Under the Hood: Kenny Neal on Raful Neal and Buddy Guy

Raised on a farm outside of Baton Rouge, Raful Neal took up the harmonica at age 14, and become one of the pioneers of the Louisiana swamp blues sound.  And he was a big influence on the blues in other ways as well.  All of his ten children followed his footsteps into music.  One of them, Kenny Neal, tells how his father gave Buddy Guy one of his first breaks.

“Well my Dad Raful hired Buddy Guy in his band, and they had a chance to open up for Muddy Waters and Little Walter when they would come to a place called Temple Root in Baton Rouge.  And they needed a guitar player and sent for Buddy. And Buddy moved to Chicago and went on and started his career. And it was all in the makin’ from my Dad, Raful.” – Kenny Neal