Sweet dreams of Roy Buchanan

In Memories Of Roy Buchanan

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November 2002 <Ü>I first heard of Roy in 1977.....my brother had brought home "Loading Zone", and I remember looking at the album cover and thinking to myself..."Who the f**k is this beatnik???"

Of course...needless to say...once I heard Roys' solo on "Green Onions"...I was a fan for life.

For my 18th birthday n 1978...my brother and a friend took me to see Roy play at the Great American Music Hall in San Fransisco.....a fantastic show....one of the high lights was when Roy pulled out an accoustic guitar(Ive never heard of an other gig where he did this)...my only regret is I dont remember what he played on it!!!!!! Another highlight was when he prefaced "Hey Joe" by introducing the man who wrote the song originally..and he came on stage and played harmnica during the tune(cant remember his name...played with mid-60's psychodelia band."The Leaves"..name is on the tip of my tongue!!!).

It was a great show...and during the encores I can remember pounding the table so hard with an ashtray that it broke in half!!!!!

I saw Roy perform nine more times here in the Bay Area..and he never failed to blow me away time and again...but two shows in particular stand out.

The second to last time I saw him was when he headlined the San Fransisco Blues Festival.....it was wierd seeing him perform in front of thousands...instead of in the smoke filled clubs I was used to....he destroyed the place....this was just after when TGPTBs' came out.

Sadly..the last time I saw him...even though it was a GREAT performance...was a club in San Fransisco...just after the "Hot Wires" LP....He and his band came on stage...and he walked off in the middle of the first song( at this time he had been quoted in certain trade papers as to how he was "clean" and warned against the perils of drug use etc)...his bass player and drummer just looked at eachother..shrugged their sholders and jammed for about ten minutes....the crowd stood in stunned silence....Roy soon came out and gave a great show...but it was kinda strange. Maybe he had stomach problems........maybe not....I also remember one of Roys' sons being at this show. Roy still influences me in my guitar playing...and I miss seeing him come around every year...his death had an profound impact. I'll always cherish sitting in the front row at a gig...and Roy looking right at you while pulling off thunderous runs on his Tele..and not batting an eye...or moving.... or smiling....but as Roy once said..."Yeah...but I'm screamin' inside!" Mike

My Brother in law introduced me to Roy,s music in 1976.I was into Kiss and ZZ TOP at the time .He played Live Stock for me and I was blown away.Until last week I have yearned for a copy of this record.I found it on Amazon I suppose it was rereleased.Because over the years I have been to many record stores looking for it and they said it was out of print.I have been in the music business since 1983 ( audio engineer). I haved toured with the Georgia Sattelites in 1989 . In 1976 I was just learning how to play guitar,when I first heard of Roy .When I got Live Stock the other day and played it again I was floored .I didnt realize that I was playing Roy's licks all these years without consciencally knowing it .I love to play the blues .And now when someone asks me who was your influences I know it was Roy Buchanan....................Later Jay

First of all sorry for my "Me Tarzan You Jane" english

R B means Rock & Buchanan or just Roy & Blues?

I'm on my first 44 y rediscovered him 2 years ago (Thanks Napster). When I was 15-17 bought a vinil (about guitar genious) because only 1 song of Jimi Hendrix (a fan, me?). There were also John McLoughlin, B B King, among others. I wish to thank the man who put Roy Buchanan's Afterhours in. I can't believe what I was hearing. Paganini reincarnates and play the guitar?............ So, you fans, don't worry. There's no time limit for Roy's music.

But sadly here, in Argentina, there were no more music of R B. Once in the internet, in an real effort of memory I could remember the name that I knew should need for other oportunity. Really. And a new world of sounds and music opened in front of my closed eyes. And that man had passed away. I'm still could't believe. Its causes as much pain.

And now I can't avoid to envy those collectors, with CDs fulls of music, bar music, mono music, noisy music, but, Roy's Genius music at the end. Roy, I 'didn't knew you, but I miss you. Sincerelly.

I just want to live a long time just to still enjoy your themes. The death looks good if you're playing those tunes up.

And you know something?, they spend time if you was the best, the second, the electric, etc. Cause they think you was a guitar player. But we know that you played with your soul. That's 'cause I think you was a good person. For four music.

Maybe for a short time?, but anyway: Thank you Roy. For use your Gift. Than you Lord. For Roy.

Gustavo Ramis
Buenos Aires - Argentina
josemanuel34ar@yahoo.com.ar

I could go on for days about Roy Buchanan.

I first heard of him in the early 70s, when most people did. I guess I saw him about 10 or 12 times from 1974-1988. I was at the Live Stock concert, in 1974. I got to meet him once in 1983, backstage in Philadelphia, and what they say is true. I knew that he was not comfortable talking about himself, so he pretty much ignored all the people asking about the Stones, etc -- I asked him about Roy Nichols, and some of the guys in the Snakestretchers, etc., so he opened up to me. Wish I could remember more of it... I was pretty well beer-sodden at the time. Billy Price's band opened, and it was nice to see them talking again.

I like his Polydor stuff the best, and even have the album he did with Danny Denver. I have a number of tapes and videos. Many people like his Alligator label records the best, but I think he was pigeonholed as a blues player, when he really played on a much broader stylistic basis. The country songs on the first two Polydor albums are really good. The Buch and the Snakestretchers live album (mono lo-fi) is also really good. I'm from the Maryland/VA area where he was and there are just loads of people around here still who knew him and played with him.

I know he did try and sort of reinvent himself in the 1985-88 period, but for me it was kind of sad to see him going around in a 3 piece, often playing Hendrix and Zeppelin songs that weren't really necessary... he had a lot more to offer than that.

I just finished reading that biography that was done on him... and I must admit I didn't know he was such a troubled person... even going way back. But he played from some place that other guitarists just aren't going to find. As one of his band mates says in the bio. the shows they did at My Father's Place were some of the best... I have some of those tapes and they are just killer. But he was good just about through the 70s, but as many people know, his 80s performances were more erratic. But like the book says, he was really popular in the Boston area, and so the 1987 tape at Jonathan Swifts is really hot.

Favorite songs from each officially released album (not counting the Danny Denver album)
1st album-- I am a Lonesome Fugitive
2nd album-She Once Lived Here
That's What I'm Here For-- Roy's Bluz (Nepesh, a close 2nd)
In the Beginning-- (title song)
Live Stock -- I'm Evil
Street Called Straight -- Messiah Will Come Again
Loading Zone -- Green Onions
Live in Japan -- Soul Dressing
Your're Not Alone -- none of it, his worst album
My Babe -- Secret Love
When Guit. Plays the Blues-- Chicago Smokeshop
Dancing on the Edge-- Peter Gunn
Hot Wires -- Flash Chordin

Great site !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I must of seen Roy 20 times in New York City and a club called "My Fathers Place" on Long Island. I had the great opportunity to meet and talk with Roy a few times. The one thing that stands out is when you would shake hands his fingers wrapped around your whole hand. I have most of his albums and some tapes from the club on Long Island. A local radio station WLIR would play his concerts live on the radio. I had a rare opportunity to sit with Roy and talk about his career and he played some gospel tunes on his unplugged Telecaster. One night at a show in "My Fathers Place" he was doing his second act, there were maybe 20 people in the audience and Roy was feeling pretty tipsy. Robbie Robertson went on stage and they played "Furthur on up the Road". One tune I will never forget, Roy was feeling so good he did a little dance/shuffle around Robbie while playing. Robertson was in awe. Do you know of anyway to get videos of Roy ? Austin City Limits or the Japan concert. It would mean alot !!!!

Once again great site.

I live in MD and knew Roy when he played at the Crossroads in Bladensburg MD. I used to sing with his band from time to time and dated his lead singer, Chuck Tilly. Other members of his band at the time were Michael (Pokey) Walls on drums and Dick Heinze on keyboards. Those were incredible days! As I look back, dancing on the dance floor in front of Roy and his band to his wonderful music was quite a blessing. Roy was very quiet and kept to himself most of the time unlike the other band members who used to come site at our booth on the breaks. Roy just went to his dressing room and didn't mingle with ladies or people at all. He was a great man! Its a shame he had to pass away in prison.

Yours truly,

Valerie Kline

I think it was in 1974 when I "discovered" Roy Buchanan's "Second Album"... I was very proud when I could "show off" a new name in blues music to my schoolfriends... but I was a little bit ahaed of my time then because my professor Music was not so blues-minded. And the only name he knew in blues was that one of the late great John Lee Hooker, who just passed away some days ago..

The "second album" I bought was "Live Stock" and I must say, it is still one of my favourites.. Roy was a great guitar player and the powerful rhythm and keyboards-section made this one of the best LIVE-albums of all times..

It was very sad to hear that he died in prison and due to this high appraised qualities as a guitar player, one invited him to join the Stones. But I'm not that much of a Stones-fan, it is good to know that Roy Buchanan will never be forgotten... thanks to his timeless music and this website !!

Yours musically,

Frank DELBEKE
Belgium, EUROPE

I was a personal friend of Roy's, having met and "played" with him from 1967 -1969. I first met Roy in Arlington, Va at a club on Rt 50 Arlington Blvd, near "Seven Corners: where Roy was performing with a Country / Rock musician by the name of Danny Denver. Roy and I "hung out" together, and I played with Roy on numerous occasions. Roy and I use to visit some of his favorite Washington DC guitarists "haunts" and guitarists, "afterhours", as well. I feel very confident in stating the Roy Buchanan that I knew would NEVER have committed suicide. My brother came to visit me in 1968, and was stopped late at night by Fairfax Countys' "Best" and was arrested and taken to the Fairfax County Police Station.....He was also "roughed up" pretty badly, too for no really valid reason, other than he made the mistake of complaining about his arrest and treatment. The Fairfax County Cops have always had a "deserved reputation" of being "Thugs With Badges".............One of the great guitar solo's of Roys long career can be found long before he was known hardly at all. Its on Cotton Labels (45rpm) that he did with Bobby Gregg & Friends (Philadelphia Drummer that performed briefly with Bob Dylan in 1965). The record is called "THE JAM" Pts 1 and 2 and was done in the very early 60s . I use to play Tenor Sax quite a bit like the Tenor Sax of that record, and I had commented to Roy about that particular "sound" and record that I had obtained from a friend in 1963....I told him that he sounded a lot like the guitarist on the record (or vice-versa). With a big smile, he commented that he was , indeed, the guitarist on the 45 , with "Bobby Gregg & Friends". I suggest that anyone wanting to hear one of Roys' most compelling solos, EVER !~, obtain this rare record ..... I'm sure they will agree........................................."Stan The Man" Moskowitz

PS In that period of time, Roy was rather slender, although he did have a tendency to put on weight rather quickly...even back then.

