Although I 'discovered' Roy Buchanan when I was a blues-loving kid in the mid-80s, his first brush with something resembling fame came in 1971, when a documentary, The Best Unknown Guitarist in the World, aired on public TV.
Sadly, Buchanan is still fairly unknown to the general public (including scores of guitarists).
Buchanan had a distinctive tone, as can be heard in the live video below. He played his vintage Fender Telecaster through a Fender Vibrolux amp with the tone all the way up (and then some, it seems), using the guitar's volume knob mid-solo to create mesmerizing, keyboard-style effects. Buchanan could play harmonics at will and mute individual strings with his free right-hand fingers while picking or pinching others. He was best known for his gut-wrenching bends and incredibly 'pointy' sound. He committed suicide in 1988 at age 48 while in jail for public drunkenness.
Below, check out Buchanan's undated performance of When a Guitar Plays the Blues, the title track from his 1985 album on Alligator Records (This is a good one to own, by the way). There's a solo intro section at the beginning of the video, and the actual solo begins at around 5:25. Note that there's another extended solo section around 8:18. Enjoy!
