Sonntag, 14. August 2016

14.08. B.J. Sharp, Pat Thomas, Terry Evans * Bobo Jenkins, Lafayette Leake, Fred Below, Roy Buchanan +







1937 Terry Evans*
1957 B.J. Sharp*
1960 Pat Thomas*
1984 Bobo Jenkins+
1988 Roy Buchanan+
1988 Fred Below+
1990 Lafayette Leake+






Happy Birthday

 

B.J. Sharp   *14.08.1957

 



 B.J. Sharp's style of blues is comparable to a prize-winning chili recipe. Ingredients such as humorous themes and the ability to say boldly what most women are afraid to say, spiced with a unique outlook on topics of pain and love, make her a standout.
At age four, Sharp blew out the p.a. system the first time she sang publicly in the community Southern Baptist church. She moved to California after the sudden suicide of her first husband, leaving her to raise two children as a single mom. Upon her arrival, she gave the "old show business a try," performing standup comedy on open mike nights and opening for comedians Robin Williams and Elayne Boosler. Unabashedly, she tackled topics like male/female confrontations, and the fact that women can be tough and even as nasty as men. Sharp never hesitates to tell her audience about her seven ex-husbands, and wittingly calls her backup band the Hus-Bands.
Her breakthrough came when she began to add singing into her act. Changing her act from stand-up comedy mixed with blues singing to blues singing with comedic commentary, offers of club work began to increase. One night, while performing at Harvelle's, guitarist Jimmy Rip and songwriting partner Mick Jagger walked in. Immediately, Jagger went head over heels for Sharp's act and convinced her to sign to Critique Records, a division of BMG. In fall 1997, her debut album, I Never Felt the Blues Like This, was released. Produced by B.B. King guitarist Alan Mirikitani, its aggressive style brought her notice, notably a Bammie (Bay Area Music Award) nomination for Outstanding Blue.







Pat Thomas   *14.08.1960

 



Also noch einmal raus auf die Straße und runter nach Leland: Es heißt, im dort ansässigen Highway 61 Museum habe sich ein Original erhalten. Tatsächlich, da sitzt Pat Thomas vor einer vollgestopften Vitrine und empfängt uns mit einem Ständchen auf der Akustischen. Das Museum ist sein Stammplatz, und der Ort ist auch unter ästhetischen Gesichtspunkten gut gewählt: Das verstaubte Ambiente des Highway 61 Museum mit seinen auf zwei Räume verteilten Instrumenten und Bühnenklamotten harmoniert wunderbar mit Pats Erscheinung. Pat ist nicht nur der Sohn des Urbluesers James "Son" Thomas, mit seinem zahnlosen Mund und dem Strohhut sieht er aus, als wäre er einem Fotoband entsprungen. Als Musiker beherrscht er alle Tricks, sein Renommierstück indes ist der Beefsteak Blues, ein Song, der auf subtile Art darauf hinweist, dass der Mensch etwas zum Beißen braucht. Selbstverständlich kommt man aus der Nummer nicht heraus, ohne ein angemessenes Trinkgeld entrichtet zu haben. Gern geschehen. Wenn er nicht selbst ein Museumsstück ist, muss Pat Thomas der letzte echte Mississippi-Bluesmann sein.

