Roy Buchanan is one of those artists who seemed to just excel in front of a live audience. A true guitarists’ 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 doesn’t really give the listener the full extent of a live performance. 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 double CD set, we can fully experience two full sets of Buchanan’s at the height of his career. It’s easy to picture a smoke-filled room reeking of stale beer and old sweat seeing ol’ stone faced Butch making his ’53 Telecaster squeal.
While Buchanan’s 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 ‘70s work but never quite had the power of Butch’s first singer, Chuck Tiley. Nevertheless, the ferocious guitar playing makes up for it. Tracks like “Too Many Drivers”, “Done Your Daddy Wrong” and most importantly “Roy’s Bluz” are pure brilliance.
by Ryan Sagadore
Tracks
Disc 1 Early Set
1. Done Your Daddy Dirty (Roy Buchanan) - 3:17
2. Reelin' And Rockin' (Roy Milton) - 2:13
3. Hot Cha (Willie Woods) - 4:12
4. Further On Up The Road (Don Robey, Joe Medwick Veasey) - 3:39
5. Roy's Bluz (Roy Buchanan) - 8:01
6. Can I Change My Mind (Barry Despenza, Carl Wolfolk) - 5:47
7. Hey Joe (Billy Roberts) - 8:36
8. Too Many Drivers (Andrew Hogg) - 2:50
9. Down By The River (Neil Young) - 9:16
10.I'm A Ram (Al Green, Mabon "Teenie" Hodges) - 4:23
11.In The Beginning (Roy Buchanan) - 2:19
12.Driftin' And Driftin' (Charles Brown, Johnny Moore, Eddie Williams) - 7:45
1. I'm Evil (Roy Buchanan) - 3:48
2. Too Many Drivers (Andrew Hogg) - 5:07
3. Done Your Daddy Dirty (Roy Buchanan) - 2:03
4. Roy's Bluz (Roy Buchanan) - 8:48
5. Further On Up The Road (Don Robey, Joe Medwick Veasey) - 3:56
6. Hey Joe (Billy Roberts) - 8:07
7. Can I Change My Mind (Barry Despenza, Carl Wolfolk) - 6:18
8. In The Beginning (Roy Buchanan) - 2:30
9. All Over Again (I've Got A Mind To Give Up Living) (Carl Adams, B.B. King) - 8:55
Musicians
*Roy Buchanan - Guitar, Vocals
*Ron "Byrd" Foster - Drums
*John Harrison - Bass
*Malcolm Lukens - Keyboards
*Billy Price - Vocals
1969-78 Roy Buchanan - Sweet Dreams The Anthology
1972-73 Roy Buchanan - Roy Buchanan / Second Album
1977 Roy Buchanan - Loading Zone (2005 remaster)
1978 Roy Buchanan - Live In Japan (2003 remaster)