jimmy Wallace performed a feat not attempted be many. Bugs got behind Jimmy and fingered the notes on Jimmy’s guitar while Jimmy picked his own while Jimmy reached back and fingered the notes on Bugs’ guitar and Bugs picked his own during a blazing solo as if this wasn’t unbelievable enough they were walking down a flight of stairs onto the dance floor without missing a lick. He was the most underrated talent around. Save me a spot close to you when my time comes. All my love!
God Bless You Bugs and Mrs. Bugs. You will be missed. Great music and great entertainer. My wife and I are both fans.
I saw Bugs playing for the first time on the outdoor stage at the West End. I remember being absolutely blown away. He made it look so easy that I went out and bought a Strat and amp the next day. I took lessons for several months, but quickly realized that what Bugs did was special. I saw him many many times over the years. It gave me great pleasure to take someone that had never heard him play…..watching their expressions as he played the first couple of songs was priceless. Bugs…..you will be missed!
Thank You Buddy “Bugs” Henderson for teaching me to play guitar back in 1966 and 1967. I will always have good thoughts of you. You will be missed. God love you, bless you and keep you. Don “PopaDon” Wilson –Don Wilson
I’ve got plenty of Bugs stories, all good. He was the best! If you got up and played with him he tried to make you look good: unless you showed some attitude, then you we’re toast. Hooked up at one of his gigs in Hollywood. He had driven with the band in a bus from Dallas to do a record company showcase, , and the cops closed the club after the opening act!!! He was still up-beat, we talked for hours! -Bart Wittrock
Back in the early ’90’s I sent Bugs an email asking when he would be back inSt. Louis. The phone rings on a Satuday afternoon, I say hello and Bugs says Carl this is Bugs Henderson we talked for about 15 minutes. Have you ever heard of anyone that calls his fans to shoot the shit! I am so happy to have seen him many times in St. Louis. RIP Bugs you will be missed around the world.
RIP Bugs and rest well. You will certainly be missed. Thank you for the music!
I knew Bugs since 1968. I first met him when he came down from Fort Worth and played at the Houston Cellar. He was a really nice guy and the best guitarist that I had ever heard. He really felt his music and you could tell that he loved being on stage.
I along with many others will miss him terribly.
Now he is with that glorious band in the sky.
We love you, Bugs.
Buggs made San Diego a better place every time he graced us with his guitar magic and will always grace my house with the great “Buggs” music I’ve collected. Long live Buggs in everone’s heart who new a ‘Great’ when they heard one!
The world has lost truly one of the greatest musicians. Bugs not only was a great six shooter, but was absolutely a great stage entertainer too. Having watched Bugs play since 1968 till present he continually amazed his audience not only with his master of guitar,but also with his humorous comments. His legend and music will live on long after our own deaths. Bugs thank you for sharing your God given gift with all us for so many years.
First saw Bugs at the Cellar with Nitz, Curly & Linda, The Rockin’ Rythum Daddies! What a group. Had the pleasure of having him grace the stge at my bar (6th Street Grill) several times, and once with Johnny & Linda. That was a real treat. He get’s to jamb with Curly again. RIP you guitar God!
hey bugs we all had a great time in the late sixtys at the dallas joint,listening to you and linda and curley the music you were playing was mesmerising, three people on stage and it sound like six, you played that guitar with so much feeling it was really special, i will never forget the time we were at a garage apt in irving and we all desided to go to sixflags and we were all stoned, the person running the spindletop left us in there to long. god bless you and your family, we have lost another great guitar player.
Bugs and the talent and skill he displayed will truly be missed. Bruce Channel hired me to play bass in 1967 and Bugs was playing guitar with him and that’s when I first met Bugs, on a gig at the Safari Club on Belknap in Ft. Worth.
I loaned him two records, “Disrali Gears” and “Are You Experienced?” At that time, Bugs had not previously heard Hendrix or Clapton and he took to the styles like a duck to water. Not long after, I introduced Bugs to Jim Hill at the Cellar in Ft. Worth. The rest is the history that everybody knows. His playing was so great, I always wondered why New York or Hollywood never called. God only knows and now Bugs can ask Him.
The life of legendary blues guitarist, Bugs Henderson will be celebrated, Tuesday, March 13, at Moore’s Store in Ben Wheeler, Texas, 3 p.m.
The official “Celebration of Bugs’ Life” is open to the public and all are invited to gather and share music, laughter, and tears to honor the late blues/rock legend.
The send-off, organized by Henderson’s family and friends will include fellow musicians, who only last weekend, held a benefit concert to help raise funds for Bugs’ mounting medical bills from his fight against liver cancer.