The son of famed Mississippi bluesman James “Son” Thomas, from Leland, Mississippi, carries on the family blues business, keeping his fatherʼs songs alive, as well as doing his own thing in the country blues tradition. His dad, as many blues fans know, was brought to the international blues forefront by musicologist William Ferris. Pat Thomas is also a well renowned folk artist who makes clay sculpture of birds, animals, and human faces, also a passion he shares with his late father.
Pat Thomas is the living embodiment of the original rural blues, the down-home Mississippi Delta sound that has so captured the worldʼs fascination. One of the true- hearted blues players who is under-recognized and still obscure, the Mississippi bard plays primitive folk blues, the real country blues.This guy embodies the living incarnation of every blues-loverʼs romanticized dream of the old time music as played in the heyday of the music up and down the Mississippi Delta. He is what so many emulate, mimic and try to be. Most blues players the world over start out as fancy dazzlers and eventually try to get “the sound”. They buy old guitars and amps and try to be a “real” bluesman, to capture that Mississippi style. Some come close. Pat Thomas is expressionism. Freedom. Heart and Soul. Itʼs Mississippi mud, and heat, and cotton and sweat and toil through centuries.
There are many better singers in the world. There are also many better guitar players. A case can be made by those of us who delve deeply into the deep blues, that this music is simply brilliant precisely because of its lack of convention and its primal qualities. Human beings have made music for millions of years, and for much of that time we achieved great satisfaction from simple drums, gut strings stretched over gourds, can fifes and whistles. That music resonates in our genes to this day, and one reason for itʼs appeal is that it has always been part of the human experience. Music does not have to be complicated to move human emotion. One bending of the blue note does the trick.
Yet, the inherent simplicity is deceiving. When hearing Pat Thomas, it reminds one of Bahamian guitarist Joseph Spence, or Sleepy John Estes, or Mississippi John Hurt– not stylistically, but in terms of the esoteric, idiosyncratic sound that may seem simple, until you try to emulate it and you just canʼt because it is actually very difficult, if not impossible, because in truth it is highly complex. Itʼs like looking at a Picasso painting that looks childlike, crude and simple and you think you can do it. Pity the fool that tried. It canʼt be done, because sometimes art is not about being refined or fancy or perfect. Just listen to the YouTube video below and it becomes evident why this “primitive music” has followers worldwide among all kinds of people.
This is not dissimilar to the music as heard and collected by the great field musicologists, but this is not just something for the vaults of intellectual folklorists. This is music that gets into your heart with a single bent note, with itʼs slow picking, hard feeling. This is the stuff that grabs you by the soul.
Pat Thomas is being featured in the new book “Mississippi State of Blues” by Ken Murphy and Scott Barretta. Also, check out “The hidden history of Mississippi Blues” by Roger Stolle with photographs by Lou Bopp.
Recommended starter: Thomasʼ ethereal blues are on the Broke and Hungry record label. Check out “His fatherʼs son.”










Terry Evans   *14.08.1937

 



Terry Lee Evans [2] (* 14. August 1937 in Vicksburg, Mississippi) ist ein US-amerikanischer Soul-Sänger. Er spielt Gitarre und war Background-Sänger für Lowell Fulson, ZZ Hill und BB King. 2013 war er mit Hans Theessink für den Amadeus Austrian Music Award in der Kategorie Jazz/World/Blues nominiert.

Terry Evans (born August 14, 1937)[1] is an African American R&B, blues, and soul singer, guitarist and songwriter. He has worked with many musicians including Ry Cooder, Bobby King, John Fogerty, Eric Clapton, Joan Armatrading, John Lee Hooker, Boz Scaggs, Maria Muldaur and Hans Theessink.[2][3] Cooder stated that he always thought that Evans made a better "frontman."[3]
From 1994 to the present, Evans has released seven solo albums, including Blues for Thought (1994) Come to the River (1997) and Fire in the Feeling (2005).[2]
Evans career has been inspired by Elmore James, Little Walter, Albert King, and B.B. King. Songs he has written have been recorded by Pops Staples and Louis Jordan.[2]
Terry Lee Evans[1] was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi, United States, and sang in his local church choir.[2] His parents were keen for him to concentrate purely on gospel music, although Evans found exposure to the work of mainstream blues musicians.[3] He worked semi professionally with an a cappella group called the Knights before relocating in the 1960s to Los Angeles, California. He expanded his repertoire by learning to play the guitar and started to write songs for other musicians. Amongst those who recorded his songs were Pops Staples ("Love Is a Precious Thing") and Louis Jordan ("Hop, Skip, and Jump"). Unable to find his own fame, despite television exposure, Evans teamed with fellow soul and gospel singer, Bobby King. They performed regularly on the chitlin' circuit throughout the 1970s, although Evans also worked as a backing vocalist for Ry Cooder. His backup work appeared on several of Cooder's albums down the years, including Chicken Skin Music (1976) and My Name Is Buddy (2007).[2] Evans joint work with King saw the release of two albums in 1988 and 1990.[4]
He gained a bigger audience through his involvement in the soundtrack to the 1986 film, Crossroads. Evans voice appeared on the title track in the film itself, and on the soundtrack on another song, "Down in Mississippi".[5] Evans later worked with Lloyd Jones' on the latter's album, Trouble Monkey, before recording his first solo album, Blues for Thought (1994).[2] It was produced by Ry Cooder, who also played guitar on the recording.[6] Evans sang backing vocals on the Dutch singer and guitarist Hans Theessink's 1997 album, Journey On.[7][8] Evans 2001 album, Mississippi Magic was nominated for a Blues Music Award as the “Best Soul Blues Album of the Year”.[5] On Evans 2005 album, Fire in the Feeling, David Lindley guest starred playing guitar on a couple of the tracks.[9]
Evans most recent recording was his joint effort with Theessink, on Delta Time (2012). CBC News journalist, Bianca Cervantes, opined that "Delta Time is the latest transatlantic blues treasure."




