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Leroy "Roy" Buchanan (September 23, 1939 – August 14, 1988) was an American guitarist and
blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...
musician. A pioneer of the Telecaster sound, Buchanan worked as a sideman and as a solo artist, with two gold albums early in his career and two later solo albums that made it to the ''Billboard'' chart. He never achieved stardom, but is considered a highly influential guitar player. ''
Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' was an American magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francis ...
'' praised him as having one of the "50 Greatest Tones of All Time." He appeared on the PBS music program ''
Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American Concert, live music Television show, television program recorded and produced by KLRU, Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", an ...
'' in 1977 (season 2).


Biography


Birth and early career: 1939–1960

Leroy Buchanan was born in Ozark, Arkansas, and was raised there and in Pixley, California, a farming area between Visalia and
Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...
. His father was a sharecropper in Arkansas and a farm laborer in California. Buchanan told interviewers the fiction that his father was a fiddle-playing preacher, which was repeated in ''
Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' was an American magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francis ...
'' magazine but disputed by his older brother J.D. Buchanan told how his first musical memories were of racially mixed revival meetings he attended with his mother, Minnie. "Gospel," he recalled, "that's how I first got into black music." He in fact drew upon many disparate influences while learning to play the guitar (though he later claimed his aptitude derived from being "half-wolf"). He initially showed talent on steel guitar before switching to guitar in the early 50s, and started his professional career at age 15, in Johnny Otis's rhythm and blues revue. In 1958, Buchanan made his recording debut with Chicago's
Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock an ...
at age 19, accompanying
Dale Hawkins Delmar Allen "Dale" Hawkins (August 22, 1936 – February 13, 2010) was a pioneer American rock singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist who was often called the architect of swamp rock boogie. Career Hawkins was born in Goldmine Plantat ...
by playing the solo on " My Babe. Two years later, during a tour through
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Buchanan left Dale Hawkins to play for Hawkins's cousin Ronnie Hawkins and tutor Ronnie's guitar player, Robbie Robertson. Buchanan plays bass on the Ronnie Hawkins single "Who Do You Love?". Buchanan soon returned to the United States, and members of the Ronnie Hawkins' group later gained fame as the roots rock group the Band. In the early 1960s, Buchanan often played as a sideman with various rock bands, and he played guitar in recording sessions with
Freddy Cannon Frederick Anthony Picariello, Jr. (born December 4, 1936), better known by his stage name Freddy Cannon, is an American rock and roll singing, singer. His biggest international hits included "Tallahassee Lassie", "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans", ...
, Merle Kilgore, and others. At the end of the 1960s, with a growing family, Buchanan left the music industry to learn a trade and trained as a barber.


Recording career: 1961–1988

In 1961 he released "Mule Train Stomp", his first single for
Swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...
, featuring rich guitar tones. Buchanan's 1962 recording with drummer Bobby Gregg, nicknamed "Potato Peeler," first introduced the trademark Buchanan "pinch" harmonic. An effort to cash in on the British Invasion caught Buchanan with the British Walkers. In the mid-1960s, Buchanan settled down in the Washington, D.C., area, playing for Danny Denver's band for many years while acquiring a reputation as "...one of the very finest rock guitarists around." The facts behind that claim are that in March 1968 a photographer friend, John Gossage gave Buchanan tickets to a concert by the Jimi Hendrix Experience at the Washington Hilton. "Buchanan was dismayed to find his own trademark sounds, like the wah-wah that he'd painstakingly produced with his hands and his Telecaster, created by electronic pedals. He could never attempt Hendrix's stage show, and this realization refocused him on his own quintessentially American roots-style guitar picking." Gossage recalls how Roy was very impressed by the Hendrix 1967 debut album '' Are You Experienced?'', which was why he made sure to give Roy a ticket to the early show at the Hilton. Gossage went backstage to take photos and tried to convince Jimi to go and see Roy at the Silver Dollar that night after the show, but Jimi seemed more interested in hanging out with the young lady who was backstage with him. Hendrix never showed up at the Silver Dollar, but Gossage did talk to Roy about seeing the Hilton show. That same night (as the Hilton show) Roy did several Hendrix numbers and "from that point on, had nothing but good things to say about Hendrix". He later released recordings of the Hendrix composition " If 6 Was 9" and the Hendrix hit "
Hey Joe "Hey Joe" is a song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and been performed in many musical styles by hundreds of different artists. The lyrics are from the point of view of a man on the run and planning to escape to Mexico after sho ...
" (written by Billy Roberts and first recorded by
The Leaves The Leaves were an American garage rock band formed in the San Fernando Valley, California, in 1964. They are best known for their version of the song "Hey Joe", which was a hit in 1966. Theirs is the earliest release of this song, which became ...
). In the early 1970s he performed in the Washington, D.C.–Maryland–Virginia area with the Danny Denver Band, which had a following in the area. Buchanan was also popular as a solo act in the D.C. area at this time. Buchanan's life changed in 1971, when he gained national notice as the result of an hour-long PBS television documentary. Entitled ''Introducing Roy Buchanan,'' and sometimes mistakenly called ''The Best Unknown Guitarist in the World'', it earned a record deal with
Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...
and praise from
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
and Merle Haggard, besides an alleged invitation to join the
Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
which he turned down and which gave him the nickname "the man who turned the Stones down". He may have turned the Stones down for two reasons. He may have feared abusing drugs and alcohol more if he joined them, and dying, like Brian Jones. And he may have felt that his own career as he was then pursuing it had promising directions that he could not follow as well if he joined the Stones. In 1977, he appeared on the PBS music program ''
Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American Concert, live music Television show, television program recorded and produced by KLRU, Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", an ...
'' during Season 2. He recorded five albums for Polydor, one of which, '' Second Album'', went gold, and after that another three for
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...
, one of which, 1977's ''Loading Zone'', also went gold. Buchanan quit recording in 1981, vowing never to enter a studio again unless he could record his own music his own way. Four years later, Alligator Records coaxed Buchanan back into the studio. His first album for Alligator, '' When a Guitar Plays the Blues'', was released in the spring of 1985. It was the first time he had total artistic freedom in the studio. His second Alligator LP, '' Dancing on the Edge'' (with vocals on three tracks by Delbert McClinton), was released in the fall of 1986. He released the twelfth and last album of his career, '' Hot Wires'', in 1987. Buchanan's last show was on August 7, 1988, at Guilford Fairgrounds in
Guilford, Connecticut Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Connecticut, Madison, Branford, Connecticut, Branford, North Branford, Connecticut, North Branford and Durham, Connecticut, Durham, and is situated on Inter ...
.


