Artist:The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Song:East-West
Album:East-West
Though pretty much forgotten today, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band broke new ground in the mid-60s. They were the first credible blues band led by a white man and some of their extended jams like East-West paved the way for others to do the same. The group was led by harmonica player Paul Butterfield (born Dec. 17, 1942 in Chicago). By age 15 he was hanging around the blues clubs on the south side of Chicago with his buddy Nick Gravenites (born Oct. 2, 1938 in Chicago). They started playing together on college campuses. While attending the University Of Illinois Butterfield met guitarist Elvin Bishop (born Oct. 21, 1942 in Glendale, CA) and Butterfield decided to concentrate on developing his harmonica skills. By 1963, the band had a regular gig at Big John's in Chicago. They added bassist Jerome Arnold & drummer Sam Lay from Howlin' Wolf's band. They were signed by Elektra Records producer Paul Rothchild and then added guitarist Mike Bloomfield to the group. Their performance at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival got them a lot of attention. While recording their first album, organist Mark Naftalin was added to the group. Billy Davenport replaced Sam Lay due to illness. The 1966 album East-West caused a big stir and the song East-West was a 13 minute extended instrumental jam with Bloomfield & Bishop trading guitar licks. But friction between Butterfield & Gravenites killed the band when Gravenites & Bloomfield went to San Francisco to form Electric Flag in 1967. Butterfield & Bishop tried to keep the band going and brought in guitarist Buzzy Feiten. But the Paul Butterfield Blues Band was through in 1970. Butterfield formed a new group called Better Days but it was unsuccessful. He would occasionally record but a drug overdose killed him on May 4, 1987 at age 44. Nick Gravenites went on to replace Janis Joplin in Big Brother & The Holding Company and still performs in the Bay Area. Elvin Bishop had a big hit in 1975 with Fooled Around And Fell In Love and currently records for Blind Pig Records. Here's the Paul Butterfield Blues Band with Son House performing Born In Chicago at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival.
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