Terry Evans • Down In Mississippi


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ch4F-u3BuI 









R.I.P.

 

Bobo Jenkins   +14.08.1984

 



Bobo Jenkins (January 7, 1916 – August 14, 1984)[2] was an American Detroit blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He also built and set up his own recording studio and record label in Detroit.[1] Jenkins is best known for his recordings of "Democrat Blues" and "Tell Me Where You Stayed Last Night".
He was born John Pickens Jenkins in Forkland, Alabama,[2] but when less than a year old his father, a sharecropper, died and Jenkins grew up with his mother and uncle. However, he left home before the age of 12, and arrived in Memphis, Tennessee. He had a wife at the age of 14, the first of ten marriages. Jenkins took casual work in the Mississippi Delta for several years and then enrolled in the United States Army. Following his 1944 military discharge, he relocated to Detroit, working for Packard and managing a garage, before spending twenty seven years working for Chrysler.[1]
In the late 1940s Jenkins learned the guitar and starting writing songs. He penned the politically motivated "Democrat Blues" on US Election Day in 1952.[3] Therein Jenkins expressed his disquiet about Dwight D. Eisenhower becoming the first Republican in the White House for almost twenty years.[4]
With assistance from John Lee Hooker, Jenkins recorded "Democrat Blues" in Chicago in 1954, which was released by Chess Records. A further issue appeared on Chicago's Boxer Records, and then "Ten Below Zero" (1957) on Detroit's Fortune Records. In 1959 he set up his own record label, Big Star Records, whose first release was Jenkin's single "You"ll Never Understand" and "Tell Me Where You Stayed Last Night." He met and played alongside Sonny Boy Williamson II, before self-constructing his own recording studio. He recorded mainly local musicians including James "Little Daddy" Walton, Little Junior Cannady, Chubby Martin and Syl Foreman.[1]
Jenkins went on to promote the first Detroit Blues Festival in 1972, and the same year issued his first album, The Life of Bobo Jenkins. The album became known as the "red album", due to the color of the record sleeve. It included a photograph of a younger Jenkins- who was 56 years old- within a star shape. This was a tie-in with the Big Star Records name. Jenkins was one of the headline acts in the Detroit blues review part of the 1973 Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival. Recordings from the festival were released by Schoolkids Records in 1995, which included two tracks by Jenkins. In 1974, Jenkins penned another song with political overtones, "Watergate Blues," which appeared on his next album Here I Am a Fool in Love Again. It boasted the same cover design as the previous release, but with a change in color was alternatively dubbed the "green album". Session musicians used included Ann Arbor based artists such as Sarah Brown, Fran Christina and Steve Nardella.[1] In 1976 Jenkins performed at the Smithsonian Institution, as part of the celebrations marking the US Bicentennial.
Detroit All Purpose Blues was issued in 1977, his so-called "yellow album", which utilised other Detroit based blues musicians such as Buddy Folks and Willie D. Warren. In 1982, he went to Europe with the American Living Blues Festival tour, but due to poor health he returned home after his first concert.[1]
Bobo Jenkins died in Detroit after a long illness in August 1984, at the age of 68.