Death

According to his agent and others, Buchanan was doing well, having gained control of his drinking habit and playing again, when he was arrested for public intoxication after a domestic dispute. He was found hanged from his own shirt in a jail cell on August 14, 1988, in the Fairfax County, Virginia, Jail. According to Thomas Hartman, who was in a cell near Buchanan's, the deputy sheriff opened the door early in the morning and found Buchanan with the shirt around his neck. His cause of death was officially recorded as suicide, a finding disputed by Buchanan's friends and family. One of his friends, Marc Fisher, reported seeing Roy's body with bruises on the head. After his death, compilation and other albums continue to be released, including in 2004 the never-released first album he recorded for Polydor, ''The Prophet''. Roy Buchanan is interred at Columbia Gardens Cemetery in
Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...
.


Equipment

Buchanan used a number of guitars in his career, although he was most often associated with a 1953 Fender Telecaster, serial number 2324, nicknamed "Nancy." At some point "Nancy" had jumbo frets installed, but remained largely original. There are two very different stories explaining how Buchanan got the guitar. He himself said that, while enrolled in 1969 in a school to learn to be a hairdresser, he ran after a guy walking down the street with that guitar, and bought him a purple Telecaster to trade. Buchanan also owned a Butterscotch Blonde 1952 Fender Telecaster that eventually wound up in the possession of
Wishbone Ash Wishbone Ash are a British Rock music, rock band who achieved success in the early to mid-1970s. Their albums include ''Wishbone Ash (album), Wishbone Ash'' (1970), ''Pilgrimage (Wishbone Ash album), Pilgrimage'' (1971), ''Argus (album), Argu ...
guitarist Andy Powell. A friend of Buchanan's, however, said that Buchanan was playing a Gibson Les Paul at the time, and traded it for the '53 Tele. One of Buchanan's Telecasters was later owned by Danny Gatton and Mike Stern, who lost it in a robbery. He was reported using a 1956 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop Reissue for some time. Early in 1979 he switched to a 1975 sunburst
Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...
for a few years. Also, he used to play a Gibson L-5 CES when he was very young.


Tone and technique

Buchanan played the Telecaster through a Fender Vibrolux amplifier with the volume and tone "full out," and used the guitar's volume and tone controls to control volume and sound (he achieved a wah wah effect using the tone control). To achieve his desired distorted sounds, Buchanan at one point used a razor blade to slit the paper cones of the speakers in his amp, an approach also employed by the Kinks' Dave Davies and others. Buchanan rarely used
effects pedal An effects unit, effects processor, or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing. Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with el ...
s, though he started using an Echoplex on ''A Street Called Straight'' (1976). In his later career he played with a Boss DD-2 delay. Buchanan taught himself various playing techniques, including " chicken picking". He sometimes used his thumb nail rather than a plectrum, and also employed it to augment his index finger and pick. Holding the pick between his thumb and forefinger, Buchanan also plucked the string and simultaneously touched it lightly with the lower edge of his thumb at one of the harmonic nodes, thus suppressing lower overtones and emphasising the harmonic, sometimes referred to as pinch harmonics, though Buchanan called it an "overtone." Buchanan could play harmonics at will, and could mute individual strings with free right-hand fingers while picking or pinching others. He was famous as well for his oblique bends. This was particularly notable in his approach to using
double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...
and triple stops.


