Rare & Hard-To-Find Audio CDs (series)

Buch And The Snakestretchers

by Roy Buchanan

Product Description:

Personnel: Roy Buchanan, Chuck Tilley (vocals, guitar); Teddy Irwin (guitar); Dick Heintze (piano, organ); Peter Van Allen (bass); Ned Davis (drums); Marc Fisher (tambourine).

Recorded at the Crossroads, Bladensburg, Maryland in 1971. Includes liner notes by Steve Smolen.

The BUCH AND THE SNAKE STRETCHERS disc is a reissue of the hard-to-find LP of the same name-Roy Buchanan's first--produced independently in 1971. Recorded live at a nightclub in Maryland with a standard reel-to-reel and a single microphone, BUCH has something of a bootleg feel (the record was originally sold in a burlap bag with a stenciled cover) in both conception and sound quality. The six cuts capture the essence of Buchanan's virtuoso bar band aesthetic as he and a six-piece band slide and wail through versions of "Sweet Dreams," "I'm A Lonesome Fugitive," and "Johnny B. Goode."

The band provides solid, country-inflected blues backing with vocal help from Chuck Tilley on tracks like Neil Young's "Down By The River" and Buchanan's own "Since You've Been Gone." The spotlight primarily shines, of course, on the mesmerizing six-string flights of "Buch" himself, and his playing seems to find its deepest, most natural expression in this intimate concert setting. This set affords a rare peek at the guitarist in his fiery prime and is a must of serious fans.