May 2001

Roy Buchanan
Roy Buchanan: Deluxe Edition
Alligator Records

By Bill Milkowski

On this self-titled compilation (Alligator 5608; 61:02), the remarkable Roy Buchanan showcases his mind-boggling guitar technique and risk-taking, cathartic tendencies on material culled from 1985's When a Guitar Plays the Blues, 1986's Dancing on the Edge and 1987's Hot Wires. It includes two previously unissued tracks in "Blues for Jimmy Nolen" and the moving ballad "The Last Word." Not a weak link in the bunch.