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Innis Lake, near Bolton, was the site of the Mariposa Folk Festival and Guy, who was completely unknown at the time, was on the bill.
"I was working the local bars (in Chicago) at night and working at Ford making $2.11 an hour at the time," Guy says over the line from New York. "Before going on stage I said to myself, 'Nobody knows who I am,' but when I walked out I heard my name being called.
"They convinced me I was good enough to pursue a career playing," says Guy, who brings his blistering blues to the Molson Amphitheatre Tuesday. "I owe something to Canada, that boost they gave me in '67 makes me feel so connected to Canadians."
Guy has since gone on to terrorize ears -- in a beautiful way, of course -- all over the globe, winning a bunch of Grammys and awards such as Greatest Living Electric Blues Guitarist in the process.
Weirdly enough, the guitar god continues to get punished by program directors at radio stations who'd rather spin a lighter -- read whiter -- shade of the blues.
"I do know that if you're black and play the blues, your record will not get played on stations that play Eric Clapton and Bonnie Raitt," Guy says. "I've questioned that and my question is, 'What did we do to deserve that?' "
Maybe being born black?
As Guy tells it, getting shut down by radio doesn't only hurt him and folks like Big Daddy Kinsey and John Lee Hooker in the pocket.
"My daughter asked if she could work in my club (Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago) and when she saw me playing I Just Want To Make Love To You she burst out crying," Guy says. "She said, 'Dad, I didn't know you could do that.'
"My little grandbaby came up to my house and said, 'Grandad, I saw you on TV and fell out on the floor with a hanger in my hand playing it like it was a guitar'," he adds. "He was like, 'Grandad, I didn't know you could play.' "
Anyone who's seen Buddy Guy can testify he punishes rather than plays his custom-made polka dot Stratocaster. He shows the strings no mercy when he tears into one of his scorching solos, but he's quick to caress and pamper them when he slows down the pace.
Guy relishes relating the first time he saw a Strat.
"The first one I saw was played by Guitar Slim and when I saw him I said I wanted to play like BB King but act like Slim 'cause he was real wild," Guy chuckles.
"Lightnin' Slim was the first electric guitarist I saw," he says. "He came up to Lettsworth (La.) with his guitar, an amp the size of a radio, sat in front of a little store and played.
"I went all 'round behind him to see how a guitar could sound that loud," Guy says, sounding as awestruck as he was that day. "I put my last 30c in his hat 'cause I hadn't seen an electric guitar."
Guy's humility and respect for blues elders is incredibly refreshing.
He says he's cut short the number of gigs he plays " 'cause I don't want to break BB King's record," doesn't "fool with slides at all," and would rather "listen to the guys who really know how to use them," and doesn't boast about how Hendrix attended his shows with a reel-to-reel tape machine.
"When I was a kid people respected each other but we've lost that, man," Guy says. "When I was a kid and messed up, my teacher would spank me and I wouldn't tell my dad 'cause then I'd have two so I didn't say s---.
"I do not regret that 'cause it made a better man out of me."
The show starts at 7 p.m. Tix are $34.50 and $29.50.