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BIOGRAPHY
Roy Buchanan was one of America's most soulful masters of
the electric guitar. Even posthumously, he commands the ardent
respect of his fellow guitarists and a devoted army of fans. The
Buchanan sound is totally unique: heartbreaking, searing solos,
trademark shimmering tone, and a mixture of snarls, wails and
squeals that mark him as a wizard of the instrument. He was a
pioneer in the use of controlled harmonics, and although this
technique has been used by rock's greatest guitarists, especially
Jeff Beck, Robbie Robertson and Z.Z. Top's Billy Gibbons, all
acknowledge Buchanan as the master.
>Roy Buchanan's musical career began in the tiny town of Pixley,
California. His father was a farmer and Pentecostal preacher and
Roy's first musical memories were of racially-mixed revival meetings
his family would attend. "Gospel," he recalls, "that's
how I first got into black music". Late night R & B radio
shows also helped whet his appetite for blues-based music. But
the music played by the folks in Pixley was country, so when the
7 year-old Roy first expressed interest in the guitar, his parents
sent him to the local steel guitar teacher, Mrs. Pressure. Within
weeks, he was picking out the Hit Parade favorites on steel guitar,
spurred on by his teacher who, Roy remembers, would cry every
time I made a mistake".
In 1953, at the age of 13, Roy bought his first Fender Telecaster
(for $120!). "I liked the tone...it sounded a lot like steel
guitar". Drawn to the blossoming R & B scene in Los Angeles,
Roy ran away from home at 15 and headed for the big city. He fell
under the wing of famed bandleader, producer, writer, arranger,
impresario (and later on, Alligator recording artist) Johnny Otis.
The young Roy studied the blues mastery of other great guitarists:
"Jimmy Nolen (later with James Brown), Pete Lewis, Johnny'Guitar'Watson
-- those cats won't ever be beat."
By 1955, Roy was leading his own rock 'n' roll band, The Heartbeats,
and over the next few years he worked his way east, finally hooking
up with rockabilly legend Dale Hawkins (of "Suzy Q"
fame). "I met Dale in Oklahoma City on a TV show and I ended
up playing on the road with him for three years." In 1957,
Roy made his recording debut, playing the solo on Hawkins' "My
Babe" for Chicago' s Chess Records.
Three years later, Roy switched from one Hawkins to another
-- he headed north to Canada, where he took charge of the guitar
role in Ronnie Hawkins' band (a group later to gain fame as The
Band). The group's bass player studied guitar under Roy, and took
over the lead guitar spot when Roy split -- Robbie Robertson.
The early 60's found Roy performing countless gigs as a sideman
with nameless rock bands, and cutting a number of sessions as
guitarist with musicians as diverse as pop idol Freddie Cannon
and country star Merle Kilgore. His groundbreaking 1962 cut with
drummer Bobby Gregg, "Potato Peeler', first introduced the
trademark Buchanan harmonics. In the mid-'60's, exhausted by life
on the road, Roy settled down in the Washington, D.C. area, playing
as a sideman before starting his own group, The Snakestretchers.
In 1971, already riding on word-of-mouth reputation that included
accolades from John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Merle Haggard, and an
invitation to join the Rolling Stones, Roy "broke" nationally
as the result of an hour-long Public Television documentary. Entitled
"The Best Unknown Guitarist In The World", the show
won Roy a contract with Polydor and began a decade of national
and international touring. He cut five albums for Polydor (one
went gold) and three for Atlantic (one gold), while playing virtually
every major rock concert hall and festival. The major labels gave
him fame and fortune, but no artistic freedom. "They kept
trying to make me into some sort of pop star". Finally, disgusted
with the over-production forced on his music, Roy quit recording
in 1981, vowing never to enter a studio again unless he could
record his own music his own way.
Four years later, Roy was coaxed back into the studio by Alligator.
His first album for Alligator, WHEN A GUITAR PLAYS THE BLUES,
was released in the spring of 1985. It was the first time he was
given total artistic freedom in the studio; it was also his first
true blues album. Fans quickly responded, and the album entered
Billboard's pop charts with a bullet and remained on the charts
for 13 weeks. Music critics, as well as fans, applauded Roy's
efforts with accolades and plenty of four star reviews.
His second Alligator LP, DANCING ON THE EDGE, was released
in the fall of 1986. The album, featuring a generous dose of Roy's
trademark guitar pyrotechnics and three cuts with special guest,
rock 'n' soul vocalist Delbert McClinton, won the College Media
Journal Award for Best Blues Album of 1986. Audio Magazine gave
Roy an "A" for DANCING ON THE EDGE, saying "Buchanan
plugs his guitar straight into your frontal lobes. His playing
is alive with emotion and boasts a full, wild sound that consistently
threatens to go over the edge. This is definitely a disc that
will get your party started."
"Since coming to Alligator, I'm finally making the records
that I've always wanted to make," Roy said of these years.
He released the twelfth LP of his career and his third for Alligator,
HOT WIRES, in 1987. In addition to Donald Kinsey (formerly with
AIbert King and Bob Marley), keyboardist Stan Szelest, and seasoned
studio greats Larry Exum (bass) and Morris Jennings (drums), this
classic album includes guest vocals by veteran soul singer Johnny
Sayles and one of Chicago's outstanding female blues belters,
Kanika Kress.
Roy's musical career took him from underground club gigs in
the sixties and seventies to national television, gold record
sales and worldwide tours in the eighties with the likes of Lonnie
Mack, the Allman Brothers and many other blues/rock guitar icons.
Buchanan died in Virginia in 1988. He was 48 years old.
We'll Always Remember
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