Route 66 Blues Express, 901 S. National Avenue, Springfield, MO (2024)

04/12/2022

APRIL 1964 (58 YEARS AGO)
Muddy Waters: Folk Singer is released.
# ALL THINGS MUSIC PLUS+ 5/5 (MUST-HAVE!)
# Allmusic 4.5/5

Folk Singer is the fourth album by Muddy Waters, released in April 1964. In 2003, the album was ranked number 280 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The album features Waters on acoustic guitar, backed by Willie Dixon on string bass, Clifton James on drums, and Buddy Guy on acoustic guitar. The record is Waters' only all-acoustic album. The recording took place at the Tel Mar Recording Studios in Chicago, Illinois on September 1963, and was produced by Willie Dixon. The original release includes nine songs, most of which are performed at a slower tempo, with the exception of the uptempo "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl". During recording, Waters emphasized his singing with hums and sighs.

After his successful performance at Newport Jazz Festival and tours through America, Chess Records encouraged Waters to record songs for a new studio album. Before the recording, many musicians left and joined Waters' band. Andrew Stephens, who played during Newport, was replaced in the following years with numerous bassists. Waters' "Junior" band included drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, who later replaced Francis Clay. Pat Hare was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his wife Mrs. Winje. While in jail, he formed the band Sounds Incarcerated. Hare was replaced with numerous guitarists, including James "P*e Wee" Madison, who unlike Hare, played a right-handed guitar left handed. Madison played guitar on some of the reissue bonus tracks, as did Sammy Lawhorn. Lawhorn allegedly suffered from narcolepsy, however, Elvin Bishop denied this and believed he was just an alcoholic. Electric guitarist Buddy Guy, who recorded with Waters for 1963's Blues from Big Bill's Copacabana on Chess, was hired. Guy was previously discovered by Waters shortly after Guy's arrival from Louisiana.

The title and cover photo of this recording were an attempt to cash in on the burgeoning American folk revival, but this is pure acoustic blues. Muddy began his career as a Robert Johnson-style solo acoustic performer, and the tunes on Folk Singer hark back to those days. He's accompanied sparsely by Willie Dixon, drummer Clifton James and a young Buddy Guy, who provide a stark, deliberate backdrop for Muddy's rich vocal and expressive bottleneck guitar work. The richness of Muddy's baritone is showcased effectively here, with more room than usual for his voice to resonate. The low-key setting allows Muddy to explore a fuller dynamic range as well. From the romantic yearning of "Long Distance Call" to the fatalism of the chain gang song "My Captain," Muddy's voice expresses entire worlds of emotion with only subtle dynamic changes. On Folk Singer's more downhearted cuts, there's a doomy, ominous quality that rivals the deepest emotional journeys of John Lee Ho**er. By scaling down, Muddy managed to make his songs, guitar and voice seem exponentially magnified. Though it's one of his quietest albums, Folk Singer screams with naked emotion.
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REVIEW
Cub Koda, allmusic

Muddy's "unplugged" album was cut in September of 1963 and still sounds fresh and vital today. It was Muddy simply returning to his original style on a plain acoustic guitar in a well-tuned room with Willie Dixon on string bass, Clifton James on drums, and Buddy Guy on second acoustic guitar. The nine tracks are divvied up between full rhythm section treatments with Buddy and Muddy as a duo and the final track, "Feel Like Going Home," which Waters approaches solo. What makes this version of the album a worthwhile buy is the inclusion of five bonus tracks from his next two sessions: An April 1964 session brings us Willie Dixon's "The Same Thing" and Muddy's "You Can't Lose What You Never Had," while the October 1964 session features J.T. Brown on sax and clarinet on "Short Dress Woman" and "My John the Conqueror Root," as well as "Put Me in Your Lay Away," another strong side. Folk Singer offers both sides of Muddy from the early '60s.

