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Roy Buchanan took the Telecaster, and guitar playing in general to a new level with his groundbreaking use of volume swells, tone control "wah" simulations, pinch harmonics, and feedback. Although influenced by Buck Owens and Roy Nichols initially, while living near Bakersfield, he would go on to take in a host of diverse musical styles and influences. In today's episode, we look at his history, playing style, gear, and how he has in one way or another influenced legions of players. Also, we look at motifs of his tune "Cajun," including how to play the snaky intro lick.
Spotify Playlist for Buchanan
open.spotify.com/playlist/6Ee...
1960 version of "After Hours," one of his first recordings using a Tele. His style is solidifying here.
• Roy Buchanan - After H...
"Potato Peeler" First use of pinch harmonics by Roy
• Bobby Gregg and his Fr...
Gear for this video:
1957 Fender Esquire with added Ron Ellis "New Tall" neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain.
Strings: D'Addario NYXL 10-46 amzn.to/3bWYb1M
Pick: Fender Heavy Jazz Pick 358
Amp: 1965 Deluxe Reverb with Celestion Vintage 30 speaker, and bright cap clipped on the vibrato channel.
Effects used:
Amp Verb. #askzac #guitartech #telecaster - เพลง
![ภาพนี้ก็ฮาเหมือนกันนะเนี้ย #1 SS8 [ พากย์นรก MEME.EXE ] | easy boy](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ytc50m91QK8/mqdefault.jpg)
I remember being relegated to playing the organ part on "The Messiah Will Come Again" in my college band so my buddy could do his best Roy Buchanan impression. It never got old.
Thanks for doing this one.
And 50 years on, it *still* isn't old. :-)
@@markhammer643 Jesus. Fifty years later. Wow.
You’re right. I feel old. But also blessed to hear Roy.
I saw Roy in Toronto at a outdoor concert no one was even paying attention it was a young crowd in the early 80s I walked right up to the stage & watched the whole show I'll never forget it 🎸
My father, Joe Mack, played on those Bobby Gregg sessions with Roy. My dad was a busy session bassist first in Philadelphia and then in NY and If I remember correctly he said Roy played through an amp that had a speaker purposely distressed to get a really raw, aggressive sound. Roy was a force of nature!
There was a single Roy was featured on called "White Fang" by the Knights on the Felsted label from Philadelphia that had the same musicians who played on those Bobby Gregg sides and you can really hear his early aggressive rock and roll sound. You can find this 45 on TH-cam.
Nice! Yes, I heard stories of sliced speakers to create distortion
@@StephanieM772 Thanks for that! Mediocre tune, but *great* guitar tone.
@@AskZac Zac, what year is that tele? Very nice..
That's truly fucking cool.
Another superb video Zac! Levon Helm wrote in his book "This Wheel's On Fire", about playing with Ronnie Hawkins in the early '60s when Roy Buchanan was briefly in the Hawks. Levon said it was one of the most amazing music experiences hearing Robbie Robertson and Roy Buchanan playing good natured Tele duels and pushing each other to their highest levels.
This was a great video on a true Tele master by Ask Zac. Thank you for putting it together.
Roy Buchanan was one of the big reasons I play a Tele....in Buchanan’s hands the Tele came alive. He could play blues so sweet, or accent country music with sounds like a steel guitar. He learned to make the guitar cry by striking a note, bending it, and making the sound swell by manipulating the volume knob with the pinky on his right hand. Using the pinky on the volume control and his ring finger on the tone control gave him a wah-wah sound. He did it his way, the hard way.
The Rolling Stones, so it is said, asked Buchanan to join their band. He is said to have declined....Buchanan told journalist Tom Zito that at this point he turned down - through Charlie Daniels - a job offer from the Rolling Stones stemming from Brian Jones’ death in July 1969. It’s a great story: a guitarist too hot, too disinterested in fame to join the Stones. (NOTE: Charlie Daniels at some point had signed Roy to record a studio album for Polydor Records, and they assembled enough tracks in Nashville, but Buchanan canned the LP, complaining that Daniels had made him sound too much like everyone else, though four tracks would later turn up on Polygram’s 1992 collection, Sweet Dreams.) Unfortunately, Charlie Daniels himself said he had never even heard that story, nor spoken to the Stones. Could this oft-repeated tale simply be one of Roy’s “greatest hits,” one of the greatest stories ever told in rock and roll circles?