Bands paying tribute to the late legend include: Mouse & The Traps, Jimmy Wallace and the Stratoblasters and Bobby Chitwood, to name a few.
Bugs’ own son, drummer, Buddy Henderson will also take the stage in his father’s honor playing with the bands. Henderson’s other children and wife, Patty will also be in attendance.
For more information about the Celebration of Life, visit bugshenderson.com or benwheelertx.com and click on the Moore’s Store Facebook page icon.
I recorded a couple of ‘live’ (direct to stereo) CDs for Bugs many years ago, as the front of house engineer for Poor David’s Pub in Dallas, Texas… neither were big sellers, but both were positively reviewed and contained extraordinary talent and un-duplicable moments of guitar mastery. It never ceases to amaze me, that even though this man was well known among the greatest rock and blues guitar players of the world, he never actually made the the road to fame. (Speaking of which, “The Road” was one of Bugs’ finest original tunes). The likes of Eddie VH and Ted Nugent would drop in on his shows, yet Bugs himself did not climb the ladder to national notoriety. He’ll be missed by many. Condolences to all…
This version of Sleepwalk performed by Bugs Henderson is an example of his incredible inventiveness and will surely be missed. An icon!
Great article Jeff. Those are some wonderful memories. My own memory is being in the pool at a friends house with my late wife. When he put on one of Bugs slow tunes, I grabbed my wife and waltzed around the shallow end with her for the most memorable ten minutes of my life. I am ashamed to say I never got to see him play. I always thought there would be time
RIP Bugs.
Joel
Saw him at the Armadillo…him and Alvin Lee were my idols. R.I.P. my friend
We’ll miss Bugs here in Hood River, OR. He always made his home with us when he was touring the Northwest. He dedicated an hour a day to play his awesome music for my husband, his friend, Lee, who preceded him in the cancer battle. I was once at one of his gigs at the old Granada in The Dalles, when most of the dance floor stopped to watch his hands fly over the guitar strings. With such agility he could make that guitar sing.
We miss you Bugs!
Linda
rest in peace bugs! you will be greatly missed!
Saw him with my future wife on our first date at the Banshee in Ranger, Texas. I heard people complaining about them not doing a lot of covers like the bands that usually played there. I had seen him before a few times in Dallas and was happy he did his own stuff. He played there a month later and we were about the only people there. Since there were only about 6 people there he told everbody to bring their chairs up front. We were sitting right up in front of Bugs for a private concert. Incredible!!
Rest in peace Bugs and say hi to Kim for me…
well damn, i hadn’t heard. I just wrote a friend of mine in Austin asking if he had found some of my wife things that she lost along the way in October. A facebook thing and then i went to You Tube to add “Lost In Austin” as it is one that often goes thru my mind. I’ve lived on Lopez island, Wa for decades now and rarely go see music anymore, but always loved Bugs since “76 and seeing for the first time in Nacogdoches, Tx. I knew i was going to love the guy before he even began, because we were in the same club—–running around barefoot. I turned many people onto him over the years and danced to him many a time…..i guess i will have to play him long, and loud tonight…….as many have said, a super nice guy who would talk with even a little nerdy kid dancing barefoot. He got to know who i was and would give me a nod and kick his feet up at me. We lost a good un and i send out my late condolences to his family….maybe next time i am in Austin I will purposely get Lost in Austin….maybe I’ll try to find the Armadillo again…..or just sit on the curb there and remember all the good times
The Cellar didn’t allow drugs? What a FUCKIN JOKE! They had plenty of the alcohol drug and the place was constantly full of lethal TOXIC TOBACCO SMOKE! Good riddance!
The loss of a legend in my book. Hope you all feel that loss and its importance!!
Eric Fredericksen
Miss this man,s guitar sound so much, thanks for what you left us all bug,s you are greatly missed.
Watching DVD of Buggs at The Granada. When we lived in Dallas, we would go see Buggs almost every time he played. He was special and is missed.
I first met Bugs at a Sunday night show in 1990 at Pearl’s Oyster Bar in Austin, Texas. He was gracious enough to allow me to video the show, which he dubbed his “Fifteenth Anniversary Tour”. The VHS footage got packed away and forgotten for decades. I only recently learned of his death and found the tape. WOW, what a treat it was to see this show again.
If anybody out there knows how I can reach his family please let me know. I want them to have this classic one of a kind footage.
e-mail: johnnybartee@yahoo.com
I’m just a beginner guitar player schooled in Chicago, but Bugs was it, man. I need all his recordings! Steve Bull