Buck Dharma

Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser
Background information
Birth name	Donald Brian Roeser
Born	(1947-11-12) November 12, 1947 Long Island, New York, US
Genres	Hard rock, heavy metal
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, keyboards, singer
Years active	1967–present
Associated acts	Blue Öyster Cult, Hear 'n Aid, The Red and the Black
Website	Official website
Notable instruments
Gibson Les Paul Gibson SG Steinberger

Donald Brian "Buck Dharma" Roeser (born November 12, 1947) is an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for being a member of Blue Öyster Cult since the group's formation in 1967. He wrote and sang the lead vocal on many of the band's best-known hits, including "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Godzilla", and "Burnin' for You" (the last originally intended for Roeser's solo album.)

Early life

Roeser was born on Long Island, New York. His father was an accomplished jazz saxophonist, and Roeser spent a lot of time listening to jazz music as a result. Because of this, Roeser developed an interest in the melodic arts at a very early age. He even played the accordion for a brief period of time.^[1]

Roeser was influenced greatly by the British Invasion of 1964, and he decided to pursue rock n' roll music. He first started out playing the drums, but had to stop temporarily after breaking his wrist while playing basketball. While recovering, Roeser learned to play guitar, and found that he enjoyed it more than the drums.^[2]

During his high school years, Roeser played guitar in various cover bands. At this time, he started to develop his own signature sound by imitating his favorite guitarists and combining their sounds with his own style. Roeser attended Clarkson College in New York, and joined a band that included later bandmate Albert Bouchard. The two played together on and off during the rest of their college career. At the end, both musicians abandoned potential degrees (Roeser's in Chemical Engineering), and decided to pursue music full time. They moved in to a band house near Stony Brook University and started their careers.^[3]

Career

Early Career: 1968-1971

Roeser and Bouchard started the band Soft White Underbelly in 1968. Members included keyboardist Allen Lanier, singer Les Braunstein, bassist Andrew Winters and former music critic Sandy Pearlman (their producer). In 1968, they were signed by Elektra Records after the company's president Jac Holzman saw them perform. Soft White Underbelly dropped Braunstein and added new singer Eric Bloom to their lineup. The band recorded under the name Stalk Forrest Group (after a bad gig forced them to change their name) in 1970. Unfortunately, Elektra dropped the band because of problems with the personnel, and the album was shelved (it was eventually released in 2001 under the name St. Cecilia: The Elektra Recordings).^[4][5]

Blue Oyster Cult: 1971-Present

Roeser, along with Bouchard, Lanier, Pearlman, Bloom, and new member bassist Joe Bouchard (older brother of Albert Bouchard) reformed with the name Blue Oyster Cult. They signed with Columbia Records in 1971, and released four albums between 1972 and 1975. Roeser's abilities on lead guitar were praised during this period. He did not write many songs during this time period, however, and was hardly featured on vocals (his most notable work at the time was "Then Came the Last Days of May", featuring him as both vocalist and songwriter).

By Blue Oyster Cult's fifth album Agents of Fortune in 1976, Roeser proved himself as a songwriter and vocalist with the band's signature song "Don't Fear the Reaper". As a result, Roeser's songwriting and vocals were more prevalent on the followup albums Spectres, Mirrors, Cultosaurus Erectus and Fire of Unknown Origin. Most significantly, he penned and sang on the tracks "Godzilla" and "Burnin' For You", which are staple songs of the band.

In 1982, Roeser recorded and released Flat Out during his spare time. This is his first and only studio album to this date. The tracks were all composed by Roeser (some co-written with Richard Meltzer, Neal Smith and Roeser's wife Sandy), with the exception of "Come Softly to Me", a track originally recorded by The Fleetwoods. These are songs that Roeser wanted to record, but they were received as too poppy by the other members of Blue Oyster Cult, and therefore not recorded by the band. The singles released of the album were "Born to Rock" and "Your Loving Heart", both of which had music videos named and did not chart. Two other notable tracks are "Cold Wind" and "Anwar's Theme".^[6]

Roeser and Blue Oyster Cult went on to record three more albums (two studio and one live) that all flopped commercially, but contained a decent amount of Roeser's compositions and many tracks with Roeser on lead vocals. This, along with the loss of original members Albert Bouchard (1982) and Allen Lanier (1985), prompted Blue Oyster Cult to break up in mid 1986.

