Roy Buchanan : The Prophet : The Unreleased First Polydor Album

 Leroy "Roy" Buchanan

 (September 23, 1939 – August 14, 1988) 

was an American 

guitarist 

and

 blues rock musician. 

A pioneer of the

 Telecaster sound,

 Buchanan worked as 

a sideman 

and as a 

solo artist, 

with two 

gold albums

 early in his career

 and two

 later solo albums

 that made it 

to the 

Billboard chart.

 He never 

achieved stardom, 

but is considered

 a highly influential 

guitar player.

 Guitar Player 

praised him as having

 one of the 

"50 Greatest Tones of All Time"

He appeared on

 the PBS

 music program 

Austin City Limits 

in 1977 

(season 2).

DEATH

According to his agent 

and others, 

Buchanan was doing well, 

having gained control 

of his drinking habit 

and playing again, 

when he was arrested 

for public intoxication

 after a domestic dispute. 

He was found hanged

 from his own shirt 

in a jail cell 

on 

August 14, 1988, 

in the Fairfax County,

 Virginia, Jail. 

According to 

Thomas Hartman, 

who was in a cell 

near Buchanan's,

 the deputy sheriff

 opened the door

 early in the morning 

and found 

Buchanan with the shirt 

around his neck. 

His cause of death 

was officially recorded

 as suicide, 

a finding disputed by 

Buchanan's friends 

and family. 

One of his friends, 

Marc Fisher, 

reported seeing 

Buchanan's body 

with bruises 

on the head.

After his death,

 compilation

 and other albums

 continue to be released,

 * including in 2004 

the never-released 

first album

 he recorded

 for Polydor, 

The Prophet. 

Roy Buchanan

 is interred at

 Columbia Gardens 

Cemetery

 in Arlington, Virginia.

The Prophet : 

The Unreleased First Polydor Album

LINK