From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Mon Sep 23, 2002  1:15 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Roy Buchanan
 
ROY BUCHANAN (By Tony Wilkinson)

Born Leroy Buchanan, 23 September 1939, Ozark, Arkansas

Died 14 August 1988, Fairfax, Virginia

Born Leroy Buchanan in the rural town of Ozark, Roy was known as the master of
the Fender Telecaster. He was a totally unique guitarist who learnt his craft
the hard way. Obtaining his first Stella guitar at the age of five, he learnt to
play the steel in the next five years.

Whilst at school, he and Bobby Jobe along with Darrell Jackson and Bobby
Hamilton formed the Dusty Valley Boys and played high school dates graduating to
the honky tonks. Buchanan's early inspiration was guitarist Roy Nichols who had
been in Lefty Frizell's band for a period. At the age of 16, he joined his
brother in Los Angeles where he met wheeler-dealer Bill Orwig who enrolled
Buchanan into a band by the name of The Heartbeats. This group had a bit part in
the movie 'Rock Pretty Baby' but broke up after six months. However they did
reform in 1957 and, including Chuck Hix as lead singer, went on a tour to
support the aforementioned film. This line up disintegrated during the tour,
seemingly there were problems over getting paid. He made it back to Ozark for a
few months and then landed a job in the house band (possibly in another version
of The Heartbeats) on Tulsa's 'Oklahoma Bandstand' where he met up with Dale
('Susie Q') Hawkins. He left with Hawkins to go to Louisiana.

Buchanan stepped in as lead guitarist in Hawkins's band following on from Sonny
Jones, James Burton, Carl Adams and Kenny Paulsen and was subsequently succeeded
by the likes of Scotty Moore, Fred Carter Jnr and Hank Garland. It was with
Hawkins that Roy really learnt his craft and trail-blazed a rock 'n' roll path
throughout the whole of the USA. Also in the band were Joe Osborn and The Mathis
Brothers who subsequently achieved fame as Dean and Marc and then as part of The
Newbeats. Roy was the guitarist on numerous of Dale's Checker recordings such as
'Cross-ties', 'My Babe', 'Lifeguard Man' and 'Grandma's House'. He also appeared
on Argo recordings by The Brothers (Dean and Marc) plus some three singles made
by Dale's brother Jerry for Ebb Records. Seemingly he also played on 'Loretta'
by Al Jones and Bobby Jay's 'I'm So Lonely' as well as a couple of recordings by
Bob Luman for Warner Bros. and a single that Merle Kilgore recorded for the D
label.

The first record to be issued under his own name was 'After Hours/Whiskers' for
the small Bomarc label in 1960 or 1961, which was either a subsidiary of or was
distributed by Swan Records. This was followed, in 1961, by the great rockin'
instrumental 'Mule Train Stomp/ Whiskers' on Swan and then the next year 'Twin
Exhausts/Hot Toddy' under the name of The Secrets. Buchanan had finally left
Dale Hawkins in 1961 and briefly joined up with Joe Stanley & The Saxtons, The
Bad Boys plus Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks where allegedly he taught a brash and
aspiring Robbie Robertson a lesson in guitar playing. Roy played bass on
Ronnie's classic 1963 recording of 'Who Do You Love/Bo Diddley'.

However for much of the early sixties, he resided in New Jersey playing and
recording with regional performers such as Cody Brennan and The Temptations
(aka. Bob Moore and The Temps) and Danny Denver (who had recorded the great
'Rockin' By Myself' as Sammy Gowans in 1958 for UA Records). In 1962, he was the
un-credited lead guitar on 'The Jam Parts 1 and 2" by Bobby Gregg and His
Friends for Cotton Records which charted. Roy also picked on certain Swan
recordings by Danny & The Juniors and Freddy Cannon.

Buchanan settled in Mount Rainer, Maryland in 1963 and continued the pattern of
playing/recording with local bands and acts such as Bobby Howard's Hi Boys, The
British Walkers, Phil Flowers, Jersey Red and Big Al Downing. In 1965/1966, he
linked up with The Kalin Twins of 'When' fame. Hal Kalin held Buchanan's guitar
prowess in high regard.

In the mid sixties, Buchanan became involved with the psychedelic scene and
joined in with the drug culture and played with numerous Washington DC based
bands such as the Uncalled Four, The Outsiders, The Outcasts and the Four Skins.
In 1968, he was found playing harmonica on Link Wray's 'Rumble 68' which was
subsequently re-mastered as 'Rumble 69'. In 1969, he reunited with Danny
Denver's Soundmasters and they became the house band at the Crossroads in Peace
Cross on the Bladensburg in Maryland, a gig that lasted until 1971 and saw the
release of two albums in 1970. Roy also appeared on an album by ex-Comet Joey
Welz in 1971.

1971 was that year that Buchanan was 'discovered' by Polydor Records who
launched him as a solo artist, a position that Buchanan took to but had
difficulty in accepting at the same time. Five albums were issued by the company
between 1972 and 1973 with two of these being regarded as big time commercial
successes. In 1976, he signed for Atlantic and, between then and 1978, saw the
release of a further three LPs. However his behaviour seemingly became more
erratic which was contributed to in part by his drink and drug dependencies, an
attempt to commit suicide in 1980 and an introverted nature. Still his
reputation as a guitar player extraordinaire had been established and he
remained in demand as a must see act. In 1980, there was an attempt at a
recording comeback but it was not until 1985 when he signed with Alligator
Records, that he regained his recording potential. There was an album a year for
the label until 1987.

On the evening of 14 August 1988, the Fairfax police were called to a potential
domestic disturbance at the Buchanan household that ended in Roy going out. A
short while later he was arrested for public drunkenness and taken to the cells
at the police station. At 11.16 Buchanan was found hanging by his T-shirt and
was pronounced dead at one minute to midnight. There is mystery over his death
but the official verdict was suicide.

Suggested Listening:

Krazy Kat KK CD 02 - 'The Early Years' (1989)

Polygram 314 517 086-2 - 'Sweet Dreams - The Anthology ' (1992) - selection of
Polydor recordings.

Rollercoaster Records RCCD 3034 - 'Roy Buchanan: Before and After' (1999). A
mixture of early recordings and some of his last sessions. Great liner notes by
Bill Millar.

Suggested Reading:

Phil Carson, 'Roy Buchanan: American Axe'. San Francisco : Backbeat Books, 2001