The Paul Butterfield Blues Band were from Chicago, and consisted of Paul Butterfield on harp and vocals, Elvin Bishop on rhythm guitar, Jerome Arnold on bass, Sam Lay on drums, and the legendary Mike Bloomfield on lead guitar. If you've never seen Mike's 'groovy' speech from the Monterey Pop Festival, all I can tell you is it's really groovy.
The two -fields are the notable performers on Born in Chicago, the first track from the first, self-titled album. Paul blows an intense harp and he sings with a purity of tone that fluctuates evenly between glossy and rough. My favorite lyrics are:
first verse: well my first friend went down, when I was 17 years old
second verse: well my second friend went down, when I was 21 years of age
You hardly ever hear 'years of age' anymore, do you? Poetically, old is coupled with go, and age is coupled with pray. I also like how Paul sings I was born in Chicago, in 19 and 41. Classy.
Mike sounds like he could be playing in an alley off Maxwell Street - crisp and clean, great string bends and licks right out of the Chicago blues guitar manual. The rest of the band keep things flowing along. Bloom and Butter are, sadly, playing in the field of dreams; the other three are still alive and, I hope, doing well.
Born in Chicago was written by Nick Gravenites (also still kicking out there), who later formed the Electric Flag with Mike Bloomfield and Buddy Miles. He also produced Brewer and Shipley's One Toke Over the Line, a song I don't like very much. Speaking of those, I really can't stand Elvin Bishop's Fooled Around and Fell in Love, mostly because of that dude from Jefferson Starship on lead vocals.
The band in 1965, with Nick on vocals:
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