Eric Clapton saw Buchanan perform once and proclaimed him “…the best in the world.” Buchanan set a youthful Robbie Robertson (later of the Band) on a stylistic course of his own. Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead touted Buchanan’s “…amazing chops.” Jeff Beck learned Telecaster techniques from him, became a friend, and continues to hold him in awe. In jazz circles - not often a source of admirers for rock and roll players - Les Paul, Charlie Byrd, Barney Kessell, and Mundell Lowe were quick to recognize and praise Buchanan’s talents.
The story of Roy's influence on Robbie Robertson is worth repeating....
In June of ’58 Dale Hawkins and Buchanan recorded Willie Dixon’s “My Babe” - a hit for Little Walter in ’55 - at Chess Records in Chicago, Roy’s first commercial recording....his edgy, dead-thumb intro and his Scotty Moore-style cascading notes still sparkle....Roy toured a lot with Dale....Dale had an earlier hit with Suzie Q , with James Burton playing.
So Roy Buchanan was with Dale Hawkins on a trip to Canada in January ’61 and changed rock and roll history.
Dale Hawkins’ band played Toronto, where his cousin, Arkansan turned Torontonian Ronnie Hawkins, ruled Yonge Street - the town’s entertainment strip. Ronnie lured Roy away from Dale, mostly to tutor the Hawk’s talented but unsophisticated guitarist, Robbie Robertson. As Roy explained once, “Ronnie was very strict about how he was backed, and Robertson would either overplay or underplay. He’d be playing lead when Ronnie was singing and it just wouldn’t work out. So I showed him how to do it, because that’s what I was really into, backing up people and making them sound good.”
When Robertson asked where he’d learned his licks, Buchanan told him he was half wolf.
Robertson later recalled his first encounter with the bohemian ace guitarist.
“He did all these tricks, weird sounds, and bending things down and bending the neck and playing with volume control. It was a very, very frightening experience,” he said;
“He could play anything I wanted him to play, and play it better than anyone else,” Ronnie Hawkins said. “Robbie was super good for his age, but Roy had been out there longer. He was the master. Anyway, Roy had many things to do and it just wasn’t going to work out. What he needed was discipline - playing day and night with a goal. He was too much of a free spirit for the times. I’ve always been the boss.”
Besides, Hawkins added, Buchanan seemed to be getting into mind games. “You didn’t know if he was super intelligent or just out of this world!”
Thus Roy Buchanan was a huge influence on Robbie's playing....in more than simply playing lol.
In ’88 Buchanan toured the U.S. opening for The Band. Robbie Robertson had been gone since The Last Waltz in ’76, and Richard Manuel had ended his fight with his own demons in March of ’86, when he hung himself in a shower using his own belt. Buchanan and the remaining Band members jammed memorably on “Willie and the Hand Jive” from their early days.
Buchanan’s stories were always plausible, yet one wonders. Consider the tale of how he acquired his trademark ’53 Tele. Buchanan told an interviewer that someone with a battered old Telecaster under his arm walked past the barbershop where he worked by day.
“I knew that guitar was mine, you know?” Buchanan would recall. “I walked out, right in the middle of a haircut, and I said, ‘Where’d you get that guitar?’ … I just told him, ‘I want it.’ … I said, ‘I’ll get you the most beautiful guitar you’ve ever seen, and I’ll trade you straight across.’ I left work that day and went to a friend of mine with connections and said, ‘I want a purple Telecaster.’ He had it before the sun went down… We swapped guitars, man. That was it. It was like, he knew it was my guitar, too.”
Roy's life had its ups and downs....he fought with alcoholism for far too many years....and his guitar playing was known to some but not to enough....yet his playing influenced and inspired many. It is a tragedy more don't know of the man and of his great guitar playing. Unfortunately his life ended just as tragically.
On the afternoon of August 14, 1988 Roy recorded a short sketch of a new song he’d been working on, then his wife Judy gave him a ride to a nearby shopping mall to run some errands.