TRACKS:
Side one
"My Home Is in the Delta" (Waters) – 3:58
"Long Distance" (Waters) – 3:30
"My Captain" (Willie Dixon) – 5:10
"Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" (Sonny Boy Williamson) – 3:12
"You Gonna Need My Help" (Waters) – 3:09

Side two
"Cold Weather Blues" (Waters) – 4:40
"Big Leg Woman" (John Temple) – 3:25
"Country Boy" (Waters) – 3:26
"Feel Like Going Home" (Waters) – 3:52

02/28/2022

FEBRUARY 1972 (50 YEARS AGO)
Jimi Hendrix: Hendrix in the West is released.
# ALL THINGS MUSIC PLUS+ 4.5/5
# Allmusic 4/5

Hendrix in the West was a posthumous live album by Jimi Hendrix, released in the US in February 1972 (January 1972 in the UK). It reached #7 on the U.K. albums chart, and #12 on the Billboard 200 Top LP's chart.

The album contains songs from Hendrix's performances at the Royal Albert Hall on February 24, 1969, the San Diego Sports Arena on May 24, 1969, Berkeley Community Theatre on May 30, 1970 and the Isle of Wight Festival on August 30, 1970. The album's credits mislabel "Little Wing" and "Voodoo Chile" as being recorded at the San Diego Sports Arena, when in fact these two tracks were recorded at the Royal Albert Hall on February 24, 1969.
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LIVE NOTES

Side 1, Track 1
Berkeley Community Theatre on May 30, 1970, 1st show
Side 1, Track 2
Berkeley Community Theatre on May 30, 1970, 2nd show
Side 1, Track 3
Berkeley Community Theatre on May 30, 1970, afternoon rehearsal
Side 1, Track 4 and Side 2, Track 3
Royal Albert Hall, London, England on February 24, 1969
Side 2, Track1 and 2
The Isle of Wight Festival on the morning of August 31, 1970
Side 2, Track 4
San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California on May 24, 1969
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REVIEW
Sean Westergaard, allmusic (reissue)

There were a lot of terrible album debacles in the wake of Jimi Hendrix's death in 1970, but there were a handful of keepers. The Cry of Love and Rainbow Bridge were both excellent, but now the material from both albums has been officially released as part of First Rays of the New Rising Sun or on another compilation. Even the best material from the really bad albums like Midnight Lightning and War Heroes, has now been officially released without the egregious posthumous overdubs. But somehow, In the West, one of those keepers, remained basically out of print until 2011. Yes, it's a hodge-podge, made of live tracks largely from 1969 and 1970. But it's a bunch of great live tracks, including some real rarities. The opening sequence of "God Save the Queen" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is rare and excellent in itself, and Hendrix's intro is hilarious (he was a truly funny guy). "Little Wing" and "I Don't Live Today" (not on the original LP) were also live rarities for Hendrix, but not as rare as him covering "Blue Suede Shoes" or "Johnny B. Goode" (an absolutely blistering version that might top Chuck Berry's). "Lover Man" was a live staple, but in this version, Hendrix slips in a quote from "Flight of the Bumble Bee," and listen for a quote from "Tomorrow Never Knows" in "I Don't Live Today." Fans familiar with the original vinyl should note some differences. The versions of "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" and "Little Wing" (recorded at Royal Albert Hall) have recently been released elsewhere, so they've been replaced with versions from San Diego 1969 and Winterland 1968 (oddly enough, this very same version of "Little Wing" was also released on the Winterland box set the same day). In addition, to "I Don't Live Today," "Fire," and "Spanish Castle Magic" are added as bonus tracks, also from the San Diego show. Old vinyl fetishists may quibble that the tracks have been resequenced, but most listeners will have no idea. In the West is a great sampling of Hendrix's late-period live material (and his sense of humor) making its long awaited appearance in the digital world.

TRACKS:
All songs written and composed by Jimi Hendrix, except where noted.
Side one
1. "The Queen" (Traditional) - 2:40
2. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts..." (Lennon, McCartney) - 1:16
3. "Little Wing" - 3:14
4. "Red House" - 13:06

Side two
1. "Johnny B. Goode" (Chuck Berry) - 4:45
2. "Lover Man" - 3:05
3. "Blue Suede Shoes" (Carl Perkins) - 4:26
4. "Voodoo Chile" - 7:49

02/28/2022

FEBRUARY 1965 (57 YEARS AGO)
BB King: Live at the Regal is released.
# ALL THINGS MUSIC PLUS+ 5/5 (MUST-HAVE!)
# Allmusic 5/5

Live at the Regal is a 1965 live album by B.B. King, released in February 1965. It reached #6 on the Billboard Top R&B LP's chart in 1965, and the 1971 reissue reached #78 on the Billboard 200 Top LP's chart. It is ranked #141 on Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2005 "Live at the Regal" was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress in the United States. It was recorded on November 21, 1964, at the Regal Theater in Chicago.