I was a personal friend of Roy's, having met and "played" with him from 1967 -1969. I first met Roy in Arlington, Va at a club on Rt 50 Arlington Blvd, near "Seven Corners: where Roy was performing with a Country / Rock musician by the name of Danny Denver. Roy and I "hung out" together, and I played with Roy on numerous occasions. Roy and I use to visit some of his favorite Washington DC guitarists "haunts" and guitarists, "afterhours", as well. I feel very confident in stating the Roy Buchanan that I knew would NEVER have committed suicide. My brother came to visit me in 1968, and was stopped late at night by Fairfax Countys' "Best" and was arrested and taken to the Fairfax County Police Station.....He was also "roughed up" pretty badly, too for no really valid reason, other than he made the mistake of complaining about his arrest and treatment. The Fairfax County Cops have always had a "deserved reputation" of being "Thugs With Badges".............One of the great guitar solo's of Roys long career can be found long before he was known hardly at all. Its on Cotton Labels (45rpm) that he did with Bobby Gregg & Friends (Philadelphia Drummer that performed briefly with Bob Dylan in 1965). The record is called "THE JAM" Pts 1 and 2 and was done in the very early 60s . I use to play Tenor Sax quite a bit like the Tenor Sax of that record, and I had commented to Roy about that particular "sound" and record that I had obtained from a friend in 1963....I told him that he sounded a lot like the guitarist on the record (or vice-versa). With a big smile, he commented that he was , indeed, the guitarist on the 45 , with "Bobby Gregg & Friends". I suggest that anyone wanting to hear one of Roys' most compelling solos, EVER !~, obtain this rare record ..... I'm sure they will agree........................................."Stan The Man" Moskowitz

PS In that period of time, Roy was rather slender, although he did have a tendency to put on weight rather quickly...even back then.

roy buchanon was my first blues idol....i first saw him play " jonny b good " one handed while drinking a coke with the other hand....on public access channel back in 70's.........his death shook me up for years........he was a pure guitarist to the max.the things he could make that tele do!!! damm....did you know that when Chet Atkins was asked years back who he considered to be his choices for great guitarist....he said...Eddy Van Halen.....Mark Knofler....and roy buchanon. isn't that neat?????....gary moore is my main man now...but roy will always be in my heart and ears...........thanx for listening...DAVID R WINOT

hi,
my name is Rogerio Ferraz. i´m a 27 years old guitar player from Brazil. i´d just like to say thanks and congratulate you for keeping this Roy Buchanan´s site. it´s been a great source for me while finding out more Buchanan´s work. and, right now, Roy is one of my main inspirations... again, thank you very much.
best wishes,
Rogerio

Hi my name is S. Leon Petrossian and my father new Roy Buchanan very well. He use to play at one of his nightclubs in D.C. I am not sure the name but I will try and find out. It might have been the Hayloft or the Silver Dollar. I never heard of Roy Buchanan until I read in a local paper about his death and him being called The Greatest Unknown Guitarist. Funny thing was I was sitting across the table at my father's club in Charlottesville,VA THE MINESHAFT as I was reading the article a feeling made me ask my dad "DAD DO YOU KNOW ROY BUCHANAN?" He had this weird look on his face and said "Yes actually I do" I told him he was dead and he had this look like his best friend had died. He shook his head and said NO NO DAMN NO NO. He sat quiet for a while and funny thing that night BILLY PRICE AND THE KEYSTONE RYTHM

BAND was playing and my father was telling me how Billy use to sing with him. Billy Price that night said a few words about Roy Buchanan and sang in tribute "IM A RAM" Many years later I finally discovered his music and it is great. My dad told me stories about their friendship and he confirmed the story about him refusing the Rolling Stones. He told him "ROY THIS IS IT THIS IS YOUR BIG BREAK." My father to this day said that Roy didn't want to play second fiddle he wanted to be in HIS music. Play the way he knew how. Well Roy I see you UP THERE playing YOUR WAY the ONLY WAY you knew how.

Hi there...

Just visiting your site to look for info regarding Roy B. My name is Dennis Stone and I will be doing a 2 part special on Roy B. in a few weeks on WMNF 88.5fm in Tampa, Fl. I have collected his music for many years...and have many cool recordings...some great sounding...some only for fans like myself..:) My show is called The Dream Clinic and its focus has been for almost 20 years to play "the best music never heard on American airwaves". My friend and I will do a 2 hour show on May 10th playing some choice live cuts along with his LPs....then the following week on my show...I will play some longer segments of his live material from a few different shows....should be enough to give Roy fans their fill and educate some folks who have only heard of him.

Thanks...Dennis

Was quite thrilled to discover your site while searching for photos to use on my Roy Buchanan CD covers I am making for all of the CD's I have been able to collect and download from Napster. My complete Roy Buchanan vinyl collection was lost many years ago during a move. It is great to read the mail from so many fellow Roy Buchanan enthusiast. The man was truly genius on the Telecaster and leaves us all wondering where his music and talents would have evolved to if he hadn't left us so suddenly.

I saw Roy play on three different occasions in an old theater club in Youngstown, Ohio in the mid to late seventies. The old theater turned club was originally called The Tomorrow club and later became The Agora. Twenty-five years later I can still hear that Telecaster literally screaming into the night as I wondered each time I was privileged to hear Roy if the volume of his music and the stomping of an ecstatic audience would bring the old theater crumbling to the ground as he left us all hanging out in space on each and every note.

As an aspiring guitarist on the Fender Stratocaster in those days, I spent hours on end trying to perfect and emulate Roy's unique harmonic overtones and his method of "circle picking" which allowed him the speed to simply "burst" into a flurry of exceptionally clean notes. Roy's guitar style was truly unique and original and have been emulated by many guitar greats down through the years... Sadly missed and still admired, rest in peace Mr. Roy...

Paul Arnold - Las Vegas, Nevada

I followed Roy diligently from the first time I saw him in Boston in 1973; the last time I saw him he opened for the Thunderbirds and SRV in Phily. In between were various clubs and colleges ineastern PA. Always a great show. I miss him.

AMG, Evergreen, CO

I spotted your web-site and thought you might want to hear what I have to say about Roy. I had all of his albums when I went to see him at The Bottom Line (500 seats) in New York City in April 1988. I sat in the front row and made eye contatct with him several times- when he saw my mouth just gape open from his amazing guitar playing he just smiled at me. I will never forget that. Later on during the show when I shouted out the names of a few songs he gave me a dirty look- a very sensitive fellow. His hands and fingers hardly ever moved that evening but all this sound was just gushing out of the amp. Amazing.

Four months later I heard about his death and was devastated, and I still am 13 years later. I just dont believe the official version of his death. He was a real professional with a unique talent and there just is no way he would have committed suicide. He was a large guy and the official story makes no sense- why would someone with superior musical talent kill himself after spending thousands of hours practicing guitar techniques? On his Live in Japan LP (hard to find and still not out on CD) you can hear that he prepared for that concert by practicing his ass off. If I remember though his face was flushed red at the 1988 New York concert and he did look like a drinker.

Personally I believe that Livestock and his 1st album are his best work but after listening to his last CD Hot Wires I dont think he had lost any of his techniques by the late 1980's. His guitar playing was and still is a huge influence on me and my own style of playing, and I like Roy better than Danny Gatton, who also died for no apparent reason (he had a new CD out in 1993).

Is there a trust fund for people to donate money to his widow and family? If the stock market comes back over the next few years and I can make a few bucks and felt charitable, I might donate something because I just feel awful about what happened to Roy.

Where do I start with this. I have been a guitar player for 15 years, and I have never heard a more soulful player. His solo on "Down by the river (Live)" still makes me shutter. I have a video of him in 1974 playing on Austin City limits. He is ASTOUNDING in that show. I would like to go to his grave someday. I would also like to give my condolences to his wife, Judy. This is how much his music means to me. There will never be anyone who could take his place. I am only 29, so I was never able to see him in concert. Roy, we miss you very much....
M. Bedell

I was a friend of Roys beginning around 1980. I went to a lot of his shows on the west coast and sometimes supplied guitars through my father's music store, Ivar Johnson Music in San Francisco, CA. Presently I possess a guitar Roy gave me. It is a 1952 Fender Telecaster re-issue, serial # 0003. This guitar was given to Roy by the Fender Company in conjunction with their advertising campaign that featured Roy along with James Burton and Steve Cropper. I did a trade with Roy for it. This guitar came complete with the tweed hardshell case, certificate of authenticity from Fender, the Fender advertisement signed by Roy ("I hope you like the guitar, Love, Roy Buchanan"). I am the second owner and had this for 19 years. Thought you or someone you know might be interested in acquiring this collector's item. You may contact me through e-mail at JohnsonTango@aol.com Thanks, Torrey Johnson

Where do I start with this. I have been a guitar player for 15 years, and I have never heard a more soulful player. His solo on "Down by the river (Live)" still makes me shutter. I have a video of him in 1974 playing on Austin City limits. He is ASTOUNDING in that show. Still would like to get the 1971 documentary . I would like to go to his grave someday. I would also like to give my condolences to his wife, Judy. This is how much his music means to me. There will never be anyone who could take his place. I am only 29, so I was never able to see him in concert. Roy, we miss you very much....
Proudly,
Mark Bedell

I HAD SEEN ROY BUCHANAN TWICE, ONE TIME WAS AN OUTDOOR CONCERT I BELIEVE IT WAS CENTRAL PARK IN MANHATTAN AROUND 1974/ OR 1975, THE OTHER TIME WAS AN INDOOR CONCERT I CANT REMEMBER WHERE IN MANHATTAN. AT CENTRAL PARK HE WAS WEARING WHITE AND WHEN HE DID HEY JOE TOWARDS THE END EVERYONE WENT NUTS. I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYONE PLAY THE WAY HE DID THAT NIGHT, HE STOOD STILL BUT WHEN YOU WATCHED HIS HANDS THEY MOVED WITH LIGHTNING.
DAN

