The greatest guitarist no one ever knew....

[CanookieWookie]

...according to E.C.  He turned down the chance to play with the Rolling Stones...    Roy Buchanan

[cat shepard]

The cat killing notes cause me chills. I love it when a guitar player owns with just a few notes, it's a good way to know that they are crazy and not to be fucked with.

[MikeyT]

  Roy was great, but he's not unknown here. Been listening to him since the early 70's. The record stores had his stuff, and I used to see his albums in the used record stores fairly often. Maybe he was an unknown in England?

I think his first few releases were pretty solid, but after that his albums were hit or miss. You always knew there would be some tasty licks on any Roy Buchanan album you picked up, though.

I guess he has been somewhat forgotten. Too bad about the way he died, but he was a true artist.

[Woody]

An amazing guitarist. And Jeff Beck certainly paid a lot of attention to him.

I'm a huge fan of Roy as well as Lonnie Mack, another overlooked guitarist.

[mortlock]

again willb is ignorant..how the hell do you consider buchanan to be unknown..the dude is legendary amongst blues players..

[GodShifter]

He's not unknown, I don't think. Anyone that appreciates guitar playing knows who he is. In fact, Roy Buchanon might be one of the first guitarists that I was ever aware of as a young kid. One of the first tunes I ever heard was his version of "Green Onions".

I recall that he was considered for the Stones gig along with a bunch of other dudes (was this for Brian Jones or for Mick Taylor? I can't remember). Others considered were Harvey Mandel and Steve Marriott, I believe.

Anyway, if nothing else, this thread has inspired me to seek out a Roy Buchanon record because I've never owned anything by him.

[Metal and Beer]

Definitely well known (and an all-time great )...yeah I believe he auditioned for Mick Taylor's vacancy in 1975, along with Jeff Beck, Harvey Mandel, Eric Clapton, Steve Marriott, buncha cats

[RacerX]

I saw Roy back in the '70s in a small club in NJ.

Needless to say, I was blown away.

[CanookieWookie]

again willb is ignorant..how the hell do you consider buchanan to be unknown..the dude is legendary amongst blues players..

Oh cocksmoker, you are one irritating retard.

No doubt some of you great music enthusiasts know of him.  But that kind of "crowd" is very small. Any tom dick or harry knows of Hendrix, Page, Clapton etc... but GUARANTEED these same clowns wouldn't know Roy Buchanan if he walked up to them and slapped them in the face.

BTW-- Eric Clapton made that "the greatest guitarist no one knows" comment.  But I guess hes ignorant too.

[blackkrosses]

Unknown or not the man deserves his own thread.

Thanks for the videos.

[GodShifter]

I thought I might add for the sake of discussion that I looked around for that story about him being offered a slot with the Stones and it's pretty hard to find any solid stories confirming that. There are a few hearsay stories, but nothing definite about it. Also, what stories/rumors I can find, it was when they were considering people for Brian Jones's slot in 69, not to replace Mick Taylor.

Also, I had forgotten Buchanan had committed suicide while in jail (though his family disputes this). Pretty damn sad.

[pastrychimp]

I think even on the metal side a few guys have given Roy a nod of appreciation... I seem to remember Dimebag giving him credit a few times, especially when it came to his licks and fancy harmonic tricks.

[MikeyT]

I saw Roy back in the '70s in a small club in NJ.

Needless to say, I was blown away.

   Oh, I bet that was great. A small club setting would be ideal for Roy's music.

      Sweet dreams, Roy.