Despite its critical appreciation, B. B. King does not consider this long-acclaimed show and album represented any kind of "pinnacle," according to new liner notes by Dick Shurman, and B.B. may be right: He and his band were probably this good just about every night, whether at the Regal, Chicago's famed chitlin' circuit showplace or at the Towatchee County Fair.

No matter how good the studio sessions were, B.B. King was at his best on stage in front of an appreciative if not ecstatic crowd. This set, recorded at Chicago's premier black theater on November 21, 1964, delivered just that. Despite the less than perfect recording conditions, at a time when technology had yet to catch up with the demands placed upon it, the King of the Blues delivers a definitive performance on a program that includes his recent single "Help The Poor." Also included in this set is a clutch of songs that were responsible for much of his success, "Everyday I Have The Blues," "Sweet Little Angel," "It's My Own Fault," "You Upset Me Baby" and "Woke Up This Morning" among them. The band, including tenorman Johnny Board and organist Duke Jethro, is lean but tight, providing King with a springboard from which to leap into flights of immaculate guitar playing and singing.

"By the mid-sixties, King's career appeared to be winding down, as black audiences began to turn their backs on the blues. But the British blues revival — which saw the Rolling Stones making a pilgrimage to Chicago's Chess Studios — introduced the blues to young, white American rock fans. Live at the Regal, recorded in Chicago in 1964, paved the way for King's appearances on the rock-concert circuit and FM radio. It remains his definitive live set. His guitar sound was precise and powerful, driving emotional versions of some of his most influential songs, including "Everyday (I Have the Blues)" and "How Blue Can You Get?" - www.rollingstone.com
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REVIEW
by Daniel Gioffre, allmusic

B.B. King is not only a timeless singer and guitarist, he's also a natural-born entertainer, and on Live at the Regal the listener is treated to an exhibition of all three of his talents. Over percolating horn hits and rolling shuffles, King treats an enthusiastic audience (at some points, they shriek after he delivers each line) to a collection of some of his greatest hits. The backing band is razor-sharp, picking up the leader's cues with almost telepathic accuracy. King's voice is rarely in this fine of form, shifting effortlessly between his falsetto and his regular range, hitting the microphone hard for gritty emphasis and backing off in moments of almost intimate tenderness. Nowhere is this more evident than at the climax of "How Blue Can You Get," where the Chicago venue threatens to explode at King's prompting. Of course, the master's guitar is all over this record, and his playing here is among the best in his long career. Displaying a jazz sensibility, King's lines are sophisticated without losing their grit. More than anything else, Live at the Regal is a textbook example of how to set up a live performance. Talking to the crowd, setting up the tunes with a vignette, King is the consummate entertainer. Live at the Regal is an absolutely necessary acquisition for fans of B.B. King or blues music in general. A high point, perhaps even the high point, for uptown blues.

TRACKS:
Side one
1 Every Day I Have the Blues (Memphis Slim) - 2:38
2 Sweet Little Angel (Riley King, Jules Taub) - 4:12
3 It's My Own Fault (King, Taub) - 3:29
4 How Blue Can You Get? (Leonard Feather) - 3:44
5 Please Love Me (King, Taub) - 3:01

Side two
1 You Upset Me Baby (King, Taub) - 2:22
2 Worry, Worry (Maxwell Davis, Taub) - 6:24
3 Woke Up This Morning (My Baby's Gone) (King, Taub) - 1:45
4 You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now (Josea, King) - 4:16
5 Help the Poor (Charlie Singleton) - 2:58

02/25/2022

FEBRUARY 1969 (53 YEARS AGO)
John Mayall: Blues From Laurel Canyon is released.
# ALL THINGS MUSIC PLUS+ 5/5
# Allmusic 4.5/5
# Rolling Stone (see original review below)

Blues from Laurel Canyon is an album by John Mayall released in the US in February 1969 (late 1968 in the UK). It was his first album after the breakup of his band the Bluesbreakers. John Mayall sings and plays harmonica, organ, and guitar on the album. The other band members are a young Mick Taylor (guitar), Colin Allen (drums) and Stephen Thompson (bass). The guitarist Peter Green is featured on the track First Time Alone. The engineer was Derek Varnals. All the songs on the album were written by Mayall.