Legacy

Buchanan has influenced many guitarists, including Robbie Robertson, Gary Moore, Danny Gatton, Arlen Roth,
Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...
, David Gilmour, Jerry Garcia, Mick Ronson, Nils Lofgren, Jim Campilongo, and Steve Kimock; Beck dedicated his version of "Cause We've Ended As Lovers" from '' Blow by Blow'' to him. His work is said to "stretch the limits of the electric guitar," and he is praised for "his subtlety of tone and the breadth of his knowledge, from the blackest of blues to moaning R&B and clean, concise, bone-deep rock 'n' roll." In 2004, ''
Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' was an American magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francis ...
'' listed his version of "Sweet Dreams," from his debut album on Polydor, '' Roy Buchanan'', as having one of the "50 Greatest Tones of All Time." In the same year, the readers of ''Guitar Player'' voted Buchanan number 46 in a top 50 readers' poll.


Discography


Studio albums

*''Buch and the Snakestretchers'', 1971, BIOYA (homemade/self-produced/sold only at gigs) *'' Roy Buchanan'', August 1972, Polydor - US number 107 *''Second Album'', March 1973, Polydor - US number 86 *''That's What I Am Here For'', November 1973, Polydor - US number 152 *''In the Beginning'' (UK title: ''Rescue Me''), December 1974, Polydor - US number 160 *'' A Street Called Straight'', April 1976, Atlantic - US number 148 *''Loading Zone'', May 1977, Atlantic - US number 105 *'' You're Not Alone'', April 1978, Atlantic - US number 119 *''My Babe'', November 1980, Waterhouse/AJK - US number 193 *'' When a Guitar Plays the Blues'', July 1985, Alligator - US number 161 *'' Dancing on the Edge'', June 1986, Alligator - US number 153 *'' Hot Wires'', September 1987, Alligator


Live albums

*'' Live Stock'', (rec. 1974) August 1975, Polydor *''Live in Japan'', (rec. 1977) 1978, Polydor apan*''Live: Charly Blues Legend, Vol. 9'', 1987, Charly *''Live in U.S.A. & Holland'', (rec. 1977–85) 1991, Silver Shadow *''Charly Blues Masterworks: Roy Buchanan Live'', 1999, Charly/Red X *''American Axe: Live in 1974'', 2003, Powerhouse *''Live: Amazing Grace'', (rec. 1974–83) 2009, Powerhouse *''Live at Rockpalast'', (rec. 1985) 2011, MIG Music *''Live from Austin, TX'' (rec. 1976) 2012, New West *''Shredding the Blues: Live at My Father's Place'', (rec. 1978 & 1984) 2014, Rockbeat *''Telemaster: Live in '75'', 2017, Powerhouse *''Live at Town Hall 1974'', 2018, Real Gone Music


Compilation albums

*''The Best of Roy Buchanan'', 1982, Polydor *''The Early Years'', 1989, Krazy Kat *'' Sweet Dreams: The Anthology'', 1992, Polydor *''Guitar on Fire: The Atlantic Sessions'', 1993, Rhino/Atlantic *''Malaguena'', 1996, Annecillo *''Before And After: The Last Recordings'', 1999, Rollercoaster Records UK *''Deluxe Edition: Roy Buchanan'', 2001, Alligator *''20th Century Masters–The Millennium Collection: The Best of Roy Buchanan'', 2002, Polydor *''The Prophet: The Unreleased First Polydor Album'', 2004, Hip-O Select/UMe *''The Definitive Collection'', 2006, Polydor/UMe *''Rhino Hi-Five: Roy Buchanan'', 2007, Rhino/Atlantic *''After Hours: The Early Years, 1957–1962 Recordings'', 2016, Soul Jam


References


External links


Biography, Discography and Photo Gallery
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buchanan, Roy 1939 births 1988 suicides 1988 deaths People from Ozark, Arkansas American blues guitarists American male guitarists American rock guitarists American country guitarists American rockabilly guitarists Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Suicides by hanging in Virginia American lead guitarists People who died by suicide in prison custody American people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in Virginia detention American blues singers 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American singers Country musicians from Arkansas 20th-century American male musicians Alligator Records artists