# The "Greatest Unknown Guitar Player" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2013, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186 "2013-06-05T05:18:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![azraiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@azraiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/azraiel)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/1 "2013-06-05T05:18:48Z")
Someone finally uploaded decent [video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4e2VgycfSw) of Roy Buchanan. In the past, I’ve always had to resort to [a poor quality but rocking version of Green Onions](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A3NZpNjKA0). Story goes that Roy was tapped for the Rolling Stones, but he turned the gig down. More than one guitar player has been called the “Greatest Unknown Guitar Player”, but none so much as Roy. He hanged himself in a jail cell a couple of decades ago. Or, if you believe his wife, was murdered. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/2 "2013-06-05T06:45:06Z")
Saw Roy perform less than a year before he died. Great show, small venue - just a couple hundred people. Glad I had a chance to see him before he shuffled off. Can’t remember many details about the show. I remember the opening band was a local group that we alternately ignored or made fun of (amongst ourselves) while waiting for Roy. We did not enjoy them. I remember Roy broke a string, and I _think_ he had to bum one off the opening act - but don’t quote me on that. Besides that, all I can remember is losing myself in the music. [One of my fav tunes.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg7XyHLTHzc) Jump ahead to ~2:55 if you’re (the generic you) impatient and not enjoying the mellow intro, though I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t. [Here’s Roy with his one-time vocalist, Billy Price.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCtN_LeHsrA) A great tune, and while the one above is ONE of my favs, this has to be my #1 favorite. It helps that I’m a Billy Price fan as well 😃 Remember the days before Youtube? Geez, it was a music desert out there. I’m spoiled with all the great stuff that’s up there now. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/3 "2013-06-05T07:11:36Z")
> [@azraiel](#): > > Someone finally uploaded decent [video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4e2VgycfSw) of Roy Buchanan. Jeezus h. Kripes! that was FUCKING awesome, **azraiel**. You made my night! ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/4 "2013-06-05T07:12:03Z")
mn…misunderstood the op ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/5 "2013-06-05T10:36:04Z")
I’ll have to see this on a PC; the clip doesn’t play on mobile. Yep, Roy was amazing - and certainly not unknown to guitar players 😉 ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/6 "2013-06-05T11:28:55Z")
I remember him being featured often in Guitar Player when I was a teenager. In fact, all I had ever knowingly heard of him up till now was the flexi disc that they issued. Sadly, at the time, I wasn’t able to understand why he was such an amazing guitarist. Now, I need to go see if I can find that thing and listen again. He was wise to pass up the Rolling Stones, he was too good for them. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/7 "2013-06-05T16:25:34Z")
Sometime in the early '80s, I was visiting Minneapolis with my two sisters. At supper we asked a waiter if there were any bars with live music near by. He mentioned a place and said there was a blues band that was pretty good. That was the first I ever heard of Roy Buchanan. I’ll remember that night for the rest of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/8 "2013-06-05T16:43:40Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > Sometime in the early '80s, I was visiting Minneapolis with my two sisters. At supper we asked a waiter if there were any bars with live music near by. He mentioned a place and said there was a blues band that was pretty good. That was the first I ever heard of Roy Buchanan. > > I’ll remember that night for the rest of my life. Oh, that’s an awesome story! “Where can we see some live music?” “Oh, there’s that place over there where Roy Buchanan’s playing, I hear he’s pretty good.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/9 "2013-06-05T17:17:26Z")
I loved his cover of “Hey Joe”. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/10 "2013-06-05T18:14:47Z")
Yeah, Buchanan totally rocks. Awesome Tele wrangler. Thanks for sharing the vid, **azraiel** ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/11 "2013-06-05T18:56:47Z")
I got to see Roy Buchanan perform live three times before his death. It was amazing what he could do with a Telecaster, an amp and his fingers. He rarely if ever used effects pedals or anything else to alter his sound, just the volume & tone controls and the pickup switch. It is nice to finally have some decent videos of him in action. In addition to the Austin City Limits show, there is a DVD of a performance for German TV from 1985. They are both available from Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![azraiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@azraiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/azraiel)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/12 "2013-06-06T07:02:01Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Yep, Roy was amazing - and certainly not unknown to guitar players 😉 I know. He wasn’t even unknown to us non-musicians. It’s just an appellation stuck to him far too often. In the early nineties I was a teen. The local independent record store guys noticed me when I started coming in and raiding their Dylan collection. My dad had turned me on, and I started my collection with the Dylan classics. I bought Biograph and Bootleg 1-3 early on. My best friend to this day remembers buying the “Beat Generation” box–a collection of poems, songs, and sundries from the 50s. When he brought it to the counter, the owner said “you and \*\*\*\*\* are the only two who’ve looked at that box in six months, but I think the Dylan box sets are taking it out of him.” It got to the point I would walk in and the evil fuckers\* would queue up a CD. I’d make it halfway to the back of the store, hear what was playing, turn around and ask “what’s this?” Eventually I’d walk in, say “I have $150 to spend. Load me up!”(Yes, I trusted them that much.) As a teen I liked blues, but didn’t understand them. Asked him to help me out, and he recommended Alligator’s 20th Anniversary collection as a starting point. I bought the (double cassette!) edition. On that collection was Roy Buchanan’s “Drowning on Dry Land.” I swear I’d never heard a guitar cry prior to that. I ran right out and bought “Sweet Dreams,” and am glad I did. \*or cool guys. It’s so subjective… ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/13 "2013-06-07T05:45:31Z")
