Roy Buchanan's (September 23, 1939 - August 14, 1988) musical career began … Read Full Bio ↴Roy Buchanan's (September 23, 1939 - August 14, 1988) musical career began in Pixley, California. His father was a sharecropper (not a Pentecostal preacher as Buchanan himself had claimed). Buchanan told how his first musical memories were of racially-mixed revival meetings his family would attend. "Gospel," he recalled, "that's how I first got into black music". He in fact drew upon many disparate influences while learning to play his instrument (although he later claimed his aptitude was derived from being "half-wolf"). He initially showed talent on the steel guitar before switching to the standard instrument in the early 50's.

In 1957, Buchanan made his recording debut, playing the solo on Dale Hawkins' "My Babe" for Chicago's Chess Records. Three years later, Buchanan headed north to Canada, where he took charge of the guitar role in Ronnie Hawkins' band (a group later to gain fame as The Band). The group's guitar player, Robbie Robertson, studied guitar under Buchanan, and took over the lead guitar spot when Buchanan left the group.

The early 60's found Buchanan performing numerous gigs as a sideman with multiple rock bands, and cutting a number of sessions as guitarist with musicians such as Freddy Cannon and Merle Kilgore.

Buchanan's 1962 recording with drummer Bobby Gregg, "Potato Peeler", first introduced the trademark Buchanan pinch harmonics. An effort to cash in on the British Invasion caught Buchanan with The British Walkers. In the mid-'60's, Buchanan settled down in the Washington, DC area, playing as a sideman before starting his own groups. One of these groups was called The Snakestretchers, an allusion to Buchanan's disdain for the vagaries of the band experience. The Snakestretchers became a semi-permanent combo for Buchanan starting in this period, with whom he made his first acclaimed recording as a front man, Roy Buchanan & the Snakestretchers. Danny Gatton was another respected Telecaster master who lived in Washington, D.C. at that time. Both musicians gained reputations as under-appreciated guitarists.

In 1971, riding on word-of-mouth reputation that included praise from John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Merle Haggard, and an alleged invitation to join the Rolling Stones, Buchanan gained national notoriety as the result of an hour-long Public broadcasting television documentary. Entitled "The Best Unknown Guitarist In The World", the show rejuvenated a contract with Polydor and began a decade of national and international touring. He recorded five albums for Polydor (one went gold) and three for Atlantic Records (one gold), while playing most major rock concert halls and festivals. Finally, Buchanan quit recording in 1981, vowing never to enter a studio again unless he could record his own music his own way.

Four years later, Buchanan was coaxed back into the studio by Alligator Records. His first album for Alligator, When a Guitar Plays The Blues, was released in the spring of 1985. It was the first time he was given total artistic freedom in the studio. It was also his first true blues album. Fans quickly responded, and the album entered Billboard's pop charts and remained on the charts for 13 weeks. Music critics, as well as fans, applauded Roy's efforts with favorable reviews.

His second Alligator LP, Dancing on the Edge, was released in the fall of 1986. The album, featuring three songs with special guest, rock'n'soul vocalist Delbert McClinton, won the College Media Journal Award for Best Blues Album of 1986.

He released the twelfth LP of his career and his third for Alligator, Hot Wires, in 1987. In addition to Donald Kinsey (formerly with Albert King and Bob Marley), keyboardist Stan Szelest, and Larry Exum (bass) and Morris Jennings (drums), this album includes guest vocals by veteran soul singer Johnny Sayles and blues singer Kanika Kress.

Buchanan died August 14, 1988 in the Fairfax County, Virginia jail while being held after an arrest for public drunkeness. His death was ruled a suicide, although that finding has been disputed by friends and family.

I Hear You Knockin'
Roy Buchanan Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You went away and left me long time ago
And now you're knockin' on my door

I hear you knocking but you can't come in
I hear you knocking, go back where you've been
I begged you not to go, but you said goodbye
And now you tell me all your lies
I hear you knocking, but you can't come in

I hear you knocking, go back where you've been

You better get back to your use to be
'Cause your kind of love ain't good for me

I hear you knocking, but you can't come in
I hear you knocking, go back where you've been
I told you way back in Fifty Two
That I would never go with you

I hear you knocking, but you can't come in
I hear you knocking, go back where you've been

Overall Meaning

The song "I Hear You Knockin'" by Roy Buchanan is about a person who left the singer and now wants to come back, but the singer is not willing to let them back in because they know that the kind of love they offered is not good for them. The first line of the song says "You went away and left me a long time ago and now you're knocking on my door", indicating that the person who left the singer has come back after a long time, probably with the intention of reconciling. However, the singer tells them that they can't come in, even though they can hear them knocking.

The singer begs the person not to leave but they did anyway. Now, the person is offering lies to the singer, which they do not want to accept. They advise the person to go back to their past and leave them alone. The song reveals that the singer had warned the person in 1952 not to come back, and now they are firm about their decision.

The song is about the difficulty of letting go of the past and moving on to someone who is not good for us. It encourages people to look out for their own interests instead of potentially hurting themselves by giving into relationships that are not healthy. In the end, the song accepts that the past is the past and that one should move on if they are not happy.

Line by Line Meaning

You went away and left me long time ago
You left me a long time ago.

And now you're knockin' on my door
And now you're back in my life and trying to reconnect.

I hear you knocking but you can't come in
I hear you trying to reconnect, but I'm not going to let you back into my life easily.

I hear you knocking, go back where you've been
You need to go back to where you were and leave me alone. I don't want you in my life anymore.

I begged you not to go, but you said goodbye
I asked you to stay, but you made the decision to leave me.

And now you tell me all your lies
And now you're trying to come back into my life with more lies and deceit.

You better get back to your use to be
You should go back to where you were before and leave me alone.

'Cause your kind of love ain't good for me
I don't need the kind of love that you offer since it's harmful to me.

I told you way back in Fifty Two
I already told you before.

That I would never go with you
That I wouldn't want to pursue a relationship with you.

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Pearl King, Dave Bartholomew

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind