Deluxe Edition
Alligator ALCD5608
Peter Gunn/ That Did It/ Chicago Smokeshop/ Mrs. Pressure/ Ain't No Business/ Blues For Jimmy Nolan*/ A Nickel And A Nail/ Matthew/ You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover/ Beer Drinking Woman/ Flash Chordin'/ These Arms of Mine/ Whiplash/ When A Guitar Plays The Blues/ Hawaiian Punch/ The Last Word* (* = previously unreleased track)
Roy Buchanan's awesome guitar playing influenced many musicians and entertained many audiences. The selections on this CD were from the proudest recordings of his career, when he made the three albums for Alligator Records. Even though he had played a variety of music previously and even achieved gold album status with two major labels, he had no artistic freedom. Roy gained this freedom with Alligator, and thus recorded his three bluesiest albums. Each of the albums are equally represented. Two songs are first-time releases.
Roy was an electric guitar wizard. He had a amazing, expressive intensity and creative genius that was astounding. Many of the tunes on this album are wonderful examples of his original style which included wild bends, crazed sound effects, and machine gun runs. In particular, four instrumentals that he wrote, "Chicago Smokeshop," "Flash Chordin,'" "Whiplash," and "Hawaiian Punch" are mind boggling. Roy wrote eight of the sixteen tunes. His other four instrumental tunes reflect his more emotional and tender side and his lap steel guitar licks. His two new releases, "Blues For Jimmy Nolan," his tribute to an early, influential guitar player in Johnny Otis' band, and "Last Word," are soulful works of art. His other two originals, "Mrs. Pressure," a tune about his first music teacher, and "Matthew," are full of melodic beauty. The vocals are shared by Roy, Otis Clay, Johnny Sayles, Delbert McClinton, and Kanika Kress. The last four singers each sing one song and are particularly impressive with their emphatic, emotional vocals. Kress sings a beautiful, tender version of "These Arms Of Mine." Roy does his best singing in the classic, "When A Guitar Plays The Blues," and pours every ounce of expression and energy into this song. His exciting guitar playing is evident in all of the songs on the album.
This Deluxe Edition comes with a collectable fold-out poster which contains some great photos of Roy, including a full fold-out picture. The album is well put together with a good balance of instrumentals and vocals and dashing and demure tunes. It contains some of Roy's best recordings. It was a a big loss to the musical world when Roy Buchanan died tragically at the age of forty-eight in 1988 when he was at the peak of his career. These Alligator recordings were his last.
His imaginative, high-energy , dramatic and tender, emotional playing will long be remembered through his awesome recordings like these. This album is an excellent tribute to him.
by Maria Bainer, c. January, 2001