Bobo Jenkins ~ ''Tell Me Who''&''24 Years''(Electric Blues) 









Lafayette Leake   +14.08.1990

 



Lafayette Leake (* 1. Juni 1920 in Winona, Mississippi; † 14. August 1990 in Chicago, Illinois) war ein US- amerikanischer Bluespianist.
Leake ist sicher einer der unbesungenen Helden der Bluesmusik.[1]Da er nicht daran interessiert war, jenseits seiner Musik im Rampenlicht zu stehen, weiß man nur wenig über sein Leben. Er wuchs in einem musikalischen Elternhaus auf, in dem eine Menge von verschiedenen Stilen gepflegt wurden, von Klassik bis Blues. Seine Fähigkeit, jede Art von Musik nach Gehör nachzuspielen war bemerkenswert. Das und seine Technik machten ihn zu einem wichtigen Bestandteil von Chicagos Bluesszene in den frühen 1950er - Jahren. [2]
Er wurde Mitglied des Big Three Trio, wo er Leonard Caston ersetzte, Anfang der 1950er- Jahre und dem Bassspieler Willie Dixon blieb er sein Leben lang verbunden.[1] Als Dixon zu Chess Records als Songwriter und Produzent ging, war Leake dabei. Er spielte bei allen von Dixon produzierten Songs und daneben noch bei vielen anderen Sessions. So spielte er zum Beispiel das Klavier auf Chuck Berrys "Johnny B. Goode".[3]Die Liste der Musiker, die er begleitete, liest sich wie ein Who is Who der Bluesmusik.(Chuck Berry, Howlin' Wolf, Billy Boy Arnold, Otis Rush, Junior Wells, Little Walter, Homesick James, Sonny Boy Williamson, Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor und viele andere) In den 1960er- Jahren bildete Willie Dixon die Chicago Blues All-Stars, deren Pianist Leake war. Mit dieser Band tourte er bis Mitte der 1970er - Jahre, danach machte er nur mehr wenige Tourneen und Aufnahmen. Bemerkenswert blieb sein Auftritt beim Chicago Blues - Festival 1986 mit Chuck Berry und Keith Richards und 1988 spielte er auf Willie Dixons "Hidden Charms" Piano. Lafayette Leaks starb im August 1990 an den Folgen eines Diabeteskoma, nachdem er einige Tage unentdeckt in seinem Haus lag.
Neben seiner Tätigkeit als Session- Musiker nahm er auch eigene Alben auf, was aber erst in den 1970er - Jahren geschah. (Might Is Right, Soul Wrinkles beide in den 1960er- Jahren; Feel So Blue (1978) Black & Blue (Frankreich), reissued als Easy Blues (2002)).
Auch als Songwriter war er aktiv, wobei einige seiner Songs gecovert wurden, so zum Beispiel "Love That Woman" von Fleetwood Mac auf ihrem Album The Original Fleetwood Mac. Sein Song "Wrinkles" (gesungen vom Big Three Trio) war Teil des Soundtracks zu David Lynchs Film "Wild at Heart". Die US-amerikanische Band Slo Leak benannte sich nach einem Instrumentaltitel Leaks.

Lafayette Leake (June 1, 1919 – August 14, 1990) was a blues and jazz pianist, organist, vocalist and composer who played for Chess Records as a session musician, and as a member of the Big Three Trio, during the formative years of Chicago blues. He played piano on many of Chuck Berry's recordings.

Biography

Leake was born in Winona, Missouri, in 1919.[1] Information about his early years is sparse,[2] but in the early 1950s he joined the Big Three Trio (replacing Leonard Caston) and began his association with Chess Records,[3] where he worked closely with bassist, producer, and songwriter Willie Dixon.

Leake played piano on One Dozen Berrys, Chuck Berry's second album, released in 1958 by Chess. He was then on Chuck Berry Is on Top; Leake (not Berry's longtime bandmate Johnnie Johnson) played the prominent piano on the classic original rendition of "Johnny B. Goode".[4] Leake played on numerous other Chess sessions from the '50s through the '70s, backing many of the Chess greats, including Sonny Boy Williamson,[5] Otis Rush, Junior Wells, and Little Walter.[3] Leake gave Chicago blues musician Harmonica Hinds his first harmonica lesson on the street in Toronto.[6]

During the 1960s Willie Dixon formed the Chicago Blues All-Stars, with Leake as resident pianist. Leake toured and recorded with this group until the mid-1970s.[3] After that he did little recording or touring, although he appeared with Chuck Berry at the Chicago Blues Festival in 1986[7] and recorded "Hidden Charms" with Willie Dixon in 1988.[8]

