|
Roy Buchanan has long been considered one
of the finest, yet criminally overlooked guitarists of the blues
rock genre whose lyrical leads and use of harmonics would later
influence such guitar greats as Jeff Beck, his one-time student
Robbie Robertson, and ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons. Although born in
Ozark, AR, on September 23, 1939, Buchanan grew up in the small
town of Pixley, CA. His father was both a farmer and Pentecostal
preacher, which would bring the youngster his first exposure to
gospel music when his family would attend racially mixed revival
meetings. But it was when Buchanan came across late-night R&B
radio shows that he became smitten by the blues, leading to Buchanan
picking up the guitar at the age of seven. First learning steel
guitar, he switched to electric guitar by the age of 13, finding
the instrument that would one day become his trademark: a Fender
Telecaster. By 15, Buchanan knew he wanted to concentrate on music
full-time and relocated to Los Angeles, which contained a thriving
blues/R&B scene at the time. Shortly after his arrival in L.A.,
Buchanan was taken under the wing by multi-talented bluesman Johnny
Otis, before studying blues with such players as Jimmy Nolen (later
with James Brown), Pete Lewis, and Johnny "Guitar" Watson. During
the mid- to late '50s, Buchanan led his own rock band, the Heartbeats,
which soon after began backing rockabilly great Dale ("Suzy Q")
Hawkins.
By the dawn of the '60s, Buchanan had relocated once more, this
time to Canada, where he signed on with rockabilly singer Ronnie
Hawkins. The bass player of Ronnie Hawkins' backing band, the
Hawks, studied guitar with Buchanan during his tenure with the
band. Upon Buchanan's exit, the bassist-turned-guitarist would
become the leader of the group, which would eventually become
popular roots rockers the Band: Robbie Robertson. Buchanan spent
the '60s as a sideman with obscure acts, as well as working as
a session guitarist for such varied artists as pop idol Freddy
Cannon, country artist Merle Kilgore, and drummer Bobby Gregg,
among others, before Buchanan settled down in the Washington,
D.C., area in the mid- to late '60s and founded his own outfit,
the Snakestretchers. Despite not having appeared on any recordings
of his own, word of Buchanan's exceptional playing skills began
to spread among musicians as he received accolades from the likes
of John Lennon, Eric Clapton, and Merle Haggard, as well as supposedly
being invited to join the Rolling Stones at one point (which he
turned down).
The praise eventually led to an hour-long public television documentary
on Buchanan in 1971, the appropriately titled The Best Unknown
Guitarist in the World, and a recording contract with Polydor
Records shortly thereafter. Buchanan spent the remainder of the
decade issuing solo albums, including such guitar classics as
his 1972 self-titled debut (which contained one of Buchanan's
best-known tracks, "The Messiah Will Come Again"), 1974's That's
What I Am Here For, and 1975's Live Stock, before switching to
Atlantic for several releases. But by the '80s, Buchanan had grown
disillusioned by the music business due to the record company's
attempts to mold the guitarist into a more mainstream artist,
which led to a four-year exile from music between 1981 and 1985.
Luckily, the blues label Alligator convinced Buchanan to begin
recording again by the middle of the decade, issuing such solid
and critically acclaimed releases as 1985's When a Guitar Plays
the Blues, 1986's Dancing on the Edge, and 1987's Hot Wires. But
just as his career seemed to be on the upswing once more, tragedy
struck on August 14, 1988, when Buchanan was picked up by police
in Fairfax, VA, for public intoxication. Shortly after being arrested
and placed in a holding cell, a policeman performed a routine
check on Buchanan and was shocked to discover that he had hung
himself in his cell. Buchanan's stature as one of blues-rock's
all-time great guitarist grew even greater after his tragic death,
resulting in such posthumous collections as Sweet Dreams: The
Anthology, Guitar on Fire: The Atlantic Sessions, Deluxe Edition,
and 20th Century Masters.
This bio courtesy www.allmusic.com
|
Learn To play guitar like a rock star!
Recommended guitar courses from GuitarMadeSimple.com |
Level 1 & 2: "Guitar
Made Simple" By Chris Standring
From
absolute beginner to solid intermediate, this course walks
you through absolutely everything necessary to give you a
strong grounding in a wide variety of guitar styles. You will
learn open chords, strumming patterns, single line melodies,
25 well known songs, notes on the fretboard, sight-reading,
Blues, rock, classical, single string improv and venture into
a little jazz, and much much more. All with audio, video,
TAB and traditional music notation. More info and order Guitar
Made Simple here
"Move over Mel Bay! 'Guitar Made Simple'
is an extremely well thought out beginners program, with a
very thorough and personal approach to help you easily learn
how to play the guitar... correctly! So much more than trying
to learn alone with just a book, this brilliant system connects
with you as if an instructor is right with you in your own
home. Well done Chris!" - Corky James LA studio
guitarist with Avril Lavigne, Hilary Duff, Kelly Clarkson,
Leann Rimes, Backstreet Boys, Liz Phair, Nick Lachey and Mandy
Moore
|
|
Level 2 & 3: "Play
What You Hear" By Chris Standring
From
intermediate to advanced level, this highly acclaimed course
teaches you how to "play what you hear". You will
learn the jazz vocabulary and understand how to improvise
using this vocab over many different harmonies. You will learn
to hear major, melodic minor and blues scales and learn harmony
and how to see it all very simply on the fretboard. Over 300
audio examples and tons of play along tracks. More info and
order Play What You Hear here
"By far the most innovative and effective
ear training program for guitarists I have seen! Simply the
best learning method to come along since Jamie Abersold. Chris
has hit on something really good and much needed today Players
of my generation learned to play on the bandstand as we were
forced to "play what we heard" and if we didn't,
we had to get it together pretty darn quick. This course will
help speed up that learning process rapidly. I will recommend
this course to my students highly!" - Ron Eschete
Concord Recording artist and educator
|
|
|
|
|
How good is your guitar playing?
Take this simple test and find
out now!
|
|
 |
Take The Test! |
How good are you in your opinion?
|
|
| |
Read all about the great rock Guitarists here:
|
|
|
|
