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As far as I know, the first Roy Buchanan solo recording was for the tiny Bomarc label,

in 1959, one side of which was the Avery Parrish instrumental called ‘After Hours’.
This was a number that he recorded multiple times over the years, and this earliest
version, although I have never heard it, apparently contains many of the guitar stylings

that became synonymous with Buchanan - feedback, fuzz tone, distortion, and the
blistering tone. Needless to say, it wasn’t a smash hit!

In 1962 he recorded ‘Potato Peeler’, which featured his archetypal harmonic note

styling. This one wasn’t a smash either!

By 1963 he was based in Washington DC, the home town of his wife Judy, playing local
gigs with his band The Snakestretchers, and working as a barber when the gigs were
scarce. It was around this time that he purchased his famous 1953 ‘butterscotch’

(relating to the colour of the body of the instrument) Telecaster that became
nicknamed ‘Nancy’, and stayed with him for the rest of his life, although he did play
other Teles, and a Les Paul as well from time to time - but it was the butterscotch Tele

that was most associated with him.
Apparently he wasn’t one for lots of
pedals and effects - indeed, when I

saw him in London in the 1970s he
appeared to be using a Fender Twin
Reverb, which was unusually
pointing towards the wall directly

behind him, and leaning back on its
stand, so that the sound bounced off
the wall, onto the ceiling, and down

onto the audience. I don’t think I’ve
ever seen another guitar player do
that.

Roy Buchanan was very dismissive of

his early recordings, and once said that listening to them again made him “want to
puke”. I can’t comment on that because I haven’t heard anything he recorded before
1970, but the unreleased album called ‘The Prophet” (produced by, and featuring

Charlie Daniels), includes some very nice playing by Buchanan, not just in the style
we became familiar with, but also almost as a rock guitarist. 4 tracks from that album
are included in the double cd anthology entitled ’Sweet Dreams’.

In 1971 things looked up significantly for Roy, when an hour long documentary

entitled ‘The Best Unknown Guitarist in the World’ was shown on US tv, off the back
of which he signed a contract with Polydor, and released 5 albums (one of which went
gold) and 3 for Atlantic. The local gigs at small dives were swapped for concert halls

around the world, and he was recognised as a brilliant and innovative player - but he
didn’t like playing big venues, didn’t like the travelling, and was only too happy to
collect the gig money and head back home. He hated the thought of being a star, and
much preferred playing the small clubs close to where he lived. Additionally, he was