I too was a fan of Roy Buchanan in the early years. I used to practically live at "Dick Lees" in Brooklawn NJ. The old one and the new one. I first heard him play with "The Temps at the old Dick Lees, followed them around to Sommers Point, Wildwood and Allentown PA. I drove Roy from his apartment in Westville to Allentown several times. I saw "The Temps" several years later at the Crown Point Inn on Route 130 in Westville but Roy was no longer with them. I considered myself a friend of Roy and all the guys in the band. I bought some of his early albums (on vinyl) and eventually lost interest in Electric Blues Guitar. Then one day I heard Stevie Ray Vaughn on a program from Austin TX that was on Educational TV (CH 12) I fell in love with his music and it brought back memories of Roy. Several weeks ago I was on Napster and did a search for Roy Buchanan and was happy to find dozens of his recordings. If I had to choose a favorite it would be "Roy's Bluz". I wish I could find a copy of his version of "Malaquena" In the old days I asked him to play it every night I was privileged to hear him. Do you know if it is on any of his albums?
Bob Markman

I first heard Roy at the unexperienced age of 15, that was in 1978. He was the first guitarist I ever heard, and I'm so thankful for that-since I truly have never heard any one better. I am no stranger to blues, having been to many festivals, including the Portland waterfront blues festival every single year since it began in 1989; And have become an avid blues guitarist cd collector throughout my life, so I've heard alot. And I sincerely have never heard-a-one that comes close to Roy's conviction and grace...Not even my beloved Frank Zappa! Ihave come to realize that the real reason I enjoy only the blues as a "guitar" only medium, as well as yearned to play the instrument was because of Roy. It was by pure accident that I was able to hear Roy on that winter evening. My best friends older brother,whom I never visited with in all the years I had been going over to their house- had asked me if I could return a few albums to the local library where I worked after school. I said sure but would have to wait till the next day. I took them home, and none looked to me as interesting, Roy's SECOND ALBUM did only because of the picture, because it appeared as if he had long hair and was young- of couse this was only because of the lighting on the stage. When I put it on the "HI-FI" of course I was absolutely astounded, because not only had I never heard blues yet, but this guy was something else that I would soon find out was like no one else and STILL IS....The next day I decide to see if there were any more at the library-there was TWO MORE! 'loading zone' and 'that's what I'm here for'. I looked at the picture of him and thought, "This cannot be the cool guy w/ long hair from the other album". But when I put on "Green Onions", well, y'all know the story. I still cannot get over this guys style, speed, and impeccable execution of note flurry's! And I'm proud to say that I have made Roy quite a few fans over the years, the too are absolutely ASTOUNDED at this guy and can't believe they have been able to go through their entire lives w/out having heard him play. Having no knowledge of the PBS documentary, or Roy's aka, it's funny that soon after hearing him,I decided to record a compilation of my song favorites from those 3 records and aptly wrote on the tape sleeve the title:' THE GREATEST UNKNOWN GUITARIST IN THE WORLD! '
that's my story, and I'm sticking with Roy-
tyhitzman@hotmail.com

He was the One and Only... The second album remains my favorite... Picture of Roy sitting on a bed, looking into the camera says it All.

The Dream
Only a couple of times have I had a dream like this: No colors, no images - just black. I ask a question into the blackness - "Who is the best Blues Guitarist, Roy Buchanan or Eric Clapton?" A voice comes back out of the darkness, (whose voice, God's??), and replies... "Roy Buchanan is the Best Blues Guitarist, (a pause).. and Eric Clapton is the Best Blues Musician".

All True
Will the truth about his death ever come out, I cannot believe his Savior would allow the devil to get the best of him. Could've seen Roy and SRV perform in NYC shortly before their deaths, (but didn't - fear of smoke-filled rooms!), so please take a lesson, if there's a guitarist you love! Incidentally, saw Jimi in '68, EC in '68/'69 incl. 2 song sit-in w/Mayall! (borrowed M.T.'s L.P.), Trower '68/'69 w/P.H., original Fleetwood Mack '68, (yes,even J. Spencer) Jeff Beck in '68/'69/'74 and I have to tell you, only Peter and Robin inhabit Roy's Sphere-of-Soulfulness. Consider Robin to play what I call "existential Blues", i.e., it owes nothing in the content of the song to any Bues tradition, either lyric-wise or otherwise. It just comes weeling-up from some unknown depth, like R.B. Check out "Whaling Sories" on Home by P. Harum, also, try "Where were You", by Jeff!!!

I was listening to a late night blues show on my way home when I heard Down by the River & I was blown away! Such a shame that greatness is so often not realized until the creator is no longer with us.He was a truly legendary talent.
A new fan, Delight J. Knapp

La potenzialita' della musica di ROY BUCHANAN e' assolutamente ineguagliabile. Credo che tra le note e le dita di quest'uomo sia stato nascosto e rimarra' nascosto per sempre, un segreto che solo DIO e' in grado di svelare. Noi semplici mortali, possiamo solo ascoltare e capire tra le righe dei suoi pezzi,una grande semplicita', una grande raffinatezza,e una grande passione per la musica blues. Ma tra tutto questo si nasconde ben altro, si va al di la della musica ,sono sensazioni profonde forse inspiegabili. ROY vive ancora , in me , in noi, le sue onde armoniche riflettono nel tempo e come il tempo non finiscono mai.

I have just spent the last hour reading all this wonderful fan mail about Roy. I sounds to me that we all feel a special closeness because of this man. I believe there are gifted people endowed by our creator that inhabit this earth from time to time. These gifted people live most of their lives on earth in relative obscurity. After death history has a way of finding and exposing them.

I think Roy will become more popular 20-50 years from now than he ever was while he was living. This is mostly due to the few of us that embraced his music early on and want to tell the world about it. A part of me wants to keep him a secret, knowing that in my lifetime there will never be another Roy Buchanan. Another part of me wonders why this man never 'made it' and wants to tell everyone how inspiring he was.

I remember calling a local college radio station 3 or 4 years ago. They had a blues program and were taking request. I ask for the cut ' When Every Guitar Plays The Blues' from the album of the same name. I figured I couldn't ask for 'Tribute To Elmore James', that goes to far back for these college kids. Unfortunately the youngster had never heard of Roy and couldn't find anything by him in the record library. I ask him how he could have a blues program and not have Roy Buchanan.

I have been so pleased to read how many of you listen to or are familiar with Nils Lofgren. I was actually turned on to him (1975) before I had heard Roy(1978). Through reading this web page I found that there is a connection between the two. I find that so ironic. I believe I have all vinly albums from both artist and to this day they are both played often on my turntable (some of you might not know what that is).

It is wonderful to know there are kindred spirits out there and through this medium we are able to communicate. Roy' music didn't come from his guitar, it came from his soul and I just hope I'm going to the same place he went to when I die so I can finally hear him LIVE.

Buzz, Traverse City, Mi.

Dear fellow fans of Roy, as a guitarist,and fan of music,I idolized Roy Buchanan. It was my extreme pleasure to meet Roy in 1985 at a dive called "The Place" in Manchester,NH. Roy spoke to me as if I were an old friend:he was very sincere,and had the most intense blue eyes I had ever seen (maybe he WAS part wolf??!!).

I have a large private collection of live Roy Buchanan recordings that I have been trading for 8 years,and I am looking to find others interested in trading as I am always looking for another recording I don't have. I am at :
hotfrets@aol.com
Thanks, Bob

I'm not much of a writer but I thought you might be interested in my meeting Roy in 1988.

It was a cold, rainy evening in Washington DC. I read that Roy was performing at a local club, the Bayou, and made my way to the venue. I couldn't get anyone to go with me but I was determined to see Roy as I had been a fan for years. The club was half empty and as I stood near the door in walked a guy carrying a guitar and looking soaked! I usually leave artists alone but I made an exception, walked up to him and said how much his music meant to me. WE shook hands, chatted briefly and he thanked me again seeming appreciative of my words of praise. He went on later and played a tremendous set hilighted by "Down by the River" A few months later he was gone,an apparent suicide just like another great player from DC, Danny Gatton. I still listen to his music on a regular basis and can't believe the sounds he was able to create without using any effects, delay, etc. He remains sadly unrecognized and I am grateful I was able to see him before his untimely passing.

Thanks
Jay

Thanks so much for keeping such a great site for the incredible Roy. I am doing a show on his music and life on my blues program Sunday Jan. 7th on www.kvmr.org and I had lost my info from an article on Roy published back in Aug/99 in Vintage Gutiar magazine and this helped greatly. There was mention there about a man named Phil (or Bill?) Carson collecting all sorts of info he could find to write a biography called "American Axe" . I hope it gets published if it isn't already ...I would love it that the world never forget this music.....Thx, Jerianne Van Dijk, Grass Valley CA

It's great to know that Roy had such an incredible impact on so many people. Roy was my uncle. He was my mothers younger brother. When he left home at the age of 15 or 16 he came to live with us in Garden Grove, California. I was 8 or 9 years old and I still remember him playing the guitar in the bathroom from the moment my father went to work until he came home 8 to 10 hours later. My father would take him to Las Vegas on the weekends trying to get him a gig playing with a band. My father was an auto mechanic and would take Roy to work with him on occasion so Roy could earn some money. He never did very well as a mechanics helper. As I grew up through the years I always followed Roy's career and saw him live many times. He would always have a free pass waiting for me at the window. He was a great man who led a very troubled life through the years. His death was a great loss to all who knew him and those who didn't get the chance to know him. I miss him very much.

Phil A. Clemmons
Murrieta,CA

Hey, Just found this site...it's great!

First album I ever heard was "We are not Alone" and was hooked! Roy's versions of "Turn to Stone" and "Down by the River" are mind-blowing... but the one that really impressed me as to what he was about was "1841 Shuffle"!! Fan-freakin'-tastic!! Grateful for the anthologies and all, but... miss his playing terribly-no one can fill his shoes.

Gary Monte

I discovered Roy Buchanan in 1981 when I heard his Live in Japan album being played in a record store in Hobart, Tasmania. I couldn't believe my ears!! What a sound!! That album went home with me. I sold it a while back after copying it to CD. The quality isn't so good, so I'd really love to get a better or official version on CD. Does anyone know where??

Roy toured Australia many times but I never got the chance to see him. A real shame.

Good to see he has such a devoted following. Keep up the good work.

Gordon Bradbury Australia.

sometime i feel a connection to certain people who have touched my life and remain in my memories...roy is one of those people. i saw him and savoured the sounds of his guitar back in the early 70s at the music hall in boston (could have been the orpheus theatre...can't remember that far back, cz i have a memory problem with dates and places...)...my friend steven bought the tx and i said.."roy...who?"... what a night i had... he was so awesome i can't tell you..."the messiah will come again"...is what i thought later...hands along the frets like sheets in the wind!!! and i believe that he was murdered.... i need to say that because that whole deal bothered me from the day i heard about it... where can i go to pursue that issue? don't tell me virginia! i'm looking to bring a period to the end of MY sentence...of not having the privilege of listening to roy again except on my old record albums and tapes... plus i want to help other true lovers of roy's music...to find out the facts surrounding this tragedy. it's been a long time, but i have a mission...i hope that some people can understand my reasons... joe email (Giumentar0@aol.com) please keep me updated...

