Roy Buchanan
Live At Town Hall 1974
Real Gone Music
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Roy Buchanan is one of those artists who seemed to just excel in front of a live audience. A true guitaristsβ guitarist, he never had a strong desire to be a studio maverick. Buchanan just wanted to play. While his early studio LPs are all certified classics, 30 years since his passing it is his live sound is what he will be remembered for.
Live Stock, his first official live album released in 1975, is a glimpse of what a typical Buchanan show might have been during his glory days. However, the album only features eight tracks and doesnβt really give the listener the full extent of a live performance.Β Now over 40 years later, we can hear the whole thing. Live at Town Hall, offers the listener the complete Live Stock show.
Over the course of the three-LP set, we can fully experience two full sets of Buchananβs at the height of his career. Itβs easy to picture a smoke-filled room reeking of stale beer and old sweat seeing olβ stone faced Butch making his β53 Telecaster squeal.
While Buchananβs guitar prowess is at the peak of its powers, the music can suffer at times due to the occasionally trite singing, which can seem uninspired in parts. Billy Price, who provides the vocals here, sang on the majority of his β70s work but never quite had the power of Butchβs first singer, Chuck Tiley. Nevertheless, the ferocious guitar playing makes up for it. Tracks like βToo Many Driversβ, βDone Your Daddy Wrongβ and most importantly βRoyβs Bluzβ are pure brilliance.
ArtistΒ Link
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ROY BUCHANAN – LIVE AT TOWN HALL 1974
Ryan Sagadore