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.
Sweet Dream
Roy Buchanan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Every night I go through
Why can't I forget you and start my life new
Instead of having sweet dreams about you?
You don't love me it's plain
I should have known I'd never wear your ring
I should hate you the whole night through
Why can't I forget the past
Start loving someone new
Instead of having sweet dreams about you?
Instead of having sweet dreams about you
The song Sweet Dreams by Roy Buchanan is a heart-wrenching ballad about unrequited love and the struggle to move on. The lyrics describe the singer's inability to forget their lost love and move on with their life, despite knowing that their love will never be returned. They ask themselves why they can't forget the memories and start anew, instead of having sweet dreams about their former lover every night.
The lyrics also touch on the bitterness and frustration that comes with unrequited love. The singer knows that their love interest will never reciprocate their feelings, yet they continue to hold onto them, unable to let go. They admit that they should hate their love interest, yet they can't help but have sweet dreams about them every night.
Overall, the song is a poignant reflection on the pain of unrequited love and the struggle to move on from a past relationship. It speaks to anyone who has ever experienced heartbreak and found themselves unable to let go of a lost love.
Line by Line Meaning
Sweet dreams of you
I dream about you every night
Every night I go through
This happens every night
Why can't I forget you and start my life new
I want to forget you and move on to a new life, but I can't
Instead of having sweet dreams about you?
I wish I could dream of something other than you
You don't love me it's plain
It's obvious that you don't love me
I should have known I'd never wear your ring
I should have realized I would never be your spouse
I should hate you the whole night through
I really should hate you all night long
Instead of having sweet dreams about you
But I keep dreaming sweet thoughts of you
Why can't I forget the past
Why can't I move on from the past
Start loving someone new
Find someone new to love
Instead of having sweet dreams about you?
So I can stop dreaming about you
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DON GIBSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
007attaboy
As a musician most of my 85 years (clarinet, piano) I've never been much of a guitar fan. But I'd like to think I have a great deal of appreciation of great music, mostly jazz and classical. Its a sad commentary to humanity that a great musician like Roy Buchanan never really got his due while he was alive, and then had to die so sadly. I keep playing Sweet Dreams over and over having first heard it in the film The Departed. It haunts me. I've diddled a little with it on piano which of course is not the right instrument for it. I dearly wish I could go back in time and help make things right for Roy Buchanan. What a great musician he was!! Kudos to Scorcese for featuring Sweet Dreams in his film.
christian duenas
I couldn’t describe those feelings any better, I feel exactly the same. He deserves our ear
Rod Kirkbride
I'd like to hear that on piano bud. 👍
Patrick Charneau
Il était déjà ailleurs quand on me l'a fait découvrir .. Mais je n'ai pas mis longtemps pour comprendre toute la subtilité et l'acharnement et surtout ... la sensibilité dont Roy pouvait ressentir ... --- ... ... --- ...
Larissa Padilha
Bom dia, sou trombonista ,mas gosto muito de guitarra, o Mark knopfler é meu preferido, por seu som único e sentimento, mas assim que conheci esse guitarrista, gostei muito, muito sentimento também, além de uma bela música e interpretação, vou pesquisar a respeito da vida dele, grande abraço.
Mando Fisher
Amen , brother. Obviously you are a lover of great music. Sweet Dreams is certainly a haunting tune and Roy squeezed every drop of emotion out of it with his playing.
buckfan1969
When I was in college a million years ago, a buddy of mine liked to say that no matter how good someone we all idolized was at something, whether it was sports or music or whatever, there was someone out in the world we'd never heard of who was better than our idols. We argued about that all the time. Then, in 1972, Buchanan's 2nd album came out, and I bought it. At the time it was all about Beck, Clapton, Hendrix, etc. I'd never heard of Roy Buchanan. But after listening to that album, I had second thoughts about what my buddy said. Maybe there is someone out there who's better. Buchanan opened my eyes to that concept with 'The Messiah Will Come Again', and reinforced it with many more magic works over the years. He was a true master that few knew of; much like Rory Gallagher and James Burton, only less famous than either of them even. RIP Roy. You are missed, and you are remembered fondly by many of us.
Michael Rommel
+buckfan1969 Roy was about the only guy who escaped my concert going back then. I was so stupid to pass on an intimate concert at a medium venue in Minneapolis. That era had so many gifted - when guitar was the "it" . Seeing Johnny Winter and Frank Zappa multiple times. We were huge Rory fans along with Ten Years After, Zeppelin, Climax Blues, Jeff Beck, ect. I regret never seeing Roy when I had a chance. We all had his albums.
Curtis Low
+buckfan1969 Oddly enough I knew this song for years(I'd heard it at the end of departed) and it haunted me, until I finally looked into who had played it, weird thing is coincidentally I had just bought my first telecaster the very same day hours before finding out that it was performed by Roy on a telecaster(on October 17th 2015(Last Saturday)), which was mind blowing to me, and still is. I feel this unknown man(To most people anyways) is proof that the music industry is not about great music, but great brainwashing.
Oddly enough just learned or Rory Gallagher in July of this year(Found him while I was trying to learn White Summer/ Black Mountain side) and while Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck are amazing, it's great to see players arguably equal or better.
Right now in my opinion, Roy Playing this Cover of Don Gibson's "Sweet Dreams" is extremely, beautifully, hauntingly, amazingly, adjective inducingly the best and my favourite song out there!
It'll be interesting the next time I find one of these unknown gifts to humankind
buckfan1969
+Curtis Low I think you're right about the music industry; it's all about marketability rather than talent. I think the people who decide what will be put out for sale are often sitting with marketing degrees and don't really have the musical chops. But it's a kick getting turned on to someone new that can really play, isn't it?