> [@azraiel](#): > > As a teen I liked blues, but didn’t understand them. Asked him to help me out, and he recommended Alligator’s 20th Anniversary collection as a starting point. I bought the (double cassette!) edition. On that collection was Roy Buchanan’s “Drowning on Dry Land.” I swear I’d never heard a guitar cry prior to that. I was into the blues before that, but that 20th anniversary collection was a hell of a set. I think Johnny Winters & Albert Collins was on it as well, among many others. ---
**Author:** ![Molesworth\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Molesworth\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molesworth_2)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/14 "2013-06-07T17:27:03Z")
Thanks for posting that **azraiel**. It was truly spellbinding. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/15 "2013-06-08T23:25:14Z")
Well, besides the greatness of Buchanan, I’ll humbly be the first one to offer two other great guitarists who appear too rarely in these kind of threads: James Burton and Clarence White. I’m sure that guitar folks know them, but since they are basically side men/session men, most people have heard them, but not heard _of_ them. They are both key figures in laying the foundations for (Burton) and defining (White) country rock, but never were stars themselves. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/16 "2013-06-08T23:56:06Z")
:smack: Please forget my last post. I read the title as “The greatest unknown guitar _players_”. Now continue with the Roy Buchanan worship. He deserves it. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/17 "2013-06-09T04:16:06Z")
[Buckethead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucket_head) used to be the epitome of “unknown” since he wore a mask and a KFC bucket while performing. He was in Guns and Roses for a while, and has 47 studio albums. From Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > As an instrumentalist, Buckethead has received critical acclaim for his electric guitar playing, and is considered one of today’s more innovative guitarists. He has been voted number 8 on a list in GuitarOne magazine of the “Top 10 Fastest Guitar Shredders of All Time” as well as being included in Guitar World’s lists of the “25 all-time weirdest guitarists” and is also known for being in the “50 fastest guitarists of all time list”. > > Buckethead performs primarily as a solo artist, though he has collaborated extensively with a wide variety of high profile artists such as Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, Iggy Pop, Les Claypool, Serj Tankian, Bill Moseley, Mike Patton, Viggo Mortensen, That 1 Guy, and was a member of Guns N’ Roses from 2000 to 2004 Most of the guitarists I can think of that might be categorized as unknown, were actually just under-rated and not very popular either at the time, or in a pop-cultural sense. [Stanley Jordan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Jordan) or [John McLaughlin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McLaughlin_%28musician%29)’s names may not ring a bell with most, but both were highly respected artists. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/18 "2013-06-09T05:17:03Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > From Wikipedia: > > > [@](#): > > > > As an instrumentalist, Buckethead has received critical acclaim for his electric guitar playing, and is considered one of today’s more innovative guitarists. He has been voted number 8 on a list in GuitarOne magazine of the “Top 10 Fastest Guitar Shredders of All Time” as well as being included in Guitar World’s lists of the “25 all-time weirdest guitarists” and is also known for being in the “50 fastest guitarists of all time list”. > > > > Buckethead performs primarily as a solo artist, though he has collaborated extensively with a wide variety of high profile artists such as Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, Iggy Pop, Les Claypool, Serj Tankian, Bill Moseley, Mike Patton, Viggo Mortensen, That 1 Guy, and was a member of Guns N’ Roses from 2000 to 2004 Damn, I’d love to see footage from that Viggo Mortensen/Buckethead concert. I cannot conceive what that would be like. (works the Googles) [OK, they worked on an album, not a concert. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dng06ZqI4Ss) [OK, multiple albums, and they sound pretty cool.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeFneNydW0o) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/19 "2013-06-09T12:07:58Z")
Buckethead is an established gunslinger esp after being tapped for GnR. He does nothing for me - not sure why. **Guthrie Govan** is a gifted guitar player who isn’t well known and is fun to watch - plenty of YouTube out there. **Julian Lage** is one of the best out there, and I have mentioned a few times. His track 233 Butler, I will try to attached a mobile link to a clip of him playing it solo - is astounding technically while, more importantly, sounds melodic and musical. The name is the address of a guitar store in Brooklyn, RetroFret, a favorite of mine… > **[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/?app=desktop)** > > Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. The guitar is a 1930 or so Gibson L-5 archtop - swoon. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186/20 "2013-06-09T17:13:56Z")
> [@azraiel](#): > > As a teen I liked blues, but didn’t understand them. Asked him to help me out, and he recommended Alligator’s 20th Anniversary collection as a starting point. I bought the (double cassette!) edition. On that collection was Roy Buchanan’s “Drowning on Dry Land.” That’s a very good compilation. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-unknown-guitar-player/660186.md?page=2)