What a wonderful web site! First off, I want every contributor here to know I now consider you a friend and brother! It is true... Roy really WAS God with a guitar! May his recordings live on, with all of us revering his works and sharing his unmatched artistry.

~Cougar~

I discovered Roy Buchanan in 1981 when I heard his Live in Japan album being played in a record store in Hobart, Tasmania. I couldn't believe my ears!! What a sound!! That album went home with me. I sold it a while back after copying it to CD. The quality isn't so good, so I'd really love to get a better or official version on CD. Does anyone know where??

Roy toured Australia many times but I never got the chance to see him. A real shame.

Good to see he has such a devoted following. Keep up the good work.

Gordon Bradbury

Hobart

In about 1972, Rick, a friend and lead guitarist in our little band, played a Roy Buchanan album for me. Neither of us had ever heard anything like it before and we soon started playing some of his tunes. They have never gotten old to me. I had admired Roy's style for years but thought I would not ever get a chance to hear him live. However in 1988 my wife and I took a weekend trip to Hampton Beach N.H., and someone told us that Roy Orbison was playing at the Club Casino. When we went to buy tickets at the box office I was more than overjoyed to find out that it was Roy Buchanan playing that night, not Roy Orbison.

It was a dream come true for me. I was spellbound, but it wasn't over . My wife, Bonnie, knowing how I revered Roy, had spoken to one of the security staff and arranged for us to go backstage and meet Roy after the show. When I got there I was so rattled I couldn't remember what I wanted to say for about 10 minutes, but Roy made us feel at ease and offered me a beer and we talked music. He gave me a little note for my son Chris who was just learning guitar then,"Good Luck, Keep on Playing, your friend Roy Buchanan". Roy asked us to go out for a pizza and we declined, thinking that he was just being nice, and really wanted to get to his hotel. I was very sunburned that day and Roy, with concern gave me some advice on home remedies for the pain.

About two weeks later I learned of Roy's passing. It would have been bad enough if we had not gone backstage that night, but now I felt like I had lost both an idol and a friend. I will, until my last day on this earth, regret not having that pizza with Roy.

Since that time I have wished that someone would pay a fitting tribute to Roy, and I longed to tell his family how deeply sorry that I am.

LLoyd Merriam
Fredericton, N.B.
Canada

I saw Roy in 1980 playing at the Bachanal in San Diego. He just ripped. He was very soulful. I got his autograph and one of his band members asked if I knew where to get any coke. So much for keeping the musician's image alive ... It was a memorable experience. Do you know where to get any albums?
Joe

I got turned on to Roy Buchanan in 1970 or 1971, right after I got out of the service, by my younger brother, who lived in Virginia at the time and spent a lot of time in some of the clubs and roadhouses in northern Virginia where Roy played and when he wasn't playing was on the jukeboxes. Right around the same time the PBS special was broadcast and I was hooked. I only saw him once, at the Harvard Square movie theater in Cambridge, Mass, probably in 1973. I don't remember the songlist but the power and the presence of his playing and at the same time his softness as a human being were unforgettable. I've been fortunate to have had the opportunity to see, at one time or another, Johnny Winter, Jimi Hendrix (at the Waikiki Shell, full moon, two nights in a row), Jonny Lang, Eric Clapton (1969) but none of them have the impact on me, musically and emotionally, that Roy Buchanan did. I lost my Roy Buchanan albums (vinyl) in one or another divorce and only recently began replacing them in other media. But he had seared my brain and my soul with his music and the loss of the recordings wasn't nearly the deprivation that it might have been with somebody else because the memories of the music and that one live performance were so strong. When he died I was saddened both by the circumstances that led to it and by the awareness that he left before so many people had an opportunity to know of him as a truly remarkable musician.

Tim
Kirkland, Washington

Around 1970, my cousins(who were livivng in Virginia) came to visit. They were so excited to tell me about this incredible guitat player that they saw in Washington, D.C. His name, of course, was Roy Buchanan. I went out immediately and bought one of his albums. I was hooked. I never got to see Roy play in person, but he ranks right there with Stevie and Jimi in my book. He is missed dearly!

Glenn Muthersbaugh

I first was acquainted with Roys music after working a grave yard shift, coming home and watching a PBS Doc. on channel 6 in Denver CO. I was sold from then on! I saw him for the last time just a week or so before he pasted away at a small venue call the little bear in Evergreen CO. I help his roadie set up some of his equipment and also carry some shirts in, as this was his Hot Wires tour. In return the fellow through me a shirt and said after the show come up and meet Roy! I had a CD that I was fortunate enough to get signed; This made my entire evening. The bar was smoky and after coming down from this small party that was going on upstairs I went out and sat on a step waiting to hook back up with friends I came with before driving back into Denver. I looked to the right of me and in a darker alley side of the bar sat another figure; To the left of me was the road where the towncar sat; as earlier I had helped the roadie with the shirts. Again I looked at the person in the alley and realized it was Roy; I went to thank him again for the signing, He was very solitude, He said he wanted to mellow abit and that he only had a few vises one was smoking of the ROO! I just happened to have one rolled up in my pocket, giving to me before the session started by a old high school friend. We went to the Towncar where he sat in the back seat and I sat directly across from him; smoking and just Shooting the BS. After the smoke was gone, Roy said he was going to have a small get together down in Denver where he was staying, that the friends that drove up with me and I were invited. I regretfully never made it to the party. But for all what happened earlier was satisfaction enough! ANYWAY I ALSO HAVE BEEN TRYING TO LOCATE A COPY OF THE VIDEO (THE BEST UNKNOWN GUITARIST IN THE WORLD) If you or anyone can steer me in the right direction to acquiring a copy of this I sure would appreciate it. My e-mail is hero@lanminds.net

THANKS for your time and reading about this great adventure in my life. always listening to the greatest guitar player! David Hero

Hello, I am a very big fan of Roys. His guitar genius is very inspiring for any up and coming guitarist. I am happy to have had the opportunity to learn about Roy and his music and I hope his music will continue to inspire greatness.

Yours Sincerly

Garth

16 May 2000

Thanks for this touching web site. I think very few artists could inspire something like this. Like others who have submitted their thoughts here, I was fortunate enough to see Roy a few times. I first heard about him in Guitar Player magazine and bought his 2nd album - that was it - I was hooked. I saw him on 2 consecutive nights and he was amazing both times. I took a friend who had never heard Roy and was not into the show - within minutes he was literally jumping out of his seat for joy! The loss of Roy's life has to be one of the saddest in modern music. It makes me even sadder because the 3rd and last time I saw him play, in a little club, was a most unfortunate show. However we need to remember the good. Thanks again!

12 Mar 2000

hello
I am a turkish boy and i think i am one of the very few guys that are lucky to know that once in a time there lived such a great guitarist.i am saying "one of the few" because it has got a reason.i first listened to him this summer at the radio and the song was the live version of "down by the river" i was immediately impressed by the sound of the guitar and that excellent solo.but i couldn't get the name of him and it became a mystery for me who he was.only thing i knew was the name of the song.then i founded that it belonged to neil young but i was sure that he wasn't the guitarist.then i sent mails to some neil young fans and asked who was that guy and which was the album.when i got the answer it was very exciting for me.but unfortunately altough my all searchings i only found 2 albums of him (you're not alone & dancing on the edge)i immediately bought them but something was missing and this was "sweet dreams:anthology" album.though i was able to listen down by the river numerous times on that album yhe live one was very important for me.nobody knew him they even couln't spell his name .then i offered that album from europe and finally got it.for me down by the river solo is the greatest of all times among jimi's purple haze ,voodoo chile ; srv's little wing ;santana's evil ways,oye como va or no one to depend on etc.i love all of them but roy is very different from all them.he was playing something more than a guitar.the sound ,the screaming,the weeping of this instrument ...it is so beautiful that my english is not able to describe it but i think all of you had understood me .i can really tell you that he changed my life in one way.i learned from him that whatever you do if you don't give your soul to it ,it is nothing it wii be just the shape.if you give it your soul is a living thing, each time i listen to him it grows bigger in me . anyway i want to thank you for that great site and would like to contact with you and go on mailing about Roy and some other great guitarists.Thans God for his gift named Roy but i wish it would have last for a long time.

21 Feb 2000

I just recently found this fantastic website. Anyway, I just got into Roy's music a few years ago, and there's NOBODY else who plays like that. The solos he plays on the studio version of "Green Onions" (with Steve Cropper) are breathtaking. I hear something different every time I listen to it. Also, the extended Roy solo on the live "Down By the River" from "Sweet Dreams" is unlike any other guitar solo I've heard. The guitar is BARKING like a dog at some points. How did he come up with this stuff?!? Anyway, I regret never having a chance to see the man in concert. Keep up the great website!!!

Jordan

I saw roy for the first time back in 1973 and 74 in a small club in Asbury Park, NJ called the Sunshine Inn. He was incredible, I never saw a guitar player attack the instrument in such a fashion. He played the old telcaster pluged into a small amp and again p luged into the house sound system. Roy was a favorite of mine and the buddies i grew up with. In '74 when Roy played in New York at the town hall for the live stock sessions my friends and i were at all the shows. If you have the original album you'll see my friends and i on the back cover, we were all in the first two rows. My old friends andy stein and phil carson are leaning on the stage. I was right behind them in the second row. When the album was released, and we saw the cover we freaked and we knew we were all linked to roy forever. One day ill tell ya story of how we ran back stage after the second show and smoked a joint and shared some beers with Roy. WE LOVED HIM!!! We were extremley lucky to have been able to see him in his prime so up close and very personal. Jon Lieberman

My name is Paul and I've spent the last couple hours checking out your web site. You've done an excellent job and I enjoyed reading the letters from other fans. I saw Roy only once but I will never forget it. It was at The Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach just north of San Diego and appropriately enough he opened up with "Walk don't run"! Like many of the other fans I'm looking to find a copy of the PBS special and other video segments of Roy. I have a bootleg interview on vinyl recorded in the 70's but it may be the same one that is now on CD (according to the discography). Any info on the videos would be appreciated. Thaks a million, Paul

In a way talking about Roy Buchanan to others who are "in the know" gives me a similar feeling to when I discuss another great unknown artist (to the general public at least): Nick Drake (like Roy, another musician's musician), although the style of music they play is completely different. But both have two things in common: great emotional sensitivity and an introspective nature. And both let their music do their talking for them.