Roy stopped by a tobacco store to buy some cigars and headed over to Ruby Tuesday’s for a few beers. When he returned home that evening he was loaded and had a stranger in tow. Judy became incensed and called the police. Buchanan tore the phone from the wall and walked out. He was picked up by Fairfax police near his home, walking down tree-lined Glade Street. Two officers in one car proceeded to the Buchanan home and talked to Judy. Two officers in another car transported Buchanan to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center where he was turned over to the sheriff’s department, charged with public intoxication.
According to Carl Peed, now sheriff, then PR officer, shortly after Buchanan was placed in holding cell R-45, he was discovered with a crushed larynx and died en route to the hospital. The sheriff said an investigation showed that the 220-pound Buchanan had hung himself from a waist-high bar in the cell door using his own t-shirt.
There are still missing pieces to the puzzle of what happened that night. Even a hard look at the evidence requires withholding judgment. At Buchanan’s funeral, one former band member recalled that Judy opened the coffin for them.
“It was obvious he’d had his head bashed in,” this witness said. “There were bruises on his head. I saw them.” The Fairfax County coroner’s report did not mention bruises on Buchanan’s head. Thus questions have arisen that still call out for answers.
If he took his own life, perhaps darkness won out in the end. If he was killed, we’ve done him a disservice by drawing attention to his demons. Roy Buchanan had something musical to say - something deep inside him, often beautiful and too often painful - and it only came out when he had a guitar, preferably his ’53 Tele, in his hands. Despite the difficulties and missed opportunities, Buchanan’s soulful honesty lives on.
(NOTE: I 'borrowed' liberally most of what's above from a great piece on Roy Buchanan from Vintage Guitar: www.vintageguitar.com/2817/roy-buchanan/. My apologies to anyone offended but honestly it adds to Roy's story and legacy.)
Heard A Guy In The Jail That Nite Say Roy Was Ruffed Up By Officers! He Heard It.
That Austin city limits was a head turner for me. Hadn’t heard or seen anything like it. And he could make that Tele scream. And from that first album I love both John’s Blues and Pete’s Blues.
My guitar teacher sent me away from one of my lessons with a live Roy Buchanan tape...of course my mind was blown away. Same guy that turned me on to Danny Gatton. Really broadened my horizons as a young lost guitar player. I believe it happened around high school for me as well =)
Awesome stuff. Thanks for this video. I discovered Roy in the mid 80s, a year or two before he passed. I switched to Tele because of him, he's a legend.
Thanks, Zac. Great video. I have been a Roy fan for a long time. I used to see him live in the DC area a lot in the early '70s. The records don't capture the excitement he could generate live, bootleg tapes were the exception. But, he could play the audience like he had them in the palm of his hand. He was a performer. No face paint, weird outfits or choreography. Just playing his guitar. Unforgettable.
Cool!
The sad thing about Roy is that his live shows were soooo much better than his recordings…Instead of recommending albums..I would recommend people watch his Austin city limits 1976 show..That’s Roy Buchanan!
Years ago I first became aware of Roy when I bought an extensive multiple CD blues boxed set that featured many famous blues guitarists and when I heard his playing on 'Pete's Blues' I was floored by his genius ! Then I discovered other guitar gems from Roy that impressed me immensely , especially 'Five String Blues' and 'The Messiah Will Come Again' ... absolutely compelling, atmospheric and amazing !!!
He had an old beat-up Telecaster that must have been Nancy. He tried my 72 Cal Telecaster he didn't like it. He had a Fender amp. He referred to his guitar and amp as his rig. He had a tobacco- Les Paul. He had a Gibson acoustic that he used on Dual Soliloquy. He showed up with Bob Johnston. He hardly spoke at all and if you spoke less than him he might eventually grow to like you.
If he appreciated you you could see it in his eyes. He could play a Telecaster through a Leslie and get it to sound like a saxophone. I was 15. He could give you an inferiority complex. He got me to thinking that maybe I was a lyricist.
It was a Broadcaster. Pre Tele. Nancy.
It’s Jack Bond …I knew Roy, and heard all his styles for Many years- before he was “urged” into a blues bag, I heard him play Country that would “raise a blister on a brick”, as he used to say. He was kind enough to listen to my originals and encourage me- then asked me to write one for him, so I wrote THAT’S WHAT I AM HERE FOR, which he recorded on Polydor. He improved it, and still gave me full credit; incredibly kind of him! Live, No one could touch his tone or the grace, soul, and power with which he could bend notes, build up a solo etc! Recordings never really captured him. There was only one Roy. RIP 🙏
THE reason I went through my "Telecaster Years" in the mid 70's. One of the only guitarists I've consciously tried to sound like. Of course I failed miserably, but that's OK, everybody else did too. Still my fvorite version of "Hey Joe".