Besides being a respected performer, Leake was a composer.[3] He recorded a number of his own songs as a member of various ensembles, and others have been covered by notable musicians. Fleetwood Mac, for example, recorded his song "Love That Woman" on their album The Original Fleetwood Mac. Leake's song "Wrinkles", performed by the Big Three Trio, was featured on the soundtrack of David Lynch's 1990 film, Wild at Heart. Blues band Slo Leak was named after one of Leake's instrumental pieces.[9]

Leake fell into a diabetic coma in his home in Chicago, where he remained undiscovered for several days, dying in hospital on August 14, 1990.

Lafayette Leake - Trouble in Mind 







Fred Below  +14.08.1988







Fred Below (* 16. September 1926, Chicago, Illinois; † 14. August 1988, Chicago, Illinois) war ein US-amerikanischer Bluesmusiker, der Schlagzeug spielte. Bekannt ist er für seine Arbeit als Sessionmusiker bei Chess Records und als Drummer der Band von Little Walter in den 1950er-Jahren.
Mit dem Schlagzeugspiel begann er als Jazzdrummer in der High School, nachdem er zur Armee eingezogen wurde, spielte er in der 427th Army Band, wo er mit Lester Young auftrat. 1951 wurde er aus der Armee entlassen und vom damaligen Schlagzeuger der Muddy Waters Band an die Aces empfohlen, die dringend einen Schlagzeuger suchten. Die Aces waren Junior Wells (Mundharmonika und Gesang) und die Brüder Louis and Dave Myers. Kurz darauf verließ Little Walter die Muddy Watersband und Junior Wells übernahm seine Stelle, während die Aces mit Below und den Brüdern Myers Walters Band wurden. Später wurden sie in The Jukes umbenannt. Ihre Auffassung von Musik passte so gut zusammen, dass sie die heißeste Bands Chicagos wurden und ein großer Teil des Erfolges ist auf das raffinierte und elegante Spiel Belows zurückzuführen. Auf beinahe allen Hits Little Walters war er zu hören. [1]

1955 verließ er Walters Liveband und konzentrierte sich auf die Arbeit als Sessionmusiker bei Chess Records. Er ist auf Aufnahmen von Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Chuck Berry (so auf der Hitsingle:School Days), Otis Rush, Elmore James, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Dinah Washington, The Platters, The Moonglows, The Drifters, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf und vielen mehr zu hören.[2]

In den 1970er-Jahren taten sich Below und die Myers-Brüder wieder zusammen und gingen auf Tournee in Europa, am Ende trennten sie sich aber wieder und gingen eigene Wege.

Fred Below starb 1988 in Chicago an Krebs.


Fred Below (September 16, 1926 – August 14, 1988[1]) was an American blues drummer, best known for his work with Little Walter and Chess Records in the 1950s. According to Tony Russell, Below was creator of much of the rhythmic structure of Chicago blues, especially its backbeat.[2]


Career


Below was born in Chicago, and started playing drums in a high school jazz band. After being conscripted into the United States Army, he joined the 427th Army band, where he played with Lester Young. After war service, he played in nightclub in Germany before returning to the United States in 1951.


Back in Chicago, Below joined a group called The Aces, comprising Junior Wells and brothers Louis and Dave Myers. Little Walter had just left Muddy Waters' band to pursue a solo career, Wells taking over Walter's role on harp in the Muddy Waters band and Walter commandeering the Aces (Myers brothers and Below). As Little Walter and the Nightcats, they became one of the top electric blues bands in Chicago.


In 1955, Below left Little Walter's live band to concentrate on working as a session musician for Chess Records.[2] However, he continued to play on Little Walter's records, as well as hit records for Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Jimmy Rogers, Elmore James, Otis Rush, Junior Wells, Howlin' Wolf and others.[2]


Below worked with bassist Willie Dixon, Little Walter, and guitarist Robert Lockwood, Jr., on John Brim's last single for Chess, "I Would Hate to See You Go" (1956).[1]


Amongst his more famous work was playing on Chuck Berry's 1957 hit single, "School Days".


