A new two-CD set including previously unreleased recordings by the late guitarist Roy Buchanan, Live at Town Hall 1974, is being released by Real Gone Music on May 4. Buchanan is accompanied on the performance by Malcolm Lukens on keyboards, John Harrison on bass, Ronnie “Byrd” Foster on drums and Billy Price on lead vocals (with Buchanan also singing).
Pre-order Roy Buchanan Live at Town Hall 1974 here.
Buchanan, according to a press release, was “the guitarist’s guitar hero. Singularly uninterested in rock stardom and the trappings of fame that go with it, Buchanan never achieved the popularity of his six-string peers; yet his unfathomable technique and ferocious Telecaster tone put him near the top of any serious listing of the greatest guitarists of all time. Stories abound about the regard with which other musicians held Roy (and the indifference with which he greeted their esteem); for example, legend has it he turned down the Rolling Stones for the job Mick Taylor got, and blew off playing with John Lennon, while Jeff Beck dedicated ‘’Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers’ from Blow by Blow to him.”
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A previous live album, also from 1974 and titled Live Stock, is considered by many fans to be his best. But the tracks on that album, like most live records, says the press release, “were cherry-picked from several different shows, in this case both sets Roy played at New York City’s Town Hall on November 27, 1974. In fact, of the 21 songs Roy played that night, only six came out on Live Stock, and one other, a version of Neil Young’s ‘Down by the River,’ came out on a subsequent compilation. That leaves 14 unreleased performances.
The new Live at Town Hall 1974, a 2-CD set, captures both shows in their entirety, drawn from the original multitrack tapes recorded that night by the Record Plant Mobile Studio.
The album features liner notes by Buchanan biographer Phil Carson, who attended both shows, plus photos from the actual gig by Charles R. Cohen. It was mixed and mastered by Tom Lewis at Studio 1093 in Athens, Georgia, and produced by Bill Levenson.
Track Listing
Disc: 1
1. Done Your Daddy Dirty
2. Reelin’ and Rockin’
3. Hot Cha
4. Further On Up the Road
5. Roy’s Bluz
6. Can I Change My Mind
7. Hey Joe
8. Too Many Drivers
9. Down by the River
10. I’m a Ram
11. In the Beginning
12. Driftin’ and Driftin’
Disc: 2
1. I’m Evil
2. Too Many Drivers
3. Done Your Daddy Dirty
4. Roy’s Bluz
5. Further On Up the Road
6. Hey Joe
7. Can I Change My Mind
8. In the Beginning
9. All Over Again (I’ve Got A Mind to Give Up Living)
Also due on the same day from Real Gone: Barry McGuire & The Doctor, from the artist who gave us “Eve of Destruction” several years earlier. It can be pre-ordered here.
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Listen to “Roy’s Bluz,” from the aforementioned Live Stock.
1 Comment
Now this is some seriously exciting news! I loved Roy Buchanan growing up but unfortunately never got to see him play live. Can’t wait to hear this!