Roy was an absolute monster. There are and has been many great guitar players and there will be mamy more grrats in the futer. That being said there will never be anyone better than Roy.
Hello Zac, My father played bass with Roy in the 1960's. Being the backbone of a duo Drums and Bass, my Father and a drummer were THE duo to hire to back up anyone from Boston to DC. they Needed a god guitar player who had the chops, so Roy was introduced to them and they immediately clicked. They became fishing and drinking buddies very quickly and maintained that friendship until the 1970's, as a little kid I remember sitting on the floor, casually banging on a telecaster which was most likely Roy's he stayed with us frequently between long nights of drinking and weeks long detachments from his family. His guitar randomly laying around the house. I remember him as being very quiet all of the time.
Thank you for sharing. What was your father's name?
@@AskZac his stage name was Vince (Vinnie) Brando.
When Roy came on board, they renamed themselves “The Bad Boys” after another musician they backed called them “the baddest bunch of dudes this side of the Mississippi.
Lol.
My Father also gave Eddie Bauer his first professional gig ever o think playing either Piano or Vibes, but Eddie is a legendary Drummer.
Eddie Bayer, not Bauer
Huge fan of Roy's. I feel like the labels never understood or couldn't figure out where he fit or how to present him. What a great player
I don't think HE knew where he got in. And i don't think he realized how great he was. A sad life.
2:20 Being in a band with older, better musicians who will put up with you is the best way to get into playing shape. I'm the youngest in my group by seven years (twelve younger than the next-youngest musician) and I've learned everything I know about gear, intonation, listening, self-mixing, tasteful playing, etc. from the year I've spent with them. When we share a bill with a band whose members are all in their 20's like me, the performances are intense and I can get behind it, but there's a class and shapeliness and dynamism to the way my 35- and 40-year-old bandmates play that's much easier to enjoy.
Roy is the reason I play telecasters....
I was very fortunate to be able to meet and talk with Roy two different times....!🎵🙏🙏🙏🎶
Thanks for being. I asked a Guitar player who was in a band called the Eagles for advice on learning electric guitar. He said get a Telecaster and a Champ.
1984 Joe Walsh, Memphis, TN.
He was correct.
Thanks again Zac!!!
I stumbled upon him by acquiring Loading Zone on vinyl at a flea market-I bought it for the guitar; anyone with a guitar like that, with that wear, knows how to play. And his pinch harmonics are always gobsmacking for me-like hearing Hendrix on Machine Gun swimming around in feedback or Coltrane’s transcendent squawk on My Favorite Things.
Oh boy have I been waiting for this one Zac. Roy Buchanan might be THE reason I got into telecasters.
My first guitar hero. Back in '73 I saw a rerun of the PBS special, and was hooked. I bought the first 3 albums, turned my friends on to Roy, and still do, even to this day. The First Album is definitive Roy, all songs very excellent, after that each album had some strong songs, but if you love Roy you love it all. The his Atlantic years...stellar albums, Loading Zone and You're Not Alone was strong , and very promising. Loading Zone, w Steve Cropper, Stanley Clark was very well produced. You're Not Alone, he paid tribute to Pink Floyd, a great album. Jeff Becks 'Cause we've ended as Lovers, is a pure homage to Roy, and Roy returns the favor w a Jeff Beck tribute on "My Friend Jeff" David Gilmore's solos on Shine on You Crazy Diamond Parts 1-5 are inspired by Roy's playing , and Gary Moore does a most glorious cover of Messiah, Robbie Robertson (the band) is one of Roy's "Disciples" Great video.
I see you're mostly a fan of the early stuff, his covers, which were few, but glorious are all great, Lonesome Fugitive was awesome, but his Down By the River is equally excellent, Turn to Stone (Joe Walsh) is good too. Anyone who loves Chicken Picken, or pinky volume swells, must listen to Roy
in robbie robertson autobio .. testimony .. he talks and gives massive raps to Roy .. who think was 2yrs younger than robbie .. basically helped him hugely .. roy leaving home at 13 and being on road alone was a big thing , many people dont realise this ... think he had demons inside from those years ...always been my number 1 .. even though roy always said there is no number 1's .. but he definately is a no 1 ... rip Roy ..
