Roy Buchanan
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Roy Buchanan’s (September 23, 1939 - August 14, 1988) musical career began in Pixley, California. His father was a sharecropper (not a Pentecostal preacher as Buchanan himself had claimed). Buchanan told how his first musical memories were of racially-mixed revival meetings his family would attend. “Gospel,” he recalled, “that’s how I first got into black music”. He in fact drew upon many disparate influences while learning to play his instrument (although he later claimed his aptitude was derived from being “half-wolf”). He initially showed talent on the steel guitar before switching to the standard instrument in the early 50’s.
In 1957, Buchanan made his recording debut, playing the solo on Dale Hawkins’ “My Babe” for Chicago’s Chess Records. Three years later, Buchanan headed north to Canada, where he took charge of the guitar role in Ronnie Hawkins’ band (a group later to gain fame as The Band). The group’s guitar player, Robbie Robertson, studied guitar under Buchanan, and took over the lead guitar spot when Buchanan left the group.
The early 60’s found Buchanan performing numerous gigs as a sideman with multiple rock bands, and cutting a number of sessions as guitarist with musicians such as Freddy Cannon and Merle Kilgore.
Buchanan’s 1962 recording with drummer Bobby Gregg, “Potato Peeler”, first introduced the trademark Buchanan pinch harmonics. An effort to cash in on the British Invasion caught Buchanan with The British Walkers. In the mid-‘60’s, Buchanan settled down in the Washington, DC area, playing as a sideman before starting his own groups. One of these groups was called The Snakestretchers, an allusion to Buchanan’s disdain for the vagaries of the band experience.
In 1957, Buchanan made his recording debut, playing the solo on Dale Hawkins’ “
My Babe” for Chicago’s Chess Records. Three years later, Buchanan headed north to Canada, where he took charge of the guitar role in Ronnie Hawkins’ band (a group later to gain fame as The Band). The group’s guitar player, Robbie Robertson, studied guitar under Buchanan, and took over the lead guitar spot when Buchanan left the group.The early 60’s found Buchanan performing numerous gigs as a sideman with multiple rock bands, and cutting a number of sessions as guitarist with musicians such as Freddy Cannon and Merle Kilgore.
Buchanan’s 1962 recording with drummer Bobby Gregg, “Potato Peeler”, first introduced the trademark Buchanan pinch harmonics. An effort to cash in on the British Invasion caught Buchanan with The British Walkers. In the mid-‘60’s, Buchanan settled down in the Washington, DC area, playing as a sideman before starting his own groups. One of these groups was called The Snakestretchers, an allusion to Buchanan’s disdain for the vagaries of the band experience.
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Featured Tracks
| FULL TRACK Sunset Over Broadway | 4:15 |
| FULL TRACK Goose Grease | 3:03 |
| FULL TRACK The Blues Lover | 8:42 |
| FULL TRACK High Wire | 2:44 |
| FULL TRACK 25 Miles | 3:48 |
| FULL TRACK Country Boogie | 4:32 |
Top Albums
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Buch and the Snake Stretchers
Roy Buchanan
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When a Guitar Plays the Blues
Roy Buchanan Buy- Download Album
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Sweet Dreams
Roy Buchanan Buy- Download Album
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Malaguena
Roy Buchanan Buy- Download Album
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Shoutbox
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bwdjai wrote:
um, where have I been....
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docck_64 wrote:
He's so awesome. Just dropped a little to 1 million plays :)
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Zombie3785 wrote:
<1million plays? I find that really hard to believe. Is this a misspelling of his name or something? No. There must be an error somewhere...○
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slimdrow wrote:
great guitar player! i just discovered him.
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RasViKing wrote:
Jerry Garcia called Roy 'The Worlds Greatest Unknown Guitar Player' in the opening to the PBS documentary "Introducing Roy Buchanan" and it's no exaggeration! This documentary is freely available out there on the interweb [DON'T pay for it!] and I highly recommend it. Even better look for the Austin City Limits premier season session with Roy. Whatever you do find the Rockpalast performance as it just kills! These two are often on the same DVD. Again, don't pay for them as they circulate widely. It's hard to pick a favorite so a few of mine are: Roy's Bluez, Story of Issac, Country Preacher, Dual Soliloquy, Wayfairing Pilgrim and of course The Messiah (Will Come Again). If you can't locate any of the videos mentioned above or want some live Roy let me know, I've got lots. :-)
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raysbluewoody wrote:
refreshing
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xdreamx19 wrote:
love his instrumental blues jams
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DaddyPobbin wrote:
Master
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DariaDeMartini wrote:
Amazing music! He is a really legend.
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SlipperShuffle wrote:
master
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Svole23 wrote:
thank you roy
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DakoSuede wrote:
Uno de los más grandes.
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swingfun wrote:
The Messiah Will Come Again is the cause of my love for Roy Buchanan, it´s over 20 years that I´m enjoing that tune!
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KingsAndQueen wrote:
I can't believe he's underrated enough to have full tracks here. That's new.
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hjlradio wrote:
Lo maximo
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ShaniaEve wrote:
Cool...very good!
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ravschmidt-sas wrote:
one of the best guitar player, i believe)
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nolteCOD wrote:
Awesome!
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Bentwick09 wrote:
You're Not Alone....., totally brilliant......
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AllAboutMusic2 wrote:
love the guitar ;)
Videos
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Play
Live From Austin Texas
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Hey Joe
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Green Onions
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Play
Please Don't Turn Me Away
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Recent Activity
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irandroll, Kacperv and 3 other people added Roy Buchanan to their libraries. yesterday afternoon
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paulina1406 wrote about Roy Buchanan in Songs with "la la la". Monday afternoon
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thomas10 wrote about Roy Buchanan in Famous Dead Musicians/Artists and Causes of Death (Pt 2, Age 37-50). Monday afternoon
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Schlindermander, radpolska, Des_DOZR and 5 other people added Roy Buchanan to their libraries. Monday afternoon
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slimdrow tagged Roy Buchanan with telecaster, blues rock and blues. Friday afternoon
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-phage- tagged Roy Buchanan with ‘blues’. Thursday morning
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stephenjones195, jft1975, akondratyev and 4 other people added Roy Buchanan to their libraries. last week
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Denis-Vojd tagged Roy Buchanan with classic rock, blues rock and blues. 10 days ago
Related Journals
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Famous Dead Musicians/Artists and Causes of Death (Pt 2, Age 37-50)
by thomas10 |
13 Feb 2012
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Songs with "la la la"
by paulina1406 |
29 Aug 2011
| 26 comments
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my library
by ce84 |
18 Apr 2011
Groups (20)
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Just Great Guitar!
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BLUES!
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Rock All Over The World
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Black Crowes & Jimmy Page
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Country & Western
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