The Greatest Guitarist No One Ever Heard Of.

I dropped out of school in 1978 so it had to be either '75 or '76 when Roy Buchanan gave a free concert at the local college. At least that's how I remember it, though to tell you the truth I'm not sure of the year or if the concert was free. Roy Buchanan was there. I do remember that.

I was still playing the guitar back then and was used to the "Roy who?" reactions I'd get whenever I mentioned his name. "Roy Buchanan", I'd say, "the greatest guitarist no one ever heard of."

That was his nickname back then, the result of a PBS documentary about him that aired in the early '70's. When Jeff Beck saw it he proclaimed Buchanan as the most amazing guitarist he'd ever seen. They would later become friends and Beck even dedicated his intrumental piece "Cause We've Ended as Lovers" to Roy Buchanan. Years later, Eric Clapton, then widely proclaimed as the best guitarist in the world, saw Roy Buchanan play a concert and conceded Buchanan, not he, was the best guitarist in the world. Countless others were influenced by him. Just listen to Santana's Moonflower album or anything by ZZ Top and you'll hear some of that trademark Buchanan sound.

So how come no one's ever heard of him? For one thing he was famous for shunning the spotlight, and once declared that nothing scared him more than being a pop star. But more than just his natural shyness, his anonymity also sprang largely from his uniqueness and free-spirited style of play. Ironically, the virtuosity and inventiveness that won him the respect of his fellow musicians mostly bored the broader rock and roll audiences as a whole. Buchanan eschewed electronics and pedal effects or anything that would distort his sound, and instead of the big and heavy head-banging guitar sound that audiences loved (and still love), he preferred to keep his playing tight and clean, favoring technique over volume and working his wizadry entirely within the strings and knobs of his telecaster.


The audience didn't go for it, and Buchanan enjoyed only limited commercial success. I remember reading or hearing an interview many years ago where Jimmy Page, then the lead guitarist with the rock group Led Zeppelin, was asked his opinion of some of the leading guitarists at the time. When Roy Buchanan's name was mentioned Page replied "a guitarist's guitarist." That was the real story of Roy Buchanan. Extremely talented, but ultimately just a musician's musician.

So when I went to see him play at the local college I wasn't expecting much of a crowd, and it was a pretty sparse audience that night. They had set up a little wooden stage on the lawn next to the college chapel, and Roy walked out with his band and proceeded to play some of the most amazing guitar I've ever seen. The small crowd turned out to be a blessing in disguise because that meant that I was able to stand right next to the stage, not 8 feet away from the famed guitarist. Like I said, I used to play a little guitar myself back in those days and flattered myself that I was picking up a few licks while I stood there watching him dominate that ol' telecaster of his, but that was purely conceit on my part. He was simply a master of that instrument, and I was unbelievably lucky to be able to stand so close and watch his fingers dance over those frets. (Just imagine standing on stage next to Hilary Hahn and watch her play the Schoenberg concerto to get some idea what the experience was like) It seemed like such a simple instrument in his hands, even though I knew better.

Anyways, Buchanan died in 1988 and while it would be nice to say that a whole new generation has discovered his music, that would be a lie. Just as it would be nice to say that he left a great library of music behind, but that would be a lie too. Throughout his career Buchanan was the constant victime of producers and record companies that tried to turn him into something else, be that country picker or rock god or blues legend - anything they could market and sell. Unfortunately the results were mostly uneven or just plain disastrous. A summer night on a tiny stage in front of a sparse crowd where he felt free to explore and innovate was where Buchanan was at his best.

Luckily, through the magic of the internet, you can still hear and see some of his work. I don't think there are any great Buchanan albums, but if I had to pick one track to listen to it would be Ramon's Blues, a bluesy duet he recorded with Steve Cropper on the Loading Zone LP. There are also these two Youtube links. Although not definitive by any means, they do give a small taste of what he was all about.

Sweet Dreams: A Buchanan classic from his first LP. This record introduced the world to Buchanan's trademark use of controlled harmonics - the high pitched whistling sound created by simultaneously picking and dampening the string as it is plucked. Over the years just about every guitarist would copy the sound. Just think of ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons who cites Buchanan as a major influence of his style.

Roy's Blues: This clip shows just a little of Buchanan's free spirited and explosive style of playing. To say that Roy didn't follow the rules has to be the understatement of all-time.