Crazy, I was listening to Roy in the 70's on 8 track tapes in my car! Eventually replaced with albums to crank up on a high power Pioneer stereo set up. I always liked his sound and playing.
Cool stuff, brother. I'm not a country guy, more classic rock and blues, but I sure dig your channel. Great content and history. Glad to support you and the channel.
Thank you, Dennis
@@AskZac zac i was 15 yrs old and a friend and i snuck into a concert and saw roy in early 70`s in NYC..really blew me away..remember couple other really good bands like Crazy Horse and (Full Moon?)..roy really blew the house down...snuck up to the side of the stage when he finished..he looked like a damn giant
You've got me thoroughly obsessed with telecasters now. Thank you, Zac!
It's a good day then.
First album was Buch and the Snake Stretchers and was sold in a burlap bag type slip cover. I saw him many times playing at the Crossroads in Bladensburg. He'd face his amp to the wall and often played with his back to the crowd as well.
That band name almost made me choke! LOL
The man who made me want to buy a Telecaster! Already know this'll be a good one
Same here... Strats for 35 years and my Tele gets here on Thursday!
Same here!
Roy also introduced me to the Tele.
@@MattStricklandBand I played Strats for 20 years before I got a tele.Both is best.
Took a chance on Roy Buchanon Live Stock live recording from a Columbia House record order. (remember those?)
A Guitar Player magazine tipped me to him. Our young high school band was mesmerized by his playing. Then, we saw him on Austin City Limits and that was it. Live Stock is one of my favorite live recordings. The whole band is great.
FINALLY! Somebody else that knows the awesomeness of "Cajun"!!!! 1 minute of pure tele twang!!!!
His “In The Beginning” was the record that hooked me.Then I backed up and got into his earlier records.Extraordinary player and a master of the Telecaster for sure...!!!
Great episode Zac. Another episode of a Tele master. It’s hard to do a volume knob swell or tone knob wah effect without thinking about Roy Buchanan. Roy playing The Messiah Will Come Again still gives me goosebumps. I wish we could purchase that multiple documentary on TH-cam about Roy’s life. It was very interesting with some rare footage of Roy playing on stage with Merle alongside Roy Nichols.
One year ago I had 3 strats. They are all gone replaced by by two teles.so many tones in a simple guitar. Been watching Roy,’s ACL video over and over. Great channel Zac.
Again, great job and thank you Zac! Another entertaining video to inspire our musical journey. After watching this I asked myself when was it that I first heard Roy. I can't remember! Bought my first Tele around 1976 so it must have been about this time as I am possitive he was my influence. His first two albums were my Tele lessons as I pretty much worked them all out by ear. Today I guess I'll brush up on some of those tunes that I learned to play back then. Thanks, brother!
I saw and got to meet Roy Buchanan about a year before he died. It's tragic that he's so relatively unknown.
Love Roy Buchanan! Thanks for the excellent video! One of my favorite Roy techniques is his use of pinch harmonics. He is an amazing listen.
Growing up in Montreal, when Roy's first album came out, it received a LOT of airplay on FM radio; especially "The Messiah will come again", "Sweet Dreams", and "Lonesome Fugitive". I practiced those "crying tones" from "The Messiah" constantly. Some players are best known for their speed, some for phrasing, others for tone and effects. AFAIC, Roy's signature was his pick attack, and the manner in which he combined pick edge with fingers. Not just for pinch harmonics, but for the way he could convey a sense of urgency, even with clean notes. Roy also made it pretty much a requisite for me over the subsequent 50 years, that any "proper" guitar should *always* have a volume control within easy reach.
Roy Buchanan one of my favorites. Kinda brought me to the playing of Jim Campilongo and Arlen Roth
Jeff Beck, "Because We've Ended As Lovers" brought me to the first Roy Buchanan album. Saw him live twice. (Roxy, Hollywood.) Had to learn his version of "Hey Good Lookin'!" Note: My Nash Rambler broke down in Pixly. Had to hitchhike outta there.
Another great description - licks and gear - of a great Telemaster from the past. Love the record time and references, too! Danny Gatton next?
Thank you so much, Bill!
