i first met roy when he was playing lead guitar with dale hawkins. dale came up to washington dc to play at the rocket room, located on new york avenue. at that time country music and rock-a-billy were both strong in washington dc and it wasn’t as sophisticated as it is today. it was a fun town, filled with musical excitement. the rocket room was at the heart of it all from there you could walk to many of the night clubs. when roy and dale came into town i was doing some traveling with link wray up the east coast into philadelphia, new jersey, and new york. when link was off the road, he played at the ozark club up on 9th avenue, which was his home base. when dale came into play at the rocket room, i went down to see him. up on the marquee, in red letters was dale hawkins and the bass trio. when i arrived, they were doing a set. i could hear the good sound of rock-n-roll pouring out of the place as i entered the door. things were really going strong and the guitar of roy buchanan was blasting out beats loud and long. when the set ended, i asked dale who you got playing lead? he said, “roy buchanan, he is from okalahoma.” “let me introduce you to him.” roy was maybe five foot nine, slender, brown hair, brown eyes, light complexion, soft voice. hi! i’m roy buchanan. how do we sound he asked? i replied the band sounds great and you play a mean axe, and dale, roy, and i laughed. on the next set dale went into some of checker record recordings. one song he did was “my babe” an ole willie dixon tune that roy just tore up. he used the slide he picked he made that telecaster squeal so bad i thought at anytime both guitar and amp would blow up and piece’s of it would be scattered all around washington, dc. roy was young, i think he was twenty-one. i had heard some good pickers link wray, roy clark, james burton, scotty moore, and charlie daniels, who was playing up the street at benny’s rebel room, but roy buchanan had a style that was different from them all. roy didn’t move around, or make his face sequence up or look like he was in agony when he played. he just stood there and bent notes of out that “fender” that went up, down, across, over here, over there, and bounced around the room and tried to get outside before roy grabbed them and squeezed them again. i loved to hear him play “guitar boogie.” everyone who learns to play the guitar learns to play “guitar boogie.” and roy would play it in the traditional style for a few bars then he would break into the “roy buchanan style” from then on when you heard “guitar boogie” it would never be the same again, after roy played it for you his way. because that’s the way you wanted to hear it forever, and no one in the world could play “guitar boogie” like roy. he’d slide the notes up then down. then he’d make them squeal and turn them around and bring them back to you in a different direction. all the while your saying this is the greatest guitar playing i have ever heard. dale hawkins discovered roy and got him started and let him play the way he wanted. roy could make a song for you. he made “my babe” come to life with his style of picking and he did the same thing on dale’s checker recording of “i’m gonna love you” roy’s guitar playing on that session had the style to take a song to the number one position in the nation, and if i’m gonna love you” had been given the proper air play it could have been a number one hit. when dale’s contract was up at the rocket room, he went on up the east coast working night clubs in philadelphia, new york, and boston. roy stayed in the washington dc area and began to work with country bands. in the fifties rock-a-billy, rock-n-roll, and country worked hand in hand together a good country band would play “hey good looking” then play “blue suede shoes”, and the audience loved it all. washington dc had every kind of music. big al downing was working in dc and played country and rock. he could have done what charlie pride accomplished in the 70′s in country music had he wanted to and had he had the backing, because big al downing had the talent to do it and he did have some country hits in the 80′s. roy had lots of places to work and lot of bands to work with. when i got out of the navy in 1965, and went to work for wdon, roy was still working the clubs in washington dc making a good name for himself in country music. you didn’t have to go on the road to make good money, it was cheap living in the fifties in washington dc. you didn’t need a car to get around because dc had one of the best transportation systems in the country. roy found a good home in the maryland, virginia, and washington dc area. virginia had as many night clubs as washington, dc. roy had no trouble letting his talents go to work for him and it was a great life style. at some point in time roy met up with danny denver, who could play the piano like jerry lee lewis and lived somewhat the same life style, wild and crazy. they made their home base at the crossroads supper club in bladensburg, maryland just outside washington, dc. the crossroads was a no holes barred “juke joint” that was everything but a supper club. i did a live radio show there for awhile. myself, oscar shields, and his band did a thirty minute program from there that didn’t last long, because every time we went live on the air the station would cut us off, because of all the screaming and hollering in the club. roy played there a longtime and would leave town and tour with various bands, but he always came back to washington, dc. the last time i saw roy at the crossroads threw a big party for him. he didn’t look good. he didn’t play like i was used to hearing him play. i knew roy buchanan had the talent to be as big as duane eddy, lonnie mack, b.b. king, link wray. he did make his mark in the halls of country rock and blues music, but some where it went all wrong for roy. he ended his life by hanging himself in county jail in fairfax, virginia. i’ll always remember roy buchanan as a nice soft spoken guy from tulsa, oklahoma who could play his fender with the best of the best and now as with the big movie of the same name roy buchanan is “gone with the wind.”

~ Widmarc Clark