Sure some of you have heard of the late US guitar player Roy Buchanan (1936/1939-1988).

When searching for "roy buchanan" and "rolling stones" in Google a considerable amount of webpages will turn up, stating that Roy Buchanan was considered a replacement for Brian Jones in 1969 - but had apparently turned down the offer. I remember first reading this story in a German rock encyclopedia from about 1973 and it seems to be common folklore nowadys when telling about Buchanan. Many webpages even state he was asked to be the replacement for the dead Jones which of course is even less believable since Jones left the band in May 1969 being replaced by Mick Taylor and only died in July 1969. I don't think the Stones ever actually thought about replacing Mick Taylor by Buchanan. In fact they did not ever think about replacing him before he left the band by himself.

However since in the past I read the Buchanan statement so often I tried to find out if the Buchanan story was fact or fiction and came about the following text (http://www.roybuchanan.org/bio.html): "Buchanan later told journalist Tom Zito that at this point he turned down - through [Charlie] Daniels - a job offer from the Rolling Stones stemming from Brian Jones' death in July 1969. It's a great story: a guitarist too hot, too disinterested in fame to join the Stones. Unfortunately, Daniels himself told me he had never even heard that story, nor spoken to the Stones."

Does anyone have either positive or negative proof for this story? Or maybe some more sources?

most probably - no sources - EVERYBODY was considered, MANY were invited and contacted, but only for casting/audition/playing together, etc. x)

I'm sure I read a quote where Roy said, if it had been the Beatles he might've considered it.

It's a shame he never got to jam with the Stones or even a guest appearance woulda been cool. Imagine how cool it would be to hear that telecaster on a live rendition of Midnight Rambler! My word, that would be great!

Yeh sure Buchanan was a great guitarist - but was he actually ever ASKED by the Stones? Not only considered like EVERYBODY...? Or was the story just made up by himself to boast how great he was he could even turn down the Stones?

I really don't think Roy was the type to boast about anything.
He was an incredibly modest and reserved person and that would be very uncharacteristic of him.

Well I don't know... at least the following text I found on a Roy Buchanan dedicated website (http://www.roybuchanan.org/bio.html):

At some point rocker Charlie Daniels signed Roy to record a studio album for Polydor Records, and they assembled enough tracks in Nashville, but Buchanan canned the LP, complaining that Daniels had made him sound too much like everyone else (four tracks turned up on Polygram's 1992 collection, Sweet Dreams). Buchanan later told journalist Tom Zito that at this point he turned down - through Daniels - a job offer from the Rolling Stones stemming from Brian Jones' death in July 1969. It's a great story: a guitarist too hot, too disinterested in fame to join the Stones. Unfortunately, Daniels himself told me he had never even heard that story, nor spoken to the Stones. Could this oft-repeated tale simply be one of Roy's "greatest hits," one of the greatest stories ever told in rock and roll circles?

Buchanan's stories were always plausible, yet one wonders. Consider the tale of how he acquired his trademark '53 Tele. [etc etc]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-10-24 00:54 by F.U.C. the Captain.

About a year ago, I tried researching this story & came up empty. Methinks it is just an urban legend.

Greetings from the Jersey Shore.

I finally found the old PBS "Worlds Greatest Unknown Guitarist" documentary online after searching for it for a good year or two. I've yet to watch it, has anyone here seen it, does it say anything about the Stone's offer?

Quote
bustedtrousers
I finally found the old PBS "Worlds Greatest Unknown Guitarist" documentary online after searching for it for a good year or two. I've yet to watch it, has anyone here seen it, does it say anything about the Stone's offer?

Fantastic documentary with some great live footage but no mention of the Stones.

Also recommended is the 1977 Austin City Limits DVD which only 30 minutes long, but he plays some incredible stuff!

Roy Buchanan was an unbelievably good guitarist. Think of him cutting loose of Love in Vain. Too bad it never happened because that would have been one of the all-time great guest spots. That said, I couldn't imagine him ever taking the Stones second guitar job full-time.