Deluxe Edition
Culled from several mid-1980s albums--Dancing on the Edge,Hot Wires, andWhen a Guitar Plays the Blues--this deluxe edition of guitarist Roy Buchanan's work highlights his formidable skills and wide stylistic range. Melding blues, rock, country, R&B;, and even Hawaiian influences, Buchanan plays with a showman's flamboyance, combining lightning-quick fingering with controlled feedback to give his sound a fiery edge and an unmistakable "cry." His pyrotechnical displays on "Flash Chordin," "Whiplash," "Mrs. Pressure," and "When a Guitar Plays the Blues" offer ample evidence of his blues prowess, while his slide work on "Hawaiian Punch," complete with bent tones and skittering harmonics, rocks out with technical bravura. Though Buchanan remained relatively obscure to the public, his skills were widely known among blues aficionados and musicians. Let's hope this well-chosen compilation will spread the word, introducing his distinctive sound and technical wizardry to a new crop of admirers.--Wally Shoup