“That’s not a slide on Roy Rogers’ pinky, it’s a time machine. With it, Rogers transports you to the Mississippi Delta’s past and future.” - Guitar Player
“He absolutely shredded that crowd [at New Orleans Jazz Fest].....and me too - the guy is frightening!” - Bonnie Raitt
“This is the album of a lifetime, the distillation of everything that has made Roy Rogers such an important blues artist over the years. The slide work is superb and the band rocks with white hot intensity. A masterpiece.” - John Swenson, Author, Rolling Stone, Elmore, Stereophile
“The guitar master is one of the greatest slide guitar players anywhere.” - San Francisco Chronicle
Born in Redding, California in 1950, Roy began playing guitar at twelve years of age. A year later at age 13, he was performing in a rock 'n' roll band that wore gold lame jackets and played Little Richard and Chuck Berry tunes. He discovered the great blues players early on, especially when his older brother brought home an album by Robert Johnson. Thus began his love of the blues, slide guitar in particular, which had an immediate effect on Roy, who was indeed named after the King of the Cowboys. Through the years he developed a distinctive style of playing slide guitar that not only emerged, but one that is instantly recognizable.
Roy performed with various groups until 1976, when he and harmonica player David Burgin formed an acoustic duo and recorded an album Rogers And Burgin: A Foot In The Door for Waterhouse Records. They also played on the One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest movie soundtrack before the duet ran it's course. Rogers then formed his own band in 1980, the Delta Rhythm Kings, hit the club circuit, played a few more movie and television gigs, and toured Europe with the 1982 San Francisco Blues Festival Revue (recording an album with that Revue in Paris).
In 1985 he released his first solo album, Chops Not Chaps on his own label, which received widespread radio play and was nominated for a W.C. Handy Award. In 1987, Blind Pig released his second solo album, Slidewinder. It includes fantastic duets with Hooker and New Orleans piano great Allen Toussaint, as well as songs with his own band. The rave reviews in the national press and extensive radio play that followed further enhanced Roy's growing reputation. Roy's third solo release, Blues On The Range was also issued on Blind Pig in 1989 and continued to win new fans to his incredible slide guitar, arrangements and songwriting skills.
Shortly after returning from Europe, Rogers was asked to join John Lee Hooker's Coast to Coast Blues Band. During the four years he toured with Hooker as a featured guitarist/vocalist, Rogers established a strong personal and professional relationship with the venerated blues legend. Said Hooker, "I just can't say enough good things about Roy. He plays so good. Some of the best slide I've heard, best blues I've heard. He gets real deep and funky, and he masters whatever he plays." Near the end of his tenure in Hooker's band, Roy began to open shows as a solo act, giving him a chance to perform some of the classic country blues and original compositions he'd been perfecting for years. He then went on to produce the historically important four recordings for John Lee Hooker. "The Healer" "Mr. Lucky" "Boom Boom" "Chill Out" - some tracks involving co producer credits with Ry Cooder and Van Morrison.
“That’s not a slide on Roy Rogers’ pinky, it’s a time machine. With it, Rogers transports you to the Mississippi Delta’s past and future.” - Guitar Player
“He absolutely shredded that crowd [at New Orleans Jazz Fest].....and me too - the guy is frightening!” - Bonnie Raitt
“This is the album of a lifetime, the distillation of everything that has made Roy Rogers such an important blues artist over the years. The slide work is superb and the band rocks with white hot intensity. A masterpiece.” - John Swenson, Author, Rolling Stone, Elmore, Stereophile
“The guitar master is one of the greatest slide guitar players anywhere.” - San Francisco Chronicle
Born in Redding, California in 1950, Roy began playing guitar at twelve years of age. A year later at age 13, he was performing in a rock 'n' roll band that wore gold lame jackets and played Little Richard and Chuck Berry tunes. He discovered the great blues players early on, especially when his older brother brought home an album by Robert Johnson. Thus began his love of the blues, slide guitar in particular, which had an immediate effect on Roy, who was indeed named after the King of the Cowboys. Through the years he developed a distinctive style of playing slide guitar that not only emerged, but one that is instantly recognizable.
Roy performed with various groups until 1976, when he and harmonica player David Burgin formed an acoustic duo and recorded an album Rogers And Burgin: A Foot In The Door for Waterhouse Records. They also played on the One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest movie soundtrack before the duet ran it's course. Rogers then formed his own band in 1980, the Delta Rhythm Kings, hit the club circuit, played a few more movie and television gigs, and toured Europe with the 1982 San Francisco Blues Festival Revue (recording an album with that Revue in Paris).
In 1985 he released his first solo album, Chops Not Chaps on his own label, which received widespread radio play and was nominated for a W.C. Handy Award. In 1987, Blind Pig released his second solo album, Slidewinder. It includes fantastic duets with Hooker and New Orleans piano great Allen Toussaint, as well as songs with his own band. The rave reviews in the national press and extensive radio play that followed further enhanced Roy's growing reputation. Roy's third solo release, Blues On The Range was also issued on Blind Pig in 1989 and continued to win new fans to his incredible slide guitar, arrangements and songwriting skills.
Shortly after returning from Europe, Rogers was asked to join John Lee Hooker's Coast to Coast Blues Band. During the four years he toured with Hooker as a featured guitarist/vocalist, Rogers established a strong personal and professional relationship with the venerated blues legend. Said Hooker, "I just can't say enough good things about Roy. He plays so good. Some of the best slide I've heard, best blues I've heard. He gets real deep and funky, and he masters whatever he plays." Near the end of his tenure in Hooker's band, Roy began to open shows as a solo act, giving him a chance to perform some of the classic country blues and original compositions he'd been perfecting for years. He then went on to produce the historically important four recordings for John Lee Hooker. "The Healer" "Mr. Lucky" "Boom Boom" "Chill Out" - some tracks involving co producer credits with Ry Cooder and Van Morrison.
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