In Praise of Unsung Genius: Roy Buchanan

My "Celebrating Some Unsung 'Masters'" series is intended to shine the spotlight on artists who, in my opinion, continue to be under appreciated. While not necessarily in any particular order, I feel compelled to write about the artists that I feel A) the most personally geeked about and B) are most deserving of the added attention and appreciation.

Roy Buchanan was a creative genius. As I watch video footage of his stage performances I wonder how the rest of his band mates could ever keep up with him. His guitar playing and sudden shifts in mood and tempo would be enough to leave most bands in the dirt (which he may have often done), but if you focus only on the guitar playing, you cannot help but be floored by the choices in direction the Maestro makes--split second decisions that boggle the mind and never cease to amaze and astonish.

Try this video from Austin City Limits to try to get a sense for this man's genius:

or this one, the song that sucked me into Roy's genius and one of my all-time favorite guitar songs, "Fly…Night Bird."