Below rejoined the Myers brothers to tour Europe in 1970.[3]


Below died from cancer on August 14, 1988 in Chicago at the age of 61.




J. B. Lenoir with Freddy Below - The whale has swallowed me









Route 66 - Aces with Willie Mabon - Freddy Below vcl (France 1974 Live Video)









Roy Buchanan   +14.08.1988

 

   
Roy Buchanan (eigentlich Leroy Buchanan, * 22. Oktober 1936 oder 23. September 1939[1] in Ozark, Arkansas; † 14. August 1988 in Fairfax, Virginia), war ein bedeutender Bluesrock-Gitarrist, der zahlreiche namhafte Gitarristen beeinflusst hat.
Als Buchanan zwei Jahre alt war, zog seine Familie nach Pixley in Kalifornien, wo sein Vater Arbeit auf einer Farm gefunden hatte. Mit neun bekam er von seinen Eltern seine erste Gitarre. Trotz mehrerer Jahre Unterricht lernte Buchanan nie, Noten zu lesen, sondern spielte nach Gehör. „Seine“ Gitarre war die Fender Telecaster.
Im Alter von zwölf Jahren bekam Buchanan sein erstes Engagement in einer örtlichen Band, den Waw Keen Valley Boys. Mit 16 zog er zu seinen älteren Geschwistern nach Los Angeles, wo er bei den Heartbeats spielte, zusammen mit Spencer Dryden, der später bei Jefferson Airplane und The New Riders of the Purple Sage Schlagzeuger war. Höhepunkt der Heartbeats war der Auftritt in dem Film Rock Pretty Baby. Seine nächste Band war Oklahoma Bandstand in Tulsa, bevor er drei Jahre mit Dale Hawkins spielte, der 1958 mit „My Babe“ einen Hit gehabt hatte.[2]. Danach war er unter anderem für Ronnie Hawkins, The Coasters, Frankie Avalon und Eddie Cochran tätig.
1961 heiratete Buchanan Judy Owens und wohnte mit ihr zunächst in der Nähe von Washington, D.C. In den folgenden Jahren war Buchanan nicht im Musikgeschäft aktiv. Ab 1969 trat er wieder in kleineren Clubs im Großraum Philadelphia/Washington auf. 1970 fand er in verschiedenen Zeitungen und schließlich im Magazin Rolling Stone Erwähnung, nicht zuletzt da er 1969 angeblich als Nachfolgemusiker für den Rolling Stones-Gitarristen Brian Jones gehandelt wurde – ein Angebot, das er allerdings ablehnte. 1971 machte ihn eine Fernsehsendung mit dem Titel „Introducing Roy Buchanan“ einer breiteren Öffentlichkeit bekannt.
In den 1970er Jahren erschien eine Reihe von Alben, die teilweise recht erfolgreich waren, überzeugen konnte er aber nur als Gitarrist, nicht als Sänger. Er galt bei manchen als der „beste unbekannte Bluesgitarrist“. Es folgten zahlreiche Tourneen und Konzerte, bis Buchanan sich in der zweiten Hälfte der 1970er aus dem Plattengeschäft zurückzog. 1981 kam er zurück, auf dem Album My Babe war als Schlagzeuger Danny Brubeck, der Sohn von Dave Brubeck zu hören. Erst 1985 erschien ein neues Album, „When a Guitar Plays the Blues“, das sich 13 Wochen in den Billboard-Charts hielt und für einen Grammy nominiert wurde.
Er kam des Öfteren mit dem Gesetz in Konflikt und hatte Alkoholprobleme. Am 14. August 1988 wurde Roy Buchanan nach einem schweren Streit mit seiner Frau wegen Trunkenheit festgenommen. Später wurde er tot in seiner Zelle aufgefunden – laut offiziellem Bericht mit dem eigenen Hemd erhängt.