In 1985, Roeser and Bloom participated in Hear 'n Aid. This was a project created by Ronnie James Dio to raise money for famine relief in Africa. It included many famous heavy metal musicians. Hear n' Aid recorded the song "Stars", which includes a lead guitar solo by Roeser. Hear n' Aid also released a compilation album which included "Stars", as well as live outtakes from the participating artists.^[7]

The band fully reunited in 1987 and recorded the album Imaginos, which was released in 1988. This was a concept album based on Sandy Pearlman's poetry. Originally planned to be a trilogy of double albums by Albert Bouchard, it was shortened to one album. As a result of poor production and an unorganized storyline (shortened and rearranged from what it originally was), the album suffered, and the band was dropped by Columbia Records. This was the last album featuring all of the original members, as the Bouchards left at the end of production.^[8]

In 1988, Roeser formed "The Red and the Black" with John Rogers on bass and Ron Riddle on drums. The band recorded demos, but was never signed by a record group and it never released an album. As a result, the band split quickly.^[9] In 1989, Roeser contributed the instrumental "Gamera is Missing" to the album Guitar's Practicing Musicians Volume 3 (later included on the CD re-release of Flat Out).^[10]

After releasing Imaginos, Roeser, Bloom and Lanier continued to tour as Blue Oyster Cult, with various musicians on bass and drums. In 1992, the band wrote the score for Bad Channels and composed two original songs for its soundtrack. In 1994, Blue Oyster Cult released Cult Classic, an album containing remakes of their greatest hits.

In the late 1990s, Blue Oyster Cult signed with Sanctuary Records, and released two studio albums and one live album between 1998 and 2002. These albums heavily featured Roeser as both a lead vocalist and songwriter. The band was dropped by Sanctuary Records in 2002. Roeser continues to tour extensively with the band to this day, and has even reunited one last time with all of the original members for the band's 40th Anniversary Concert in December 2012.^[11]

Personal life

As of 2002, Roeser and his wife Sandy (married in the mid 1970s) live in Long Island with their Dachshund Lily.^[12]

In 1996, Roeser discovered Ricky Browning, a 10 year old fan of Roeser's "Godzilla" who was battling a brain tumor. Roeser organized a benefit concert to help with the family's medical costs. Roeser, his wife Sandy, drummer John Miceli and bassist Danny Miranda played the concert under the name "Buck Dharma Band". Roeser taped the concert and released a video of it, which includes the story of Browning. Sadly, Browning eventually succumbed to his illness. The Roesers continue to have a close relationship with the Browning family.^[13]

Equipment

Roeser is notable for his use of the Gibson SG and numerous custom Steinberger models.^[14] One of his Steinberger guitars has a body carved to look like Swiss cheese (see photo). Dharma calls this guitar his "Cheeseberger".^[15]

His other equipment use includes: a Giuliano Balestra Vulcan, a Fender Stratocaster, a St. Blues and custom models built by Rick Kresiak, Harper Guitars and Warren Guitars. Many of his guitars were made by White Plains based custom guitar maker, Guliano.

Stage Name

Roeser got the stage name "Buck Dharma" in the late 1960s. Manager Sandy Pearlman came up with the idea of creating eccentric stage names for Blue Oyster Cult's members. Every member rejected their new stage name except for Roeser, who liked the name and the idea of having an alternate persona.^[16]

Discography

Studio albums

• Flat Out (1982)

Singles

• "Born to Rock" (1982)
• "Your Loving Heart" (1982)

References

External links

• Buck Dharma Dot Com, Roeser's official website
• Official Blue Oyster Cult Website