Subscribed during the first months of the pandemic. You've kept my interest for a Telecaster very much alive, regardless of how little I play guitar these days. One day I will buy a Tele and learn the ways of Roy Buchanan.
Got to see Roy play at the Armadillo World HQ in Austin in the late 70s. Great show. A Tele and a Deluxe Reverb.
You honestly never disappoint in your videos.
Agreed... Zac rules
Opened with Cajun, my favorite of his. Awesome!
What a great walk down memory lane . Roy Buchanan , true greatness > subs almost to 20k! Thanks Zac! We are so fortunate!
Thank you!
The first time I heard Roy Buchannan was the day MTV first aired my freshman year of school. Been a huge fan of Roy and the Telecaster ever since. The Lonesome Fugitive solo was always one of my favorites.
Awesome video Zac! Enjoy listening to Roy Buchanan and your story telling
Thanks for listening
I was lucky enough to see Roy play in Cleveland at a small hall venue back in the mid 70's. I had no idea who he was but went to the concert on the recommendation of a musician friend that I respected...
Opening up with a classic "Cajun"...awesome Zac! One of my favorite and very early influences.
Same here!
Been knocking it out of the park lately Zac!
Loved this episode, Buchanan is sooo freaking cool
Roy was incredibly influential. I remember growing up and reading all of the guitar magazines and so many players talked about Roy and his playing.
“Cajun” has a “Tennessee Stud” Doc Watson kinda lick, the one you said was fiddle tune like. I’d never heard it, or anything much by Roy. Thank you for unearthing another great tele player to listen to, really digging this stuff!
Purchased the self titled album as well as Live Stock at the same time. Was knocked out by Roy’s tone & technique. A game changer for me. Really appreciate the time & effort you put into these profiles. Great stuff.
Thank you
Been waiting for this one for a while! Began to think maybe you weren't a fan!
His “Duel Soliloquy” changed everything I thought a guitar was capable of doing when I first heard it in high school. Great video Zac, thanks 🙏
Cool!
Great.
Dad used to watch a PBS show (Sound stage) which is where i discovered Tommy Bolin and Zephyr in '69.
Bought the album quick as possible, i was 12. One night "The Greatest Unknown Guitarist" It was Roy Buchannan.
Most loved, "LiveStock". Part of why i own a Tele.
Great Tone & Playing, Lad - you really Nail it perfectly. TY.
Thanks for this nice video featuring the work and history of the great Roy Buchanan. I, like a lot of people, first become aware of Roy’s amazing talent when I heard Sweet Dreams in the early 1970s. I own most of his recordings and never tire of listening to them. I was amazed when he started using a Les Paul on some of his Alligator recordings, still sounded great though! Like Danny Gatton gone far too soon soon.
Thanks so much! Love the detail you go into! I've been lucky enough to "borrow" my dad's 50's journeyman custom shop for past year and am about to dive into some Buchanan on this thing!!
That is awesome!
Rory Gallagher got those pinch harmonics from Roy, or perhaps the other way round...what a great player Roy truly was, such feel!
Take a listen to Clapton's brief solo on Derek and the Dominos' "Bell Bottom Blues", released in 1970, around the two-minute forty-second mark ( th-cam.com/video/BKAYGVIkbok/w-d-xo.html ). I'm not suggesting who stole what from whom, but pinch harmonics were beginning to show up in several places at that time. So it's not surprising that the best players were using them.
@@markhammer643 claptons not anywhere near as good as many .. over rated ...rory is amazing tho .. pity .. roy , srv ,rory .. RIP
@@sebatianalvarado7171 Clapton is in no way over rated. He's a great singer, composer, and guitarist! Can he do what Danny Gatton could do? No but who can. His playing on Telephone Blues with Mayhall at 21 was brilliant. Now you can have your opinion (obviously) but if he's overrated why do you think it was one of Hendrix's goals when he first came to England to meet Clapton, to give him a lesson?
Another great episode - thx! Just wanted to point out that there actually is a country song on the second album. The last track is ‘She Once Lived Here’ - the George Jones tune. Very sweetly played by Roy, nothing earth shattering but super nice touch. I always loved that track. Anyway, keep up the great work. It’s been a nice thing during a weird year.