I first heard RB play on a friend's Polydor double-LP Guitar compilation album I borrowed for a few days. Included was Jimi playing "All along the Watchtower" and many other interesting guitarists. One I hadn't heard of was RB and the track of his that was included was "After Hours" from his Second Album. The track was scratched and just when it got really exquisite, really crying, dripping in emotion, the damn grove would lock and play the same phrase over and over again until I gave it a knudge. Anyway I was really inpressed by the level of emotional communication I was hearing.

Many years later I saw the Polydor Sweet Dreams Anthology in my music store and just had to get it, unheard. It turned out to be my best buy ever! That man displays his heart and soul in his playing. Forget the crappy accompanying musicians. Since then I've got The Best of Roy Buchanan and When a Guitar Plays the Blues.

>From what others have said in previous messages, it appears that Nils Lofgren would be worth listening to.

What a thrill it must have been to be in an audience, large or small, and share in the communical thrill of all being uplifted together when Roy was playing a soulful solo. I can never share in that experience but listening to his live recordings gives me some small idea what it must have been like. How would you describe it: a Religious experience?
Cheers, Dan Bridges

Hi,I'm from Klaipeda,LITHUANIA.
So long time I was lookin' Roy's CD's and now I've got it.Roy for me is one of my favourites guitarists,musicians.Isn't so much guitarists,who can make guitar to TELL the stories!I mean SRV,JIMI,Peter Green,Jeff Beck,"Mahogany Rush" and Roy Buchanan....This is my Guitar Pantheon!Sorry Eric /C./,you're great,but just till 1970....it's just my thinkin'.I'm glad,that I can tell all that words to You!
God bless all of You! Best wishes.
VILIUS ANCERIS.

For twenty years I have been searching for the artist behind that ethereal track 'Fly Night Bird', since it grabbed my heart and took my soul as it played out on an episode of COSMOS. Today I was overjoyed to find a link Roy and arrive at via a COSMOS Carl Sagan site and I am deeply saddened that Roy is gone.
Fly Night Bird....you take my soul there
Paul

ROY BUCANAN......BLUESMAN ! I WAS FIRST INTRODUCED TO HIM WHEN I WAS IN FLORIDA. I ACTUALLY HEARD HIM ON THE RADIO. I MARCHED TO THE NEAREST MUSIC STORE AND PURCHASED EVERY ONE OF HIS 8 TRACKS. WHEN BACK IN N.Y. I SAW HIM AT LEAST 8 - 10 TIMES AS HE WAS A SHOWMAN. ROYS BLUES IS MY ANTHEM ! I GOT HIM ON CASSETTES AND NOW CD'S. WHEN I TALK BLUES WITH PEOPLE...ROY IS THE FIRST ARTIST I MENTION. IT WAS A SHAME THE WAY HE DIED...HIS WIFE EVEN SAID IT WASNT SUICIDE...HE WILL LIVE FOREVER !!!

The First time i saw Roy was in 1974 in Long Island NY...To this day he is the greatest guitarist i ever saw and i have seen everyone from Jeff Beck to Stevie Ray Vaughan. I think what got me with Roy was that he just stood there and played the hell out of his guitar. He never had to say anything...his guitar did it all...
Peace, Jazz

Thanks for the great site. I play guitar for a Kentucky based band, The Metropolitan Blues All-Stars. Back in the eighties, we had the opportunity to open for Roy on three different occasions. I had been listening to him since his Buck and the Snakestretchers album. Needless to say, I was thrilled to get to hang out with him backstage. He was a nice man, easy to talk to. We talked mostly about guitars and being on the road. No great stories to tell, but I'll never forget meeting him.
Thanks again!
Nick Stump

Hi from the UK,

What an awesome site in tribute to an awesome guitarist. I was fortunate enough to see Roy perform at the Imperial College in London in about 1973. I had no idea who he was and just went along, as I did often, to witness whoever happened to be appearing.

I had never really been a "guitarist" follower, preferring to appreciate either good drummers or rock vocal styles. That night changed it all. For the first and only time, I sat and was completely hypnotised by a performer. Roy had no great stage presence, but with his guitar, he took the whole audience on a journey most will never have forgotten.

Since then I have enthused about his music to anyone who will listen, but here in the UK most people have never heard of him, although there are now some who have been "force fed" and converted by me !

Still today I often listen to Roy and his music, and feel priveleged to have been among the very few in the UK who ever got to see him perform live.

Although he has moved on, his music leaves us with a lasting legacy.

Richard

Like a lot of other people, I first saw Roy in Nov. 1971 on the PBS documentary. I remember TV guide had a big half page blurb on it, so I figured I'd check it out. As a then-19 year old guitarist, I proceeded to be stunned. Such a perfectly beautiful tone, such sensitivity to the nuances of the Fender Telecaster, what complete control he had!

I saw him play 6 or 7 times in New York & New Jersey from Nov. '74 (at the 'Livestock' concert at Town Hall in NYC) till July of '85. At the Livestock concert, it was a triple bill: First up was the jazz violinist Michal Urbaniak's band, then Roy was up, followed by Larry Coryell's band. Coryell's always been good, but you could definitely tell he felt threatened by Roy that night, because the first thing he started to do when he came out was harmonics (overtones) a'la Roy, as if to say 'See, folks, I can do it too!' He could not compare to Roy, who was in good form that night. Several of the times I saw Roy, though, he had equipment troubles, and didn't seem to have anybody with him to help straighten it out.

The last time I saw him (at The Bottom Line, NYC in July '85) my wife & I sat directly in front of him, about 8 feet away for one of the most memorable concerts of my life. It was soon after 'When a Guitar Plays The Blues' came out, & he was playing a new Tele thru a Fender Twin, with an 8 string bassplayer & drummer. He opened up with 'Short Fuse' off that album, & it was electrifying. The audience was going wild for him, and at one point when my wife & I were showing our appreciation especially loudly, he looked me right in the eye with those piercing eyes of his, and said 'Thank You'. I'll never forget it, or him. Thank YOU, Roy.

Bruce Dabney

i saw roy at skipper's smokehouse in tampa not long before he died. despite my constant diet of saturated blues, i have never heard a more soulful player how do us roy loyalists get the latest info?( i.e. biographies, tabs, videos, etc.) i'll never get tired of roy
God bless you,
gator29

I was a high school kid in the 70's in the netherlands of Utah. I don't remember where or why I came to own an 8-track of "You are not Alone", but I believe my life was changed. Self-expression is a powerful drive, and Roy Buchanan was a master.
Mike

Enjoy the site very much.
In 1971? I saw Roy play at the Music Hall in Boston with a mediocre back up band, but he was phenomenal. At that time, several Cambridge music stores carried a bootleg of Roy's stuff, poorly recorded but absolutely intense. Included a remarkable version of 'The Messiah will come again'.
What makes the record especially unusual was its album jacket: a brown burlap sack with Roy Buchanan in stencil.
I still have this although it has not been played in 27 years!
Anyone there know what I'm talking about?
Cheers,
Chip

I grew up listening to Roy. I listen to his music constantly. Peace.
Holy

one of the greatest guitar licks i have ever heard is roy buchanan's version of "hey joe". i get lost in it everytime i hear it. jimi eat your heart out cause this is the real deal.

I played with Roy in 1962-63 when he was on a mini-circuit with The Temptations (not the same group) at the Cameo Lounge in Allentown, PA. During that time he recorded the Peppermint Cane and The Jam. Our band was quite popular in the region, and we had recorded for Capitol and Columbia as I was lead guitar. Roy got a big kick out of the fact that I had learned The Peppermint Cane note for note within a couple of weeks after it came out, and I would play lead for that song on his Tele while he played the bass.

I have several original live recordings, primarily courtesy of Seymour Duncan. As everyone knows, most of the stuff he recorded was second rate but the live stuff was stellar. His one handed Malaguena solo while chugging a Rolling Rock usually brought the house down.

Roy was already at his peak in those years.

George Poncy

hi there
it's great to see at last a site dedicated to the late guitar hero of mine. when i grew up, i started to take interest on the guitar, my father bought me, roy's " you're not alone" album... there are'nt enough words in my mind to even start describing the influence it had on me... as odd as it may seem, i'm not an american... i'm from tel aviv, israel, and back then, in the late seventies, rock in general was'nt as big as it is today in our small country.
anyway, ever since, i like to think of roy as my first and most significant influence as a guitar player, and as a musician . cheers.
udi kimchy :-)

Thanks for a great website. My intro to Roy was by album, and my ears simply could not believe what I was hearing technically, plus its employment with such lyrical power, passion, timimg, sweetness, and powerful driving blues rhythm. Later my kids and I got to see him a time or two at gigs in the SF Bay area. I sat not ten feet from him, still not believing my ears, but my eyes told me it was true. This was coming from one guy! I cried when Jimi died, and I still miss him, but not like I miss Roy. He towers above all! Greg

i just bought the boxed set "sweet dreams: the anthology" last night & really love it - wow. better than i remember! i used to frequent the crossroads in bladensburg ( i lived in east riverdale & went to md U.) and recall his magnificent playing and only recently heard about him again - more after he died. nice website - great thing to do for his memory.
beulah mae

I listened to Roy OFTEN during one year that I spent in Annapolis Maryland. I am a blues harp player, but never got to play WITH Roy. However, whenever we could we drove to the Crossroads to see "the Danny Denver Quartet Featuring Roy Buchanan" playing there. The sets were unbelievable. Roy was like listening to a history of American Guitar music by one of the major creators. He was FIRE when he played. The people who came to the Crossroads were an "eclectic mix" like Roy's music. Mostly white and looking like a country crowd, the audience had a mix of "big country hair" and hippies. Out front of the Crossroads there were microbuses and pickup trucks. The cover was minimal, but you needed to drink a drink or two every set or you were out of there. And the sets were short for that reason!

No one knew who Danny Denver was in the crowd. I came with rock band members, and this was all in 1970-71, before there were any Roy records. Since I was with guys, I tended to mix and dance with as many attractive women as I could. I had conversations with many of the ladies with big hair. I figured maybe DD had some sort of country roots or something that would explain why it was HIS band. They would invariably say "I don't know, I am here to listen to Roy."

No one knew. I do have a theory.