The title of the album derives from Laurel Canyon, California, United States (in the Los Angeles area) where John Mayall subsequently lived from 1969 to 1979. It forms a record of his visit there before moving to the US on a more permanent basis. The area was favored by many musicians at the time. It was recorded at Decca Studios in West Hampstead, London, England between 26 and 28 August 1968.

The album was innovative for its time, especially by the standards of blues recordings. The first track opens with a recording of a jet airliner landing, dissolving into the driving rhythm of the song. There were no visible track divisions on the vinyl album. Some songs fade or segue into the next track, others stop on a chord which is immediately followed by the introduction of the next track. Tabla drums are used, as is the technique of hitting guitar strings with a drumstick. The final track is a long song which moves into an extended lead guitar solo underscored by Mayall's Hammond organ, fading into a simple unaccompanied guitar figure which repeats until it too fades.

The lyrics are autobiographical and refer, if obliquely, to people Mayall met on his first visit, such as Frank Zappa and Moon Unit Zappa (on 2401), the band Canned Heat (on The Bear), and famous groupie, Catherine James (on Miss James).
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RECORD WORLD, February 8, 1969
BLUES FROM LAUREL CANYON JOHN MAYALL --London PS 545. John Mayall spent a few weeks vacationing on the West Coast during the summer. This is the musical story of where his head was at during that time. John enlisted the aid of Mick Taylor, Stephen Thompson and Colin Allen.
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REVIEW
Ben Davies, allmusic
Mayall's first post-Bluesbreakers album saw the man returning to his roots after the jazz/blues fusion that was Bare Wires. Blues from Laurel Canyon is a blues album, through and through. Testimony to this is the fact that there's a guitar solo only 50 seconds into the opening track. Indeed, Mayall dispersed the entire brass section for Blues from Laurel Canyon, and instead chose the solid but relatively limited backing of Mick Taylor (guitar), Colin Allen (drums), and Stephen Thompson (bass). Instantly, it is apparent that John Mayall hasn't lost his touch with the blues. "Vacation," the album's opener, reminds one exactly why this artist is so celebrated for his songwriting ability. The staggering Mick Taylor (here still in his teens) truly proves his worth as a blues guitarist, while Steve Thompson (also in his late teens) works superbly with one of the genre's most interesting drummers, Colin Allen. Blues from Laurel Canyon is as unerring as Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton, and equally as musically interesting. Not only is this one of the finest John Mayall albums, but it is also a highlight in the blues genus.

TRACKS:
All songs written by John Mayall

SIde one
"Vacation" – 2:47
"Walking on Sunset" – 2:50
"Laurel Canyon Home" – 4:33
"2401" – 3:42
"Ready to Ride" – 3:32
"Medicine Man" – 2:43

Side two
"Somebody's Acting Like a Child" – 3:27
"The Bear" – 4:40
"Miss James" – 2:30
"First Time Alone" – 4:49
"Long Gone Midnight" – 3:27
"Fly Tomorrow" – 8:59

01/16/2022

ON THIS DATE (56 YEARS AGO)
January 14, 1966 - Muddy Waters: The Real Folk Blues is released.
# ALL THINGS MUSIC PLUS+ 5/5
# Allmusic 4.5/5
# Rolling Stone (see original review below)

The Real Folk Blues is a compilation album of Muddy Waters recordings, released on January 14, 1966. It was the first release of The Real Folk Blues series, and features some of Water's first recordings.

Muddy Waters started out recording for Aristocrat Records in 1947, somehow a predecessor of Chess Records. Those early recording only features Ernest "Big" Crawford backing Muddy. Later when Leonard and Phil Chess took over the record label, Muddy used a more electric backing band featuring members such as Little Walter.