I found myself at a party in Bellville, Texas around 1977. I didn’t know anyone there. This guy comes up and introduces himself as Spencer and we’ve been friends ever since. Inside of a week he first introduced me to Django and then he laid Roy Buchanan on me. Guitar was never the same for me after that. I always found Roy to be an acquired taste but his virtuosity was without question. Great video, thanks.
I remember Roy playing with his Vibrolux turned around backwards. Never thought much of it until seeing a guy in Montreal during a show switch from his Strat to his Tele, and turned his Vibrolux around backwards for the Tele!
A conversation and later demonstration showed me the remarkable difference.
robby robertson talks about buchanan being sent up north to canada to work with ronnie hawkins, he being the cousin of dale hawkins, new band...giving some mentoring to robby robertson
I saw Roy play in a club in Mount Kisco NY, I think it was 1974. He came out playing the song "Green Onions" on a Les Paul, one of the best shows I've ever seen.
You are a wellspring of information Zac, thanks for another awesome video. I love how you break down various riffs/lines from a few key songs like this.
I love your Esquire - it's pretty much exactly what my ideal Tele looks like in my mind :-) Sounds great magical too.
Thanks!!
Roy mentioned owning and playing a Telecaster as a kid early in the fifties. Don't forget the blues influence of Jimmy Nolen on Roy. Danny Gatton claimed to have created that tune "Cajun" at the beginning.
Great deomonstrations Zac!
My 1 st Roy album was ‘ a street called straight ‘ which had quite a bit of country feel to it . One of my favorites is a duet between Roy and Stanley Clark . I think it was called ‘ The adventures of brair rabbit . . His live album , was probably his most rock oriented release . Great stuff .!!!
I’ll put Roy up there with Hendrix, SRV, Clapton. I was introduced to him on TH-cam by chance and saw his Austin performance of Hey Joe. I just bought the Texas Tea ultra tele. Sounds and looks amazing as well. Thanks for the informative videos. Really enjoying them.
i never knew who roy was but i saw a clip of him doing volume swells and thats changed everything for me
I always thought Roy did everything just with pick! Love his playing, gone from us way to soon!
"When a Guitar Plays The Blues" was just a masterpiece for Alligator Records. The live show for this album was one of the most extraordinary guitar shows I have ever seen. I believe Roy was so grateful for this album, that his live show was sensational. I saw him twice, and the two shows were diametrically different. The "When a Guitar Plays The Blues" show was at Rockefellers in Houston, Texas, the best night club I have ever experienced as well. When a Guitar Plays The Blues is as great a guitar album as you can ask for.
Any excuse to talk about Roy Buchanan is a valid one!
Hey Zak! Good stuff! Wind blew so hard here, a lady had the same baby twice....seriously, you have a good informative way about you...thanks
..
I remember seeing the special when it first came out. My older brother actually saw the first release and told me about it, but I saw it when they repeated it soon after. The Messiah was magic for someone listening to Hendrix, Cream and the rest of the usual rock guitar suspects. The hype was overdone, but Roy really was special.
Mr Buchanan's "tricks" seeped into two generations, and thanks to this kind of coverage will ripple on. He's an exciting musician - there are not enough of those. He was a devoted Dad of a large family, which decided his career at points. People mistook his sense of humour for "tales", but there are so many guitar players ...
i really enjoyed this . i knew about roy ..but not alot...i got alot of insight and useful facts
I saw Roy twice at the Texas Opry House in Houston in the late 70s. The first time was magical and unreal. The second time was just...sad. But he was a great, great guitarist.
Great job Zac...thank you!
My pleasure!
Roy said in interviews that Jimmy Nolen, most well known as James Brown’s guitar player, was a big influence on him. Roy said Nolen was the first guy he saw bending strings. Check out Nolen’s early blues records on his own and with Johnny Otis.
1991 changed my life: I discovered Velvet Underground, Richard Thompson and Fairport Convention, Krieger, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Garcia and an album called When A Guitar Plays The Blues with Buchanan just STRANGLING the Tele with tons of Echo lol. It changed my life, though I've always assumed it was Echoplex(??). to my ears. I f anyone can confirm, i'd appreciate it!
Got to see Roy twice in a small club in Dayton Ohio in the mid-80's while he was signed to Alligator records. Amazing.
Is it true he was playing out of Roland solid state amps?
