When a Guitar Plays the Blues
Studio album by Roy Buchanan
Released	July 1985
Studio	Streeterville Studios, Chicago, Illinois
Genre	Rock, blues
Length	43:11
Label	Alligator
Producer	Roy Buchanan, Dick Shurman, Bruce Iglauer
Roy Buchanan chronology
My Babe (1980) When a Guitar Plays the Blues (1985) Dancing on the Edge (1986)

When a Guitar Plays the Blues is a 1985 album by American guitarist and blues musician Roy Buchanan. This was his first record for Alligator Records.^[1] It was recorded and mixed by Justin Niebank, mastered by Tom Coyne and produced by Roy Buchanan, Dick Shurman and Bruce Iglauer.^[2]

All tracks composed by Roy Buchanan, except where noted.

1. "When a Guitar Plays the Blues"
2. "Chicago Smokeshop"
3. "Mrs. Pressure"
4. "A Nickel and a Nail" (Deadric Malone, Vernon Morrison)
5. "Short Fuse"
6. "Why Don't You Want Me"
7. "Country Boy"
8. "Sneaking Godzilla Through the Alley"
9. "Hawaiian Punch"^[1]

• Roy Buchanan – guitar and vocals
• Larry Exum – bass guitar
• Morris Jennings – drums
• Bill Heid – keyboards
• Steele "Sonny" Seals – saxophone
• Criss Johnson – rhythm guitar, solo, (second) (tr.9)^{[citation needed]}
• Otis Clay – vocals
• Gloria Hardiman – vocals^[2]