McKinley Morganfield, aka Muddy Waters, is possibly the greatest of the Chicago-style (meaning electric and most often accompanied by a full band) blues performers. Backed by such legends as the pianist Otis Spann and the harmonica player Little Walter, Waters performs a stream of classic blues sides, including "Mannish Boy," "Gypsy Woman," and "You Can't Lose What You Never Had." Here, stripped of slickness and polish, are the earthy roots of modern blues.
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“Even before the Macambo, when I was in the service, Leonard had a bar at 47th and Evans, The L&L Café, and he had blues guys playing there…You had to get acclimated to what was going on in the community, and blues was the thing. This was where all the blacks from the South were migrating to, and on the radio, in the bars, blues were what was popular…You know, Sunnyland Slim brought Muddy in; Muddy brought in Little Walter, Jimmy Rogers, and Big Crawford and it grew from there … Leonard’s partners in Aristocrat were recording the white popular music, and that stopped when we bought them out. Besides, we didn’t know the first thing about the white stuff. I mean, ‘Get on the ball, Paul,’ what does that mean?”
– Phil Chess, 1992

“As a kid [going to Chess blues sessions], I wouldn’t know what they were singing about, but the emotion was so contagious, I too would feel the blues – not unhappy blues, I wouldn’t leave the room because of it. The blues sessions simply had a feeling unto themselves, as did the rock ‘n’ roll ones. And when the masters – Muddy, the Wolf, Walter – played the blues, everyone felt the blues, even a little kid.”
- Marshall Chess, 1992
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REVIEW
Cub Koda, allmusic

Once Chess discovered a White folk-blues audience ripe and ready to hear the real thing, they released a series of albums under the Real Folk Blues banner. This is one of the best entries in the series, a mixed bag of early Chess sides from 1949-1954, some of it hearkening back to Muddy's first recordings for Aristocrat with only Big Crawford on string in support with some wonderful full band sides rounding out the package to give everyone the big picture. A couple of highlights to pay special attention to are the cha-cha shuffle strut of the band charging through "Walkin' Through the Park" and the "I'm a Man"-derived nastiness of "Mannish Boy."

TRACKS:
All tracks written by Muddy Waters, except when indicated.
Side one
"Mannish Boy" (Muddy Waters, Mel London, Ellas McDaniel) – 2:54
"Screamin' & Cryin'" – 3:04
"Just to Be with You" (Bernard Roth) – 3:13
"Walkin' Thru the Park" – 2:40
"Walking Blues" (Robert Johnson) – 2:54
"Canary Bird" – 2:42

Side two
"Same Thing" (Dixon) – 2:37
"Gypsy Woman" – 2:31
"Rollin' and Tumblin'" – 2:57
"Forty Days and Forty Nights" (Roth) – 2:50
"Little Geneva" – 2:45
"You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had" – 2:55

01/16/2022

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupBurning Hell · John Lee Ho**er · Canned HeatHo**er 'N Heat℗ 1971 Capitol Records, LLCReleased on: 1971-01-01Produ...

01/16/2022

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupBoogie Chillen No. 2 · John Lee Ho**er · Canned HeatHo**er 'N Heat℗ A Capitol Records Release; ℗ 1971 Capitol Rec...

01/16/2022

ON THIS DATE (51 YEARS AGO)
January 15, 1971 – John Lee Ho**er and Canned Heat: Ho**er 'n Heat is released.
# ALL THINGS MUSIC PLUS+ 4/5
# Allmusic 4.5/5

Ho**er 'N Heat is a double album released by Canned Heat and John Lee Ho**er, on January 15, 1971. It reached #78 on the Billboard 200 Top LP's chart.