If you don't know about Roy's beliefs, you may be surprised at this next piece of information. I first heard about Roy from a local lead guitarist. He said that Roy had sold his soul to be the World's Greatest Guitarist. He said that as a result, Roy couldn't be recorded--if you tried to you would hear all the other instruments, but where Roy would have been there would be only static.

He said that the devil had tricked Roy by adding on "but you will never be famous" to the contract. I remember listening to "The Messiah Will Come Again" after a couple of Jack Daniels as the sounds slithered around the room like searchlights. You could SEE the effects of the moans and screams as the sound rotated through the room. It was very easy to fully believe that Roy had the devil helping him play those unearthly shrieks.

Jim, the guy who told me about Roy, said that Roy would go to see various Rock stars when they came to play, and that if he was in the audience they would be unable to play. He said that if you tried to watch Roy's fingering too closely Roy would turn away, then turn back and be making chords in the most difficult and unorthodox way possible.

The place was always packed, but Roy made very little money. As gigs go, this WAS a day job. Six days a week Roy was playing that incredible music at the Crossroads. He had six children--I don't know if any of them are musicians, but I sure hope if they are they get to be human beings, not Gods like their dad. As wonderful as he was, it was always clear how tortured his life was.

Seeing Roy was right up there with seeing Jimi or the Mahavishnu Orchestra of that era, but Jimi was inconsistent. Roy was always on fire!

The music was absolutely sublime, but as a musician the other memorable thing for me was how BAD the supporting bands always were. The story was that the Stones had asked Roy to join after Brian Jones died, and Roy said "no," that John Lennon had asked him to join the Plastic Ono band and he said "No." There weren't (still aren't, strangely enough) any bands bigger than The Stones or the Beatles, so that was the highest possible praise. Also, this made the poor quality of the musicians he played with stand out even more. They could barely count, and the succession of drummers and base players was just plain sad. I always wished I could hear Roy play with other great musicians, but never did. I just got Live Stock, and he sounds good there--I wonder if the band is NYC studio guys or something.

Allegedly Roy bought his soul back so that he could make records. I talked with him quite a few times but never had the courage to ask him about any of these weird pieces of information. He was a true Rock and Roll God and I am pleased that there are memories of him out there even if he never did become "famous" in the way others did. He was truly wonderful and I feel very sorry for his wife and children. I can't imagine him committing suicide, since he was VERY religious and would have been concerned about hell. I was shocked to hear of that.

I am glad you are keeping his memory alive and hope that you continue!

Richard

You've done a tremendous job on your website memorial to Roy, it's a really great looking page!

I first was introduced to Roy via his PBS special in 1974, when I was 17. I had shattered my ankle very badly in a construction accident, had two pins holding together numerous breaks etc., and was in a hospital bed tripping off these huge morphine shots every four hours (which my orthopaedist believed in, he didn't want me in too much pain) with Michelob chasers (my roomy in my semi-private hotel room was another construction accident victim, 'tore up his knee, and his Doc ordered him to drink all the beer he wanted, which he also shared with me), when while channel surfing, stumbled across Roy's PBS special just coming on

.

The morphine and the beer had me gently floating slightly out-of-body just above my bed; as I started watching and listening to Roy play, I grooved and grooved and grooved deeper into what I couldn't believe my eyes were seeing and my ears were hearing. To say I was blown away, to put any string of positive adjectives on the process Roy was voodoo'ing to me would be an understatement. By the time his PBS special was over with, I was floating high above my bed and all over the universe, Smile, his music blew me that much away. I had seen Hendrix up close and personal, less than 20 feet away at the foot of the stage when he played Raleigh in 1970, and had always considered Hendrix the greatest guitar player that ever lived, UNTIL I saw and heard Roy.

I didn't get to see Roy in live in concert until many years later, a few months before his death. About six months before he died, he played a club in nearby Durham N.C. called "Under The Street", and a life-long dream to see him live was finally fulfilled. The show was packed, something like 350-400 fans sardined in to a firetrap that had a maximum rating of 100-some occupants. It was so successful, they brought him back 3-4 months later, and I saw him then again, and got to shake his hand after the show and tell him how much I appreciated his music. He seemed like he was tired, fatigued, maybe even a little depressed. Two months later or so, he committed suicide. I still have the horrible technical-wise bootlegs I made of both those concerts, made with a microcassete recorder and a lapel microphone.

For those who've never seen him up close and personal, it's almost to believe that the music he layed down on his albums, he replicated note-for-note, bend-for-bend, effect-for-effect, 100% live. Stuff you hear on his albums you'd think would have to multiple overdubs and studio tricks, but they're not, he simply was the truest master of the guitar of this century. The guitar was his pallete, and he was its Picasso.
Thanks again for a great site!~~~Kent

A nice surpise, this site! I have been a fan since the mid eighties. I saw Roy live in Amsterdam at the Paradiso in 1985 or 1986. Here was this nomal looking guy with a beard and jeans and leather jacket with a guitar. But he could play! Making his guitar scream like heaven. I regret that I had to leave in the middle of the concert. Had to take the train back home.... So stupid.

I saw Roy Several times playing some of the clubs in the nyc long island area in the 70's. He was one of the greatest guitarists ever.

Every time i saw RB in concert ( being from the D.C. area i was blessed with many oppourtunities ) i could never get the smile off my face! He blew me away every time!
The man could simply do it all- from blistering blues to soaring psychodelics to country finger pickin'. The SWEET DREAMS anthology is a fine collection-a lot of stuff i hadn't heard before. I think my favorite album is LIVESTOCK- the only time he had the services of a real good vocalist for a whole album ( other than the Snakestretchers days with Chuck Tilley, the unreleased Charlie Daniels session or a cameo appearance by someone like Delbert McClinton ), Billy Price. The laid back guitar work on the old Tyrone Davis tune "Can I Change My Mind" may be one of my favorite solos.********************We miss you Roy*********************
P.S.-Since the passing of Roy my current guitar hero ( ok, one of them ), is another Wash. D. C. area boy done good-Nils Lofgren. He gives me the permanent smiles too!

Bonjour de France,
Avec Netscape en faisant une recherche sur Roy Buchanan ,j'ai trouvé votre site . Sublime ,on en demande encore plus! Merci d'avoir ouvert ce site en l'honneur de Roy . Pour moi il fait partie des trés grands guitaristes au même titre que Blind Willie Mc Tell,Charlie Christian,Melvin Taylor,Jimi Hendrix,S.R. Vaughan etc... Ignoré de beaucoup car les radios,revues ne parlaient pour ainsi dire jamais de lui,sa maison de disque Polydor ne faisait pas grand chose non plus pour le médiatiser .C'est bien de faire des choses comme votre site pour des gens de cette qualité , encore une fois merci .
Charlie

Every now and then I've seen articles on a "legendary" concert Roy performed at Carnegie Hall around 1970 or '71. There supposedly exists tapes of this performance. Does anyone know about the availability of such a tape? Buchanan was the best !
Tim

I just got a copy of the Roy Buchanan Songbook which has the guitar tab for many of his greatest hits. I've been waiting for a book like this for quite awhile. I'd like other guitar players to email me if you're interested in discussing the book or exchanging guitar tabs that aren't in the book. Email me at mul211@aol.com

I played with Roy off and on several times during the early 1960's, when he was touring the South NJ-Penna club scene. The band was the Temptations, and I think Bobby Gregg was the lead singer for awhile. That was the best band I ever heard - the only guys to come close are Lynryd Skynrd. Shortly after he recorded The Peppermint Cane, I used his Tele to play the lead on that song while he played bass in the Cameo Lounge. I had gotten the 45 and played it a zillion times to learn it note for note. I had most of his 45's, which were actually much better than the album stuff, and I have some original tapes recorded live in the early 1960's.

His one handed "Malaguena" solo, played while chugging a Rolling Rock with the other, was a real crowd-pleaser although not too hard to play. He was really about the first guy to tap, but I don't think anybody knew it.

His talent was unearthly.
George Poncy

THANX FOR MAKING THIS WEB PAGE If anyone would like to trade concert tapes of Roy with me that would be great. he did alot of radio shows across the country, especialy '87&'78 I have seven or so good ones and I'm always looking for more email me LOGENHQSBD@aol.com

Congrats on a great page. It's fitting to find this sincere tribute to the most emotive, soulful player ever. I prefer Roy's first two Polydor albums and "Livestock", and he will always be the best in my book, all due respect to Jimi, EC and Stevie Ray. Thanks for helping to expose him to the masses.
Gator29

Glad to find "THE" Roy site. Have been a fan since the early seventies when a mate bought "Livestock" and blew us all away. August 14 1998 is ten year since that sad day Roy died. To commemorate the anniversary on a local level some friends and I are organising our two bands to have a Memorial concert at a small club where we shall play some loud blues, get slightly drunk and shed a tear for a truely great musician and the ultimate guitarist. If anyone is travelling the east coast of Australia at that time and would like to raise a glass to Roy with us, contact me by phone/fax on 02 4455 4168 or email me at angel@shoal.net.au or come to Ulladulla on the New South Wales south coast and ask around for me.
Cheers.......Patrick Keegan

thank you for the wonderful page on Roy Buchanan. I was at a friends house last night and he is a High End person. (the best of equipment) He played Sweet Dreams and I was sold on the spot. I knew who Roy Buchanan was, but didn't pay much attention since the like of Clapton and others always dominated my listening preference, but now I'm a true believer. I bought the disc titled Roy Buchanan tonight and am very satisfied. I'm just sorry I missed enjoying his wonderful music until now. Thanks again.
richard w. trapp
st. paul, mn

I spent some time with Roy in Cincinnati one night (circa 1975) listening to studio tapes he was preparing for another record label. I worked for Polygram, the label he was contracted to, at the time. I'm trying to find a copy of Roy's IN THE BEGINNING album (it features I'M A RAM and RESCUE ME) It is out of print. If anyone knows where I can find a copy, I sure would appreciate it. Please contact me at russ@stgregory.com

I played bass with Roy in the original Snakestretcher band. That was in 1970 and 1971. We made two records and toured quite a bit. It was loads of fun for a twenty-two year old. I still play my 1962 Fender Jazz Bass to this day.
Peter Van Allen, Baltimore, Maryland

This is the first time I searched the net for Roy Buchanan info. I live in Baltimore and I knew about Roy back in the 70's when I was in school. I never saw Roy play live. I surely wish I had. I think his blues guitar style is the most powerful and emotional I have heard.
I want to learn some of Roys music on the guitar. Has anyone ever published a tab book of Roys music? Are there any videos of his concerts? It would be very helpful if I could find these.
Thanks for your very fine page. Bob Uhl

