When a Guitar Plays the Blues

Roy Buchanan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Alligator Records
• ASIN: B0000009Y9
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,901 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

From Grove Press Guide to Blues on CD

In Buchanan's case, blues or not, wallpaper peels and mountains move. On this 1985 album the former rockabilly guitarist whose technique earned him wide acclaim in the early 1970s agitates the program with a virtuosity that defines the parameters of sonic extremism. Buchanan and Chicagoans Otis Clay and Gloria Hardiman provide a few vocals, the former ineptly and the latter two adequately. -- © Frank John Hadley 1993

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mrs. Pressure meets Godzilla !, September 23, 2000

By 

Ozzie (Brugge, Flanders) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When a Guitar Plays the Blues (Audio CD)

A fine album by Roy Buchanan, a guitar hero who never quite made the big time. Exquisitely produced by Alligator Records, Roy gets a chance to stretch out and show what he can do with a guitar. On the opening track, he tries to make his guitar sound like a church organ, it seems, and he almost pulls it off ! The one thing about Roy Buchanan is his singing voice : it just doesn't do the trick. Often he just seems to say the lyrics as opposed to sing them. He brings in a couple of guests to sing on a few tracks, and these add further to the unease about Roy's own voice. His guitar playing is tops, though ! Listen to tracks like "Mrs. Pressure" (his former guitar teacher ! What's in a name ?) or "Sneaking Godzilla through the alley" (great title !) and be convinced. This is the first of 3 albums Roy made for Alligator, and they seemed to set him on the track to greater recognition. Sadly, though, all came to an end when he was arrested one night for being drunk in a public place and took his own life in his cell. A sad end to a great guitar-player's life.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Unknowns, July 21, 2000

By 

William j Christian (dover, PA. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When a Guitar Plays the Blues (Audio CD)

Roy Buchanan was one of the best axe slingers of all time.Why he never got the reconition he truly deserved is beyond comprehension.I've had this album for a couple of years,and it sounds as fresh today as it did when i first bought it.From the title track (When a guitar plays the blues),to the last song on the album (hawaiian punch).this album is great.Being the first album that ROY produced and mixed himself,he said it felt like it was his first recod.And in his own words,this album is really me.he also thought this was the best album he had ever released.If you like great blues then this is a must own album.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely blistering, December 23, 2005

By 

Darryl Dickson-Carr (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When a Guitar Plays the Blues (Audio CD)

I was introduced to this CD during my freshman year in college, about a year or so after it was released. One of the audiophiles in my dorm had a great collection of jazz and blues CDs, and this was one of his prizes. One day he played "Sneaking Godzilla through the Alley" at high volume, and I was hooked. The first lick Buchanan plays is sufficient to wake the dead; the remainder of the track--and there's a lot of it--would kill 'em all again. The rest of the CD ain't too shabby, either. This is easily one of the most underrated CDs in any genre of the mid-80s.