@@wildersparks9161 Sorry, I cannot recall the amps he was using either time. I can tell you he was travelling pretty light for those tours. Pretty sure the band, Roy and the gear all arrived in a single van. So I'd be surprised if he WASN'T using solid state amps though.
You knocked it outta the park again Zac. Thank you for keeping great guitarists alive by your unique style of delivery. I now think you should use this moniker....Zac, the "Edu-caster" (Tele Education) ......Russell D.
Wow, thanks!
I got to see Roy open for B.B. King at Indiana U. I wish there was a recording of that, but there are great ones on TH-cam.
Buck was a hell of a guitar player!!!
Great video Zac. I started to listen to Roy Buchanan in the early 1970s and loved his sound from the start. I was really hit hard by his passing. You mentioned some of the guitars that he played but I've seen pictures of him playing a sunburst Les Paul with P90 pickups. Not sure at what point in his career he used that guitar but it must have sounded quite different from Nancy.
look in the reflection of the helmet on ... your not alone .... isnt a tele ....
Love that tone! That guitar just plain smokes! Very cool!!
Thank you kindly!
Zak your show is the best
Thanks
Roy's first -good- electric guitar was a mid '50s Gibson L5CES as you mentioned, which he played with bands like the Heartbeats circa 1955-56. Dale Hawkins did claim Roy had a Tele early on (albeit, with no pictorial evidence) as did Roy's friend Elwood Brown. However, the first pictorial evidence I found was Roy playing a whiteguard Esquire with a band called The British Walkers, circa '64-'65? I'm not sure what was played on all those early '60s session recordings (Bobby Gregg, Bob Moore and the Temps, Fred Mistroni, etc) but the rumor was that back then he was using a Bogen PA amp and some kind of funky cabinet.
Love it
Very good episode, Zac 👍👍! Well-researched & thorough. Like you, I think Roy's first 2 albums & 'Live Stock' pretty much sum up his best work. Personally, I never really got into his Alligator recordings. The Austin City Limits show is well worth tracking down on YT, if it's still up
Thanks
I can't tell if I love the history you talk about involving these old Pickers or learning the techniques the Old Pickers used ? Couldn't buy fancy effects pedal back then...
Another nice video, thanks Zac.
Randy, in the great North Woods of Michigan
You bet!
Every timme i pickup my telecaster and play i think of Roy bushanan, no one can play tele like Roy he was the best teleplayer.😊
I had the pleasure of seeing Roy many times back in the day when he was actively touring. His live shows were always fantastic. During the mid 1980's I was managing Jeff Healey's band when he was just getting going. One night Jeff had a gig at a small club called Chicago's which was across the street from another club called The Horseshoe where Roy Buchanan happened to be playing. I went over to catch Roy's first set and after that I asked him if Jeff could jam with him. Much to my surprise Roy said yes! I could hardly believe it. I tore across the street to tell Jeff that Roy wanted to jam with him. I was absolutely shocked when Jeff said no, he wouldn't do it. So, it never happened unfortunately. I believe that Jeff may have been somewhat intimidated by Roy which was unusual for Jeff, as he was an incredible player who would go onto to share the stage with the worlds greatest guitarists, names like Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray, BB King, Albert Collins, and many others.
Were you with Jeff the first time he came to Vancouver and played the Yale in, I would say April of '87?
I love the clip on youtube of him playing with Haggard and Nichols. You can hear them laughing after his crazy solo.
Most enjoyable 😄
Glad you enjoyed
I saw Roy and met him shortly before he died at a club in Northern California, great show! Nice guy and very quiet voice. You didn’t talk about his connection to Robby Robertson at all?
The episode was running long. I would have
lol that face when you say "and then he started playing a strat..."
Hi Zac, Roy apparently left Dale Hawkins in 1960 to join his cousin, Ronnie Hawkins. I think that at this point Roy started using the Telecaster for the rough rock 'n roll music Ronnie was playing. Roy was brought in to tutor Robbie Robertson who had joined the band initially as the bass player but was bound to be their lead guitar player. Roy gets mentioned in both Robertsons and Levon Helms autobiography as having a huge influence on Robertons playing, who himself became one fine Telecaster player with Bob Dylan and obviously The Band. A nice subject for a future episode?
The Robbie section was left out due to the episode already going well over 20 minutes. Yes, leaves it open to a Robbie episode.