HI,
I really just got into Roy Buchanan about 4 years ago. It was in my father's collection. I'm a bass guitar player and I've heard a bunch of guitarists but none have ever sounded like Buchanan. I love "Sweet Dreams" so much that someday when I get married I want that to be played at the reception as my song to dance with my father. (I'm still only 20) I'm a big fan now and I"m very pleased to see something on the web! Good work.
Linda

Howdy, Ive been a Buchanan fan since I first heard Sweet Dreams. That song is awesome guitar. I play lead guitar and have been in a couple of bands. I still can't get that song down real good. I saw Roy at the StanHope House in New Jersey in the 80's. He wasn't very motivated that night. I guess you can't be everynight. I have most of his recordings. Including the Best Unknown guitarists video. Also the Austin City Limits show. In a way I felt sorry for Roy Buchanan. Let me explain. Here he was one of the best guitarists in the world and most people never heard of him. When I was playing in a band I would get that all the time. "Who's Roy Buchanan"? The only people who heard of him were players and fans who love the Guitar hero stuff. He needed a great singer, like Robin Trower had James Dewar on Bridge of Sighs and other albums. More so he needed great material instead of just blues shuffles so he can show off. Look at Clapton with Layla,Crossroads,White Room,Let it Rain. Santana with Black Magic Women,Evil Ways, Oye Como Va. Great songs with great guitar. I mean lets be honest listen to a Street Called Straight and if your not a fan that would be the last listen. Im not knocking Roy. He really needed some classic material with a great vocalist. Then instead of who's Roy Buchanan I would have got, "oh yea, hes just as good as Jimi or Stevie Ray". I think he should have joined the Stones. No doubt he would have went down as one of the greats in any music circle not just die hard fans of guitar. The guy was awesome and I miss his playing. One more thing. His wife wasn't and probable still isn't convinced it was suicide. Guitar world ran an article years ago about the Strange Death of Roy Buchanan. I have it out in the garage. Well thanks for the forem. Later.
Betty

For my 21st birthday, Nils Lofgren gave me a 1958 Les Paul which he purchased from Roy who got it in an indirect fashion from Big Brother and the Holding Company. I used to play both with and before Roy(fr. time to time) at the Crossroads at Peace Cross in Bladensburg,MD. Jeff Beck tried to buy that guitar from me more than once; it ended up getting smashed to smitherines in a silly misunderstanding.

http://www.b-side-blues.com/bobby-manriquez/
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com

**This week,I'm interviewed in City Paper's "POP QUIZ" The quiz page is linked to this and other cool sites.
Please visit.............Bobby

Greetings, I have just got on the net and am elated to find your Roy site. I am a long time fan and friend. I am a blues/rock guitarist in San Antonio,Tx. and was lucky enough to know Roy and open 3 shows for him with my band here .I am a long time collector of audio and video. I am also the video- photographer of the San Antonio club video, which I Never meant to get out but to deserving Roy fans. Anyway , I miss Roy alot. It was a thrill to be on the same bill with him and he helped my confidence by telling me that I was one of the best blues guitarists he had heard on his tours through Texas.

e-mail me

Just great. Buchanan. Just great. Messiah. I wanna play like that. What I want to say. Why'd he do himself in young? Creativity and emotion just seem to result sometime in sdestruction. I sure rally around his great music. Saw him in concert 1st time in 80s MTV w/ Lonnie Mack and Albert King. COOKIN' dudes!!! RB... the greatest!!!
Ralph

I met Roy back stage after a show he did in Jackson,TN in 1975. A buddy of mine played in a local band that opened the show for Roy and he introduced me to the drummer in Roy's band who took me back stage to meet Roy. He had a great persona and chatted with me for about 10 minutes after offering me a cold beer. He treated me as if he had known me for years and his battered Telecaster never left his sight the entire time he was backstage. Just wanted to pass this on to another Roy fan, he was the greatest.

Mike

I knew the Internet was good for something - at long last a Roy Buchanan web page! Great job. My view on Roy was this: He was simply God with a guitar in his hands - and God had the bluz. We, the listeners were Moses at the burning bush. He didn't play concerts. He performed exorcisms. I was fortunate enough to see Roy twice in the summer of 1988. Once in Charlotte, NC and once in Atlanta, GA. He was playing what looked to me like the Roy Buchanan model guitar and he blistered it like there was no way that instrument could survive. In Charlotte he played before a crowd of 200 in a bar made for 100. He opened with 'Suzy Q' and closed with 'When a Guitar Plays the Blues'. In between, the blues have never been bluer.

In Atlanta, Roy played in a refurbished church auditorium to an ignorant crowd who began to dance. You don't dance when God is talking! However, in a moment I'll never forget, Roy began his second set with classical music. He performed 'Fur Elise' like only a true genius could. And then it happened. He went right into 'Roy's Bluz'. The next ten minutes are beyond description. When he started with Beetoven, the crowd seemed confused. I instantly knew where he was going. Everything to Roy always seemed to be the blues. He did things with an electric guitar that mortal men will be pondering for ages. There will never be another Roy. By the way, how can anyone make an anthology set and leave out 'Roy's Bluz'? Or the 'Blues Lover'? Or 'Drowning on Dry Land'? I guess we should just be thankful that 'CC Ryder' and 'Pete's Blue' made it! Like Roy, I won't say good-bye. I'll just click 'send', unplug, and leave.

Barry

This is a fabulous discovery - a Roy Buchanan Website! I would love to receive any tips/tricks anyone has on Roy's technique, or any data on his guitar/strings/amp/effects setups.
E-mail me on Takis@_NOSPAM_btinternet.com
Fabulous site!
Tak.

Hi:
I wanted to express my appreciation for the Roy Buchanan Web Site -- and also ask if you have any idea how I might get my hands on a copy of the PBS special, "The Best Unknown Guitarist In the World." It was this show that turned me on to Roy (and made the Telecaster my guitar of choice), but no one seems to know whether or not it's available. I'd greatly appreciate any advice you can give me.
Thanks Wayne

Thu, 25 Sep 1997 11:56:18 -0400

I was very excited when I found this website. My father, Jimmie Potts, started with Roy as a sound man, running the mixboard for the shows. Eventually, he became a bassist in the band. I am dealing from memory here, so alot of this is kinda fuzzy, but I know that my dad was the bassist for the tour in Japan in 77', because I still have the plane ticket, as well as a picture of Roy and my dad getting off the plane. I have numerous backstage passes, including one with B.B. King. This seemed unimportant to a kid of 7 at the time, but now it is very important. I had a picture of Roy that Roy actually gave me. He wrote that he loved me, and as a matter of fact, I was good pals with his son. I used to sit on his lap all the time, while the mobs of groupies and wanna be's would litter the back stage area. I introduced the band at two of their shows, one being at Carnegie Hall in Pittsburgh at age 6(I believe). I still remember what Roy told me to say--"Ladies and Gentlemen, the greatist Fake artist in music, Roy Buchanan." If anyone remembers me, I would gladly correspond with them..I am now at Penn State, trying to become a sports therapist. Thanks for the website, Roy is one of the greats, and his legend lives on.

Jason W. Potts

estoy escuchando un disco suyo y es realmente maravilloso. Roy era sin duda uno de lo grandes guitarristas de blues.

I just had to pay tribute to Roy and his music. I have been playing guitar for about 3 1/2 years now. I am 16. I am attempting to become a blues guitarist. I want to be able to emulate the feeling that Roy played with. I have only been listening to Roy for about half a year and I have been just totally blown away. I cannot begin to describe the impact he has made on me. His music changed my whole apreciation and perception of the guitar.

Steve Noonan Jr.
Fizzer

hanks for the very well done page on Roy. I have enjoyed his work since I first saw the PBS special back in '71 (the summer after High School graduation!) with my buddy who was a guitarist. (I am a drummer). I remember the night like it was yesterday - we were just goofing around, and my parents has the local PBS station on, WHYY in Philly, and all of a sudden, this sound came out of the TV, Jay and I looked at each other with jaws agape, and that was it. Even as relatively unwashed 18 year olds, we knew genius when we heard it.

S

ince then, I've collected all the released albums, but I never got to see RB in person (damn!), and the only video I have of him is some chunks of the PBS fund-raiser video where he backed Jerry Lee Lewis, Chubby Checker, and a bunch of other '50s style RockNRollers. I think I stumbled on to it about midway into the show, I know I don't have it all.

I'd love to find a copy of the PBS show and any other video of Roy. Email me at jmhare@_NOSPAM_aenergy.com or Snail Mail to Jim Hare, 4370 Township Avenue, McKee City, NJ 08232.

Perhaps if anyone finds a source for videos or other RB momemtos, this page would be a good place to post that information, I know I'm not the only one who would love to get a copy of the "Greatest Unknown Guitarist in the World" tape, or the ACL shows.

Thanks once again for the page.

I just stumbled across your site and had to send a note to say its great and brought back some good memories. I was lucky enough to catch one Roy Buchanan concert at the Marquee Club in London sometime in 1973.

I was fortunate enough to have seen Mr. Roy Buchanan at least 10 times in the late 70's and early 80's. News of his death brought tears to my eyes. Roy had a cult following in Pittsburgh amongst my friends and I. The one show i will never forget was at a swimming pool called crystal springs in the springdale part of pgh. It was a nasty night. An outdoor concert and while we were waiting for roy big black clouds moved overhead and a heavy downpour along with thunder and lightning was on us. I swear not one person moved we just kept yelling for Roy. the rain stopped and out he came. he was obviously moved by the loyalty of the fans that night and proceeded to put on a 3 hour show that left everyone who witnessed it in complete awe. never had i seen Roy so into it. He was doing things with that telecaster that noone alive or dead could even come close to doing. The encore song he did was the legendary I"M EVIL in which halfway through the song he pulled a switchblade out of his pocket and used it for a slide and then started using it for a pick. it was unreal at the end of the song he dhis tele on the stage stabbed the knife into it and walked offstage. something i'll never ever forget.

thanks roy

Does anyone know how to get a copy of the Austin City Limits show Roy did in 1977? I'd really appreciate the information.
Roy was simply tremendous. I saw him perform about 50 or 60 times and never ceased to be amazed by his talent and vision.
It's a pleasure to read everyone's comments. Keep the word going.
Thanks,
Joe

Enjoy your website on Roy very much. He truly was one of the greatest guitarists that ever lived. He was a great inspiration to countless guitarists, myself included. Although I saw him play on several occasions around the DC area in the 70's and got to meet him, unfortunately I never got to know him any better than to say hello to him.

