Roy Buchanan: Wayfaring Pilgrim

In 1973, the late Roy Buchanan released his “Second Album,” which featured his instrumental treatment based on the spiritual “Wayfaring Stranger.” Roy titled his instrumental as “Wayfaring Pilgrim.” We don’t usually play instrumentals on our Spiritual Sunday feature, but this one fits. I have included a live version from German TV’s “Rockpalast.” A studio version from the “Second Album” is also provided for continuity’s sake.

Elliot Easton of The Cars placed Buchanan’s “Second Album” at number 9 on his top 12 most influential guitar recordings of all time. Others on his list include The Beatles; Les Paul and Mary Ford; Charlie Christian; Taj Mahal; John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton; Bloomfield, Kooper, and Stills; The Jimi Hendrix Experience; Robert Johnson; Wes Montgomery; and others. Easton’s opinion of the “Second Album” is summed in the following statement: “As a fan of what can be done with the Telecaster, this album pretty much shows you all you need to know. It’s a hair-raising record.”