Roy Buchanan (September 23, 1939 – August 14, 1988) was an American guitarist and blues musician. A pioneer of the Telecaster sound,[1] Buchanan worked as both a sideman and solo artist, with two gold albums early in his career,[2] and two later solo albums that made it on to the Billboard chart. Despite never having achieved stardom, he is still considered a highly influential guitar player.[3] Guitar Player praised him as having one of the "50 Greatest Tones of all Time."[1]

Early career

Leroy Buchanan was born in Ozark, Arkansas and was raised there and in Pixley, California, a farming area near Bakersfield. His father was a sharecropper in Arkansas and a farm laborer in California.[4] Buchanan told interviewers that his father was also a Pentecostal preacher, a note repeated in Guitar Player magazine but refuted by his older brother J.D.[4][5] Buchanan told how his first musical memories were of racially mixed revival meetings he attended with his mother Minnie. "Gospel," he recalled, "that's how I first got into black music." He in fact drew upon many disparate influences while learning to play his instrument (though he later claimed his aptitude derived from being "half-wolf"). He initially showed talent on steel guitar before switching to guitar in the early 50s, and started his professional career at age 15, in Johnny Otis's rhythm and blues revue.[3]

In 1958, Buchanan made his recording debut with Dale Hawkins, including playing the solo on "My Babe" for Chicago's Chess Records.[4] Two years later, during a tour through Toronto, Buchanan left Dale Hawkins to play for his cousin Ronnie Hawkins and tutor Ronnie's guitar player, Robbie Robertson. Buchanan plays bass on the Ronnie Hawkins single, "Who Do You Love?"[citation needed]. Buchanan soon returned to the U.S. and Ronnie Hawkins' group later gained fame as The Band.[6]

In the early '60s, Buchanan performed numerous gigs as a sideman with various rock bands, and played guitar in a number of sessions with Freddy Cannon, Merle Kilgore, and others. At the end of the 1960s, with a growing family, Buchanan left the music industry for a while to learn a trade, and trained as a hairdresser (barber).[4] In the early '70s, Roy Buchanan performed extensively in the Washington D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area with the Danny Denver Band, which had a large following in the area.[citation needed] He was widely appreciated as a solo act in the DC area at this time.

Recording career and death

In 1961 he released 'Mule Train Stomp', his first single for Swan, featuring rich guitar tones years ahead of their time. Buchanan's 1962 recording with drummer Bobby Gregg, nicknamed "Potato Peeler," first introduced the trademark Buchanan "pinch" harmonic. An effort to cash in on the British Invasion caught Buchanan with the British Walkers. In the mid-'60s, Buchanan settled down in the Washington, D.C., area, playing for Danny Denver's band for many years while acquiring a reputation as "...one of the very finest rock guitarists around. Jimi Hendrix would not take up the challenge of a 'pick-off' with Roy."[7] The facts behind that claim are that in March 1968 a photographer friend, John Gossage gave Buchanan tickets to a concert by the Jimi Hendrix Experience at the Washington Hilton. "Buchanan was dismayed to find his own trademark sounds, like the wah-wah that he'd painstakingly produced with his hands and his Telecaster, created by electronic pedals. He could never attempt Hendrix's stage show, and this realization refocused him on his own quintessentially American roots-style guitar picking."[8]

Gossage recalls how Roy was very impressed by the Hendrix 1967 debut album Are You Experienced?, which was why he made sure to give Roy a ticket to the early show at the Hilton. Gossage went backstage to take photos and tried to convince Jimi to go and see Roy at the Silver Dollar that night after the show, but Jimi seemed more interested in hanging out with the young lady who was backstage with him. Gossage confirms Hendrix never showed up at the Silver Dollar, but he did talk to Roy about seeing the Hilton show. That same night (as the Hilton show) Roy did several Hendrix numbers and "from that point on, had nothing but good things to say about Hendrix".[9] He later released recordings of the Hendrix composition "If 6 Was 9" and the Hendrix hit "Hey Joe" (written by Billy Roberts).

Buchanan's life changed in 1971, when he gained national notice as the result of an hour-long PBS television documentary. Entitled Introducing Roy Buchanan, and sometimes mistakenly called The Best Unknown Guitarist in the World, it earned a record deal with Polydor Records and praise from John Lennon and Merle Haggard, besides an alleged invitation to join the Rolling Stones (which he turned down and which gave him the nickname "the man who tumbled the stones down").[10] He recorded five albums for Polydor, one of which, Second Album, went gold,[11] and after that another three for Atlantic Records, one of which, 1977's Loading Zone, also went gold.[2][12] Buchanan quit recording in 1981, vowing never to enter a studio again unless he could record his own music his own way.[10] Four years later, Alligator Records coaxed Buchanan back into the studio.[10] His first album for Alligator, When a Guitar Plays the Blues, was released in the spring of 1985. It was the first time he had total artistic freedom in the studio.[13] His second Alligator LP, Dancing on the Edge (with vocals on three tracks by Delbert McClinton), was released in the fall of 1986. He released the twelfth and last album of his career, Hot Wires, in 1987.