.

Best,

Bruce Wagner

I'm an author in Colorado Springs and am working on the biography of roy buchanan. I saw Roy perform 60-70 times between May 1973 at Carnegie Hall, NYC, and sometime in 1985. I like your home page and wish to contact all Roy fans for photos, tapes, info, concert dates/stubs, etc. I have a fine collection of hundreds of tapes and many photos. I'm friends with Roy's older brother, Jim, and have traveled to Ozark, Ark. and Pixley, Calif. to interview family members. Let me know if you'd like to trade tape lists or correspond. My email address is kennis_carson@_NOSPAM_msn.com and I share this address with my girlfriend, Carol. I'll be returning to Ozark this summer and perhaps Calif this fall to finish the first half of my research. I won't share a lot of stuff that is being saved for the book, but Roy's father was not a preacher. He did not "run away from home at age 15." There is a new Alligator collection of Roy's best tapes coming out, perhaps this December.
Best, Phil Carson

In 1975, I attended a concert at Seattle's Paramount Theater. The billing was Peter Frampton, with Roy Buchanan as the warm up group. Frampton's drummer (John Siomos) turned up sick at the very last moment (everybody was seated) so Frampton canceled the show. The MC (a local radio DJ) offered ticket refunds to all if they wanted. Buchanan agreed to play for the entire evening if the remaining patrons wanted to listen to him. Many people left, and those remaining (including myself) were treated to the most blinding and soulful notes to come a guitar. Peter who?

Fast forward to Seattle, 1985 at Parker's. By this time, I had almost all his albums (except bootlegs) and knew all songs by heart. I'd played "air guitar" to all of them and knew which notes to expect. I did not expect what came next. My girl friend, being a top 40 fan and not owning one single LP was my drag-along date (reluctant as hell to listen to a loud guitar concert in a smokey bar). Well, the guy was unconcious. I actually had tears in my eyes on several songs - he played with such soul and feeling. His eyes on his guitar always, mouth slightly open, and NEVER moving his body - a statue with blurring fingers! My date was extremely impressed. I would look over at from time to time and see her shaking her head in disbelief of what she was seeing.

Three years later, I heard that Buchanan had hung himself (on a radio show that was playing a tribute to Roy). I recorded that show on cassette, and it's one of my greatest treasures. I'll never forget Roy Buchanan and his music, nor will I ever stop listening to it.

Our group, Billy Price & The Keystone Rhythm Band, worked with Roy in the '70s in Pittsburgh...Billy, later was Roy's vocalist on the "Carnegie Hall Live" LP. Would like to hear from anyone about Roy during this period.
Best Regards,
Chuck Roethel

I saw Roy twice at the Holiday Inn Ballroom in Richfield, OH (just south of Cleveland). Once in 1987 and 1988. Dear Lord that Tele smoked!! My friend got some excellent photographs of the master.

I haven't seen the '71 PBS program yet. If anyone has any suggestions for obtaining it, please e-mail me.

Oh my god, finally I found some other friends which think Roy Buchanan was the best guitarist in the world.
I adored him: I had three guitars heroes, Roy, Rory Gallagher and Jerry Garcia, and all passed away. The only hope that, in some part of universe there playing some jam at front of some enthusiastic angels. I collect live tapes (Dat), and I hope to find people with Master Reels or dat that want trade with me. I DON'T SELL: Trade only. If somebody collect analogs tapes, I can accept video of RORY
Alfredo

Thanks for the great Roy Buchanan page. I've picked up some great info here, discography and the riff pages. I had the pleasure of meeting Roy in 1988 at The Roxy, in Australia. Although we didn't have much time for a chat, he was very modest about his skills and a true gentleman. Thanks again and I'll pass this address onto my mates.

Lots of your letters request videos. Are you all aware of the "Further on down the road" video by barzntones? It features Roy at the height of his powers on stage with the likes of Lonnie Mack & Albert Collins. They are at Carnigie Hall. Pretty hot stuff. I have a cassette copy of Roy performing live in australia. It isn't very long but it is really hot!

I saw Roy perform once in person. It was in Chicago. He was, and still is the most awsome guitar player I have ever seen.I was devastated to hear of his death. In the years since I have played in bars here in Indiana, and have always tried to pay tribute to the world's greatest guitarist in the only, reverant way I can. "Guitar plays the Blues" at top volume(11) I try to turn as many on to Roy's music as I can.

I love the Homepage! I will check it out often. I would love to hear from Roy fans.email me at jcrafton@_NOSPAM_indy.tds.net

Thanks again for having a Roy Buchanan site.

Fri, 28 Mar 1997 16:47:15 -0500

My name is Andrew D'Arcangelo and I am a long-time fan of Roy's. I have been looking for a 1974/75 video of Roy on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. I have advertised in Goldmine and have spoken to Bob Davis for many years and have had no luck. I would really appreciate any information and/or ideas that you might have on how to locate this particular video.

Since I don't have an e-mail address, you can contact me via snail mail at 7B Locust Street, Norwalk, CT 06855 or via telephone at 203-831-0771.

Sincerely,
Andrew D'Arcangelo

P.S. If you haven't gotten the new Malaguena CD yet, get it! It's killer.

I was introduced to Roy Buchanan via the PBS special in the 70's. My father forced me to sit down and watch the show and after 5 minutes I was hooked for life. If my memory serves me correctly, Roy jammed with Nils Lofgren on the song 'Shotgun' and I remember jazz guitarist Mundell Lowe's appearance.

My dad and I attended Roy's NY debut concert at Carnegie Hall. I took a few really crude pictures of Roy on stage with my 'instamatic' camera which I still posses. I also saved the original press clippings and review of the show.

My real reason for contacting you is that I only saw the PBS documentary on that one occasion and it would be a great thrill to locate a copy on video tape. Any info that you can supply regarding this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and keep the home page updated.

Greetings once again friends of Roy Buchanan. This is my second time on a computer. Naturally for me the soul purpose of which is to visit this rightuous site. Thanks again Jim... The question is asked is Dave Roche the president of the Roy Buchanan fan club? The answer is no. Bob Davis is!! But seriously, the sweet dreams of Roy Buchanan can sometimes be tart with less than fact based information.
Before I close I'd like to ask Sweet Dreams, DOES ANYONE HAVE Roy film or video footage? I already have the 90 min. documentary introducing Roy Buchanan from 1971,the Austin City Limits show from 1977, the German Rock Palast show from 1985, Carnegie Hall from 1985,PBS Rock and Roll Revival from 1986, and the club shows from Boston, Toronto, and San Antonio. Roy was a dear friend as well as a musical encyclopedia of gifted phenomena. Presently I'm 99.9% without computer access.So please write me at U.S>post office box 343 Newton Massachusetts 02160. "Think Heaven" - (R.B.) With his love and mine,
David Roche.

Jim - thanks for creating your web page on one of the greatest blues guitarists of all time! Roy has played some of the most gut-wrenching music I've ever heard. Case-in-point: His album "When a Guitar Plays the Blues" is totally awesome!!!

I'm passionate about playing the blues & also collect vintage guitars. Any idea where Roy's '53 telecaster ("Nancy") lives? If you tell me its in the "Hard Rock Cafe" in London on some greasy wall, I'll fly over asap & snatch it from the those burger boys. Seriously, if anyone knows where "she" is, please, please email me at ikereed@_NOSPAM_concentric.com or reichner@_NOSPAM_epicorp.com - Many, many thanks again for your hard work on this web page.
Ike

Thanks for a great home page Jim. I had a chance to see Roy many times in the 70s and 80s. He was a unique talent who could play blistering cascades of sound or just drain the beauty of one solitary note.

He was an of explorer of unknown places and ,at times, a player of great poetry. In many ways, he was and still is my favorite guitarist.

Peace.

i've enjoyed roy's playing since 1974 when i heard the album 'roy buchanan', the guitar solo on 'haunted house' is killing! nowadays i've got the four first (polydor) albums and the 'sweetdreams' anthology. they are 'the bible' for me! has anybody 'live in japan' album? i'm interested to get a tape copy of it.

pentti hõnninen

Roy's Tele tone was amazing.. he could get an unbelievable array of sounds from such a "simple" guitar. Does anyone have any info on his equipment setup - Tele vintage, amps, effects, etc? Any help wounld be appreciated!

Great site. Roy was one of the greatest artists of modern music, no doubt.

The first time I had heard of Roy Buchanan was when I was 16 or so. The local public TV station was airing "The World's Greatest Unknown Guitarist". I was totally stunned and flabbergasted by what I heard.I never got to see Roy live until 1987, the second time I saw him was in 1988; on that occasion I shook hands with him as he was walking past me after the show. Long live the spirit of a true original, Roy Buchanan.

Roy Buchanan's talent opened my eyes to the pyrotechnics available to a blues guitarist. The first album I ever heard was "Loading Zone". To this day I am hunting for a clean cassette copy to transfer to cd. I simply cannot believe that the album has not been re-released on CD. I was equally appalled that neither the "Sweet Dreams" or "Guitar on fire" compilations had the track "Done your Daddy Dirty"
Won't another fan/collector please help me out?

First time I saw Roy Buchanan was in Cherry Hill, N.J. at a small bar called Al's Erlton Lounge in the very early '70s. At the time the Allman Bros. Band had just relased the Fillmore East and we all had many a debate about the best "crying" guitar, Duane Allman on Whipping Post, Carlos Santana on "Song of the Wind", or Roy on "The Messia will come Again". On any day Roy could hold his own with the best!

I probably can't offer much new information on Roy that's not already known. I did get to see him a few times, once at the Roxy Theater in Hollywood in 1973, just after his first album came out. Later, I saw him in Chicago. Both were great.

The enduring problem with Roy was that his talents were immense, but he tended to surround himself with hacks, especially on the first few albums. I liked the Alligator days as his albums were pretty much Roy playing his guitar and forget the everything else.

I knew Roy well. I heard him often at the Crossroads and was at -I think it was MY Mothers Place in DC when he released the sack album. Sure was a great player.

Congratulations on the Roy home page. I've searched the net for quite some time for some info about this great musician. Thanks again and keep up the good work!

Sun, 29 Dec 1996 14:36:59 -0500
Ray richards
Roy Buchanan was a great guitar player.  I have his first 3 vinyl
albums.  He was wonderful.  He aslways seemed so relaxed and real
onstage.  He was comfortable to watch and listen to.

Last Modified: 09-Jan-2012 18:37

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