STREET CRED -by The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (Elektra, 1972) EXTENDED DELUXE VERSION!!
When talking about Paul Butterfield there’s a lot to cover, and I can’t do it all justice in this small space. I recommend the documentary HORN FROM THE HEART to get all the nuances in Paul Butterfield’s story. However, listening to this compilation, one can get a nice view of the shapely arc of this band’s journey from young-turk, blues afficionados to Americana pioneers - each step along the way characterized by a stirring evocation of authentic feeling.
It’s hard from this distance to understand how massively important this group was in terms of fusing blues with folk, rock, and jazz, not to mention world music. At the center of it all was the harmonica prodigy, born on the south side of Chicago, trained at the feet of the blues masters, but then adopted by Dylan and the Newport folkies, and instrumental to the explosion that became our modern music of the 60s and 70s.
East-West (1966) still blows my mind. This 13 minute magnum jazz-raga opus, featuring the amazing Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop on guitars with Paul wailing on harp remains stubbornly on my Sunday morning playlist. Joe Boyd and Paul Rothchild at Elektra discovered them and lovingly brought their sound to our turntables, and on this cart from six years later, the highlights from that company’s influence is captured for all time. It was important for Elektra’s transition from folk label to one of the premier purveyors of quality rock; it was important for Dylan’s transition from troubadour to rock god, and it was an important liaison for us white American teenagers appreciation of our blues heritage. You might argue that this was another example of “white savior” appropriation, but The Paul Butterfield Blues Band was an integrated outfit, featuring Howlin’ Wolf’s rhythm section of Sam Lay and Jerome Arnold, and Butterfield, born in Chicago and raised at the master’s feet had all the right moves.
- - Side 1 -
- 1 Born in Chicago
- 2 Shake Your Money-Maker
- 3 Mellow Down Easy
- 4 Our Love Is Drifting
- 5 Mystery Train
- 6 Look Over Yonders Wall
- - Side 2 -
- 1 East-West
- 2 Walkin' Blues
- 3 Get Out of My Life, Woman
- 4 Mary, Mary
- - Side 3 -
- 1 Spoonful
- 2 One More Mile
- 3 One More Heartache
- 4 Last Hope's Gone
- 5 In My Own Dream
- - Side 4 -
- 1 Love March
- 2 Driftin' and Driftin'
- 3 Blind Leading the Blind
For a deeper dive: https://www.hornfromtheheart.com/
