ALBUM: Dancing on the Edge (1986)
MVC Rating: 4.0/$$$
Ask a rock fan about who are the best guitarists and you usually hear, Hendrix, Clapton, Page, Van Halen, Richards, Townshend, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jeff Beck, Chuck Berry, etc. and so on.
You don’t usually hear the name Buchanan unless you are talking to some experienced guitar players.
Roy Buchanan’s father was a sharecropper and Pentecostal minister who brought music into the house, according to various Internet articles, including Wikipedia.
Originally from Arkansas, the family moved to small town California. At 15 Buchanan left home to seek his fame and fortune.
He never found it.
At 47, in jail in Virginia for public drunkenness, he died by suicide, hanging himself by his shirt, authorities said
His family disputes that suicide was the cause of that death in 1988.
I have his 1986 album ‘Dancing on the Edge’ and it’s a fine, fun record of country and rock and blues, featuring Buchanan’s swinging, and stinging guitar.
In rock critic David Fricke’s top 100 guitarists for Rolling Stone, Buchanan is rated 57. A documentary about his life is named ‘The World’s Greatest Unknown Guitarist.’
And if you are a fan of electric guitar his cover of ‘Hey Joe’ is not to be missed. Listen to the tone, the subtlety and finally the blazing lead runs where he does something similar to what young people call shredding. Watch it to the end and see if you agree that he should be in top 10. (SEE BELOW)
Counting down my 678 vinyl records before I die of brain disease.