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Source: Japan 2018 SHM-CD Remaster
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band is the debut album by Paul Butterfield, released in 1965 on Elektra Records, EKS 7294 in stereo, EKL 294 in mono. It peaked at #123 on the Billboard pop albums chart. In 2003, the album was ranked number 476 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, moving up to number 468 in the revised 2012 list, and also is ranked at #11 on Down Beat magazine's list of the top 50 blues albums.
In late 1964, a friend of Elektra house producer Paul Rothchild told him that the "best band in the world was on stage at a blues bar in Chicago." Rothchild took a plane to Chicago to see the Butterfield quartet, and later the same night went to a different club and saw guitarist Mike Bloomfield with a different band.
Sessions were arranged for December, 1964, but these were abandoned for live recordings from the Cafe Au Go Go in New York City after the band's appearance at the Newport Folk Festival. The earlier studio recordings were eventually released on The Original Lost Elektra Sessions in 1995. Upon hearing the live tapes, Rothchild still remained dissatisfied, and the band went into the studio in September 1965 in an attempt to record the album for the third time. The guitar solos were all played by Bloomfield, Bishop relegated to rhythm guitar. Keyboardist Mark Naftalin was drafted in at the September sessions and asked to join the band by Butterfield, expanding it to a sextet.
The album presents band originals and songs in the style of electric Chicago blues. It is one of the first blues albums recorded in America featuring a white singer, trailing a few years behind the British blues movement where white singers and musicians had been performing and recording blues since the late 1950s.
His debut album, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, saw him teaming up with guitarists Elvin Bishop and Mike Bloomfield, with Jerome Arnold on bass, Sam Lay on drums, and Mark Naftalin playing organ. The result was a wonderfully messy and boisterous display of American-styled blues, with intensity and pure passion derived from every bent note.
In front of all these instruments is Butterfield's harmonica, beautifully dictating a mood and a genuine feel that is no longer existent, even in today's blues music. Each song captures the essence of Chicago blues in a different way, from the back-alley feel of "Born in Chicago" to the melting ease of Willie Dixon's "Mellow Down Easy" to the authentic devotion that emanates from Bishop and Butterfield's "Our Love Is Drifting."
"Shake Your Money Maker," "Blues With a Feeling," and "I Got My Mojo Working" (with Lay on vocals) are all equally moving pieces performed with a raw adoration for blues music. Best of all, the music that pours from this album is unfiltered...blared, clamored, and let loose, like blues music is supposed to be released. A year later, 1966's East West carried on with the same type of brash blues sound partnered with a jazzier feel, giving greater to attention to Bishop's and Bloomfield's instrumental talents.
Personnel:
♦ Paul Butterfield – lead vocals (all but 4, 5, 7), harmonica
♦ Mike Bloomfield – guitars
♦ Elvin Bishop – guitars
♦ Mark Naftalin – organ (3, 4, 7-10)
♦ Jerome Arnold – bass
♦ Sam Lay – drums, lead vocals (5)
01. "Born in Chicago" Nick Gravenites 02:55
02. "Shake Your Money-Maker" Elmore James 02:27
03. "Blues with a Feeling" Walter Jacobs 04:20
04. "Thank You Mr. Poobah" (instrumental) Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, Mark Naftalin 04:05
05. "I Got My Mojo Working" Muddy Waters 03:30
06. "Mellow Down Easy" Willie Dixon 02:48
07. "Screamin'" (instrumental) Mike Bloomfield 04:30
08. "Our Love Is Drifting" Paul Butterfield, Elvin Bishop 03:25
09. "Mystery Train" Junior Parker, Sam Phillips 02:45
10. "Last Night" Walter Jacobs 04:15
11. "Look Over Yonders Wall" James Clark 02:23
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The Original Lost Elektra Sessions (US 1964)
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Bitrate: 320mp3
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All but one of these 19 tracks were recorded in December, 1964, as Paul Butterfield Blues Band's projected first LP; the results were scrapped and replaced by their official self-titled debut, cut a few months later. With both Michael Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop already in tow, these sessions rank among the earliest blues-rock ever laid down.
It's hard to believe that this album was scrapped. A lot of bands put out albums that were much worse than this. One has to wonder if Paul Rothschild should have just taken a few valiums and put this out at the time it was recorded, because this is very, very good.
This is a terrific document of a band of seriously dedicated guys playing the music they love, as authentically as they can. These guys weren't kidding; they paid their dues on the South Side of Chicago and were accepted as peers by none other than Muddy Waters. The performances here are raw but not sloppy, and the band is as tight as a tick.
Most of the songs on here are played at a quick clip, but there's a lot of bite and venom in these performances, an air of urgency not dissimilar to something you hear on Buddy Guy's early recordings.
It's sad to think that the Yardbirds got so much praise (and still do) as being white interpreters of the blues, when this collection shows clearly that the Butterfield Blues Band was much, much better than anything the British blues movement would offer for several years. Why the Yardbirds got the press and historical props and the Butterfield Blues Band doesn't is a total mystery.
Maybe they didn't wear enough paisley. There is no paisley or patchouli on this one. It's just hard, tough blues, nasty, with teeth in it. Forget that half the band was white guys and dump every preconception you have about hippies, white blues, etc., and listen to this for what it is; a seriously cool recording of a very hot band hitting their stride.
Finally, I want to add that the recording quality of this album is not "execrable." It sounds every bit as good as any other album recorded in 1964
(! ) and a whole lot better than most. As a matter of fact, I think this is a much better produced record than anything the Yardbirds ever did. It's certainly much more authentic blues. A great document of an unjustly forgotten group.
19 previously unreleased sides from the legendary blues-rock outfit! Features 1964 material recorded in New York (much of it originally intended for inclusion on his band’s first album), plus songs from the 1965 sessions that resulted in Butterfield’s first official release. Includes liner notes by Paul Rothchild.
Personnel:
♦ Paul Butterfield (vocals, harmonica)
♦ Elvin Bishop (guitar)
♦ Mike Bloomfield, Mark Naftalin (keyboards)
♦ Jerome Arnold (bass)
♦ Sam Lay (drums)
01. Good Morning Little School Girl 02:23
02. Just To Be with You 03:23
03. Help Me 02:16
04. Hate To See You Go 04:34
05. Poor Boy 03:27
06. Nut Popper #1 02:25
07. Everything's Gonna Be All Right 02:58
08. Lovin' Cup 02:54
09. Rock Me 02:52
10. It Hurts Me Too 02:46
11. Our Love Is Driftin' 02:29
12. Take Me Back Baby 02:49
13. Mellow Down Easy 03:05
14. Ain't No Need To Go No Further 02:45
15. Love Her with a Feeling 02:59
16. Piney Brown Blues 02:14
17. Spoonful 03:20
18. That's All Right 03:14
19. Goin' Down Slow 06:02
Part 1: Butterfield 1965
Part 2: Butterfield 1965
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Part 1: Butterfield 1965
Part 2: Butterfield 1965
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Part 1: Butterfield 1965
Part 2: Butterfield 1965
1 comment:
2 great recodings. thanx for sharing
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