Roy Buchanan: Malaguena

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two late, great guitar heroes have recent posthumous releases to curl the toes of six-string fanatics. Roy Buchanan’s Malaguena (Annecillo 1113-2; 50:53) is a collection of impromptu late night jam sessions and nightclub appearances from March of 1988 (he died in August of ’88). The guitar work here, as well as on four rare live recordings from the mid-’60s when Roy was with Danny Denver & The Soundmasters, is simply astounding. Danny Gatton’s The Humbler (NRG Records 6841; 48:50) captures the prodigiously talented guitarist in all of his awesome six-string glory at a 1982 gig with retro rockabilly singer Robert Gordon. This performance had been a bootleg board tape circulating among die-hard Gatton fans for years. It’s finally been cleaned up and pressed as a CD by Gatton’s mother Norma, who almost single-handedly runs NRG Records.

Originally Published September 1, 1997