Roy Book Binder (born October 5, 1943 as Paul Roy Bookbinder) is an American
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
guitarist, singer-songwriter and storyteller.
A student and friend of the
Rev. Gary Davis
Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis (born Gary D. Davis, April 30, 1896 – May 5, 1972), was a blues and gospel singer who was also proficient on the banjo, guitar and harmonica. Born in Laurens, South Carolina and blind since infancy, ...
, he is equally at home with blues and
ragtime
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...
. He is known to shift from
open tunings
Guitar tunings are the assignment of pitches to the open strings of guitars, including acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and classical guitars. Tunings are described by the particular pitches that are made by notes in Western music. B ...
to slide arrangements to original compositions, with both traditional and self-styled licks. His storytelling is another characteristic that makes his style unique.
Life and career
Book Binder was born in
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, New York City.
Upon graduation from high school, he joined the
Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
and undertook a tour of duty in Europe. He bought his first guitar at a military base in Italy. After completing his enlistment, he returned to New York, where he met and became friends with his guitar hero,
Dave Van Ronk
David Kenneth Ritz Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was an American folk singer. An important figure in the American folk music revival and New York City's Greenwich Village scene in the 1960s, he was nicknamed the "Mayor of Mac ...
. Book Binder soon sought out Davis, who also lived in New York, and became his student and later his chauffeur and tour companion.
Much of Book Binder's original material is based on his time on the road with Davis.
By the mid- to late 1960s Book Binder was recording for both
Kicking Mule and
Blue Goose Records
Blue Goose Records was an American independent record label set up in the early 1970s by Nick Perls.
While on Blue Goose's sister label, Yazoo Records, Perls compiled rare 78 rpm recordings from the 1920s by Charley Patton, Blind Willie McTell, Me ...
.
In 1969, he toured England with
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup
Arthur William "Big Boy" Crudup (August 24, 1905 – March 28, 1974) was an American Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known, outside blues circles, for his songs "That's All Right" (1946), " My Baby Left Me" and "So Gl ...
and
Homesick James
Homesick James (April 30, 1910December 13, 2006 was an American blues musician known for his mastery of the slide guitar. He worked with his cousin, Elmore James, and with Sonny Boy Williamson II.
Early years
Homesick James was born in Somervil ...
.
After meeting another of his musical influences, the bluesman
Pink Anderson
Pinkney "Pink" Anderson (February 12, 1900 – October 12, 1974) was an American blues singer and guitarist.
Life and career
Anderson was born in Laurens, South Carolina, and raised in nearby Greenville and Spartanburg. He joined Dr. William ...
, Book Binder released his first album, ''Travelin' Man'', on Adelphi.
The album was named after one of the songs he learned from Anderson.
In 1973 he began a partnership with the fiddler
Fats Kaplin
Fats Kaplin is an American musician, born in New York City. He is best known as a fiddler. He also plays guitar, button accordion, banjo, mandolin, steel guitar, an Arab oud, and a Turkish cümbüş, among others. He has worked with artists such as ...
, and they recorded ''Git Fiddle Shuffle'' in 1973.
They performed together for three years, playing numerous concerts and recording a second album, ''Ragtime Millionaire'', in 1977. After this partnership dissolved, Book Binder began touring the country, living in a motor home, and concentrating on live performances.
Book Binder has been described as a guitar-picking hillbilly bluesman.
He has released 12 albums and has performed at most major blues and folk
festivals
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...
in the U.S. and Europe, including
Merlefest. Notables that have shared the stage with Book Binder include
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...
,
B.B. King
Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...
, John Jackson,
Sonny Terry
Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and oc ...
,
Doc Watson
Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. W ...
,
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
, and
Brownie McGhee
Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee (November 30, 1915 – February 16, 1996) was an American folk music and Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaboration with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.
Life and career
McGhee wa ...
. He has appeared regularly on ''
Nashville Now
''Nashville Now'' was an American talk show that focused on country music performers in the style of ''The Tonight Show''. The show aired live on weeknights on TNN from 1983–1993. The host was Nashville TV/radio personality Ralph Emery. The sho ...
''. He is listed in ''
Blues Who's Who'', by the music historian
Sheldon Harris.
Book Binder is a veteran guitar instructor and teaches at the
Fur Peace Ranch with
Jorma Kaukonen
Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen, Jr. (; ; born December 23, 1940) is an American blues, folk, and rock guitarist. Kaukonen performed with Jefferson Airplane and still performs regularly on tour with Hot Tuna, which started as a side project with bassist J ...
and others whose lives have been influenced by Davis. There he demonstrates songs, turnarounds, chord variations, right-hand methods, and many of his own powerful adaptations and unique approaches to the blues.
Book Binder's album ''Hillbilly Blues Cats'' (Rounder) was named as one of the ten most essential acoustic guitar albums of 1992. The 1992 category winners also included
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
's ''
Unplugged
Unplugged may refer to:
*Acoustic music, music not produced through electronic means
*Unplugged (B.A.P song), "Unplugged" (B.A.P song), 2014
*Unplugged (Modern Family), "Unplugged" (''Modern Family''), a 2010 episode of ''Modern Family''
Albums a ...
'',
Lyle Lovett
Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Active since 1980, he has recorded 13 albums and relea ...
's ''Joshua Judges Ruth'' and
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
's ''
Harvest Moon
The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic coordinate system, ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon opp ...
''.
Albums
*''Travelin' Man'' (1971, Adelphi Records)
*''Git Fiddle Shuffle'' (1975, Blue Goose Records)
*''Ragtime Millionaire'' (1977, Blue Goose)
*''Goin' Back to Tampa'' (1979, Flying Fish Records)
*''Bookeroo!'' (1988, Rounder Records)
*''The Hillbilly Blues Cats'' (1992, Rounder)
*''Live Book... Don't Start Me Talkin...'' (1994, Rounder)
*''Polk City Ramble'' (1998, Rounder)
*''The Radio Show'' (2000, PEGleg Records)
*''Singer Songwriter Bluesman'' (2001, PEGleg)
*''Live at the Fur Peace Station'' (2005, PEGleg)
*''In Concert ... Road Songs & Stories'' (2009, PEGleg)
*''The Good Book'' (2013, PEGleg)
*''In Concert Road Songs And Stories'' (2017, PEGleg)
*''Live At The Fur Peace Station '' (PEGleg)
References
External links
Answers.comBlogcritics.orgRoybookbinder.com – Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Book Binder, Roy
1941 births
Living people
American blues singer-songwriters
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
Singers from New York City
Guitarists from New York City
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American male musicians
American male singer-songwriters
Singer-songwriters from New York (state)
Rounder Records artists
Flying Fish Records artists
Pseudonymous artists