According to his agent and others, Buchanan was doing well, having gained control of his drinking habit and playing again, when he was arrested for public intoxication after a domestic dispute.[2][5] He was found hanged from his own shirt in a jail cell on August 14, 1988 in the Fairfax County, Virginia, Jail. According to Jerry Hentman, who was in a cell nearby Buchanan's, the Deputy Sheriff opened the door early in the morning and found Buchanan with the shirt around his neck.[6][12] Buchanan's last show was on August 7, 1988 in Guilford, CT. His cause of death was officially recorded as suicide, a finding disputed by Buchanan's friends and family. One of his friends, Marc Fisher, reported seeing Roy's body with bruises on the head.[6]

After his death, compilation and other albums continue to be released, including in 2004 the never-released first album he recorded for Polydor, The Prophet.

Guitars, tone, and technique
Guitars

Buchanan used a number of guitars in his career, although he was most often associated with a 1953 Fender Telecaster, serial number 2324, nicknamed "Nancy."[14] There are two very different stories explaining how Buchanan got the guitar. He himself said that, while enrolled in 1969 in a school to learn to be a hairdresser, he ran after a guy walking down the street with that guitar, and bought him a purple Telecaster to trade. A friend of Buchanan's, however, said that Buchanan was playing a Gibson Les Paul at the time, and traded it for the '53 Tele.[4] One of Buchanan's Telecasters was later owned by Danny Gatton and Mike Stern, who lost it in a robbery.[15]

Tone

Buchanan achieved his sound through minimum means. He played the Telecaster through a Fender Vibrolux amplifier with the volume and tone "full out," and used the guitar's volume and tone controls to control volume and sound[16] (he achieved a wah wah effect using the tone control).[5][14] To achieve his desired distorted sounds, Buchanan at one point used a razor blade to slit the paper cones of the speakers in his amp, an approach also employed by the Kinks' Dave Davies. Buchanan rarely used effects pedals, though he started using an Echoplex on A Street Called Straight (1976).[5] In his later career he played with a Boss DD-2 delay.[14]

Technique

Buchanan taught himself various playing techniques, including "chicken picking". He sometimes used his thumb nail rather than a plectrum, and also employed it to augment his index finger and pick. Holding the pick between his thumb and forefinger, Buchanan also plucked the string and simultaneously touched it lightly with the lower edge of his thumb at one of the harmonic nodes, thus suppressing lower overtones and emphasising the harmonic, sometimes referred to as pinch harmonics,[14] though Buchanan called it an "overtone."[5] Buchanan could play harmonics at will, and could mute individual strings with free right-hand fingers while picking or pinching others. He was famous as well for his oblique bends.[17]

Having first played lap steel guitar, Buchanan often imitated its effect and bent strings to the required pitch, rather than starting on the desired note.[5][14] This was particularly notable in his approach to using double and triple stops.

Legacy

Buchanan has influenced many guitarists, including Gary Moore,[18] Danny Gatton, and Jeff Beck;[19] Beck dedicated his version of "Cause We've Ended As Lovers" from Blow by Blow to him.[20] His work is said to "stretch the limits of the electric guitar,"[11] and he is praised for "his subtlety of tone and the breadth of his knowledge, from the blackest of blues to moaning R&B and clean, concise, bone-deep rock 'n' roll."[21] In 2004, Guitar Player listed his version of "Sweet Dreams," from his debut album on Polydor, Roy Buchanan, as having one of the "50 Greatest Tones of All Time."[1] In the same year, the readers of Guitar Player voted Buchanan #46 in a top 50 readers' poll.[22] Roy is the subject of Freddy Blohm's song "King of a Small Room."

Roy Buchanan is interred at Columbia Gardens Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
 
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