By the late '50s, the Delta blues style of John Lee Ho**er's modal guitar stomp was profoundly out of favor with urban black audiences, who had begun to prefer more sophisticated rhythm and blues styles. Around the same time, however, Ho**er and other traditional blues artists such as Mississippi Fred McDowell were being "rediscovered" by folk audiences eager to hear this rapidly disappearing style of music. Shortly thereafter the British blues boom of the mid-'60s effectively crossbred traditional blues with rock & roll. Eventually the cycle came back to the United States as the success of The Yardbirds and Cream inspired American blues-rock artists like Canned Heat, and albums like Ho**er 'N Heat that were both homage and collaboration. Recorded live in Los Angeles, the session showcases the edgy rock thump of Canned Heat more than it does Ho**er (who only sings on the last three tracks). But the band matches the guitarist's idiosyncratic style surprisingly well, and backing vocals by soul legends the Chambers Brothers are more than welcome. This fine outing brings these young blues-rock musicians right back to the source.
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ORIGINAL LINER NOTES

Canned Heat have long admired and loved John Lee Ho**er, and it doesn’t seem strange that John has also admired Canned Heat. “I sure like the way you boys boogie,” John had said at one chance meeting. The Heat had often talked about recording an album with him, and in April, 1970, ABC Bluesway gave John permission to do just that.

He arrived for the session wearing a plaid cap, leather jacket, black satin shirt and some old dress slacks and carrying the old Epiphone guitar that had been around the world more than once.

Once at the studio, we tried out about eight really ancient amps before finding the one that had that real “Ho**er” sound – a sound we hadn’t heard on John’s records for a long, long time. We built a plywood platform for John to sit on while he played. An old Silvertone amp rested a few feet away. One mike on the amp, one for his voice, and one to pick up John’s stompin’ – he never quits stompin’! Never far away, a bottle of Chivas Regal and a cup of water to smooth it down.

There is another blues great who really shines on this album – Alan “Blind Owl” Wilson. This is the last album that the Owl was to record, for he died suddenly, shortly after the album was finished. Ho**er calls Alan “the greatest harmonica player ever.” Alan’s piano and guitar work were also brilliant as this album clearly demonstrates.

During the past decade, John Lee Ho**er’s appeal has been primarily to blues enthusiasts, but his human insight and compassion are universal in today’s troubled times. Hopefully, with the availability of this album, a larger audience than ever before will be exposed to the talent of John Lee Ho**er, Alan Wilson, and Canned Heat.

This is the real “boogie” – old and new together. John Lee Ho**er invented the “boogie” thirty years ago and Canned Heat made it popular on today’s music scene. Here, then, is the natural and logical fusion of John Lee Ho**er and Canned Heat doing the kind of music together that has made each of them famous three decades apart!
“Boogie Chillen”
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COVER
The sessions were the last with harmonica player, guitarist and songwriter Alan Wilson, who died in September 1970. The cover photo was taken after his death, but a picture of Alan can be seen in a frame on the wall behind John Lee Ho**er. Guitarist Henry Vestine was also missing from the photo session. The person standing in front of the window, filling in for Henry, is the band's manager, Skip Taylor. Careful examination of the photo reveals that Henry's face was later added by the art department.
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REVIEW
by Lindsay Planer, allmusic
When this two-LP set was initially released in January 1971, Canned Heat was back to its R&B roots, sporting slightly revised personnel. In the spring of the previous year, Larry "The Mole" Taylor (bass) and Harvey Mandel (guitar) simultaneously accepted invitations to join John Mayall's concurrent incarnation of the Bluesbreakers. This marked the return of Henry "Sunflower" Vestine (guitar) and the incorporation of Antonio "Tony" de la Barreda (bass), a highly skilled constituent of Aldolfo de la Parra (drums). Sadly, it would also be the final effort to include co-founder Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson, who passed away in September 1970. Ho**er 'n Heat (1971) is a low-key affair split between unaccompanied solo John Lee Ho**er (guitar/vocals) tunes, collaborations between Ho**er and Wilson (piano/guitar/harmonica), as well as five full-blown confabs between Ho**er and Heat. The first platter focuses on Ho**er's looser entries that vacillate from the relatively uninspired ramblings of "Send Me Your Pillow" and "Drifter" to the essential and guttural "Feelin' Is Gone" or spirited "Bottle Up and Go." The latter being among those with Wilson on piano. Perhaps the best of the batch is the lengthy seven-minute-plus "World Today," which is languid and poignant talking blues, with Ho**er lamenting the concurrent state of affairs around the globe. "I Got My Eyes on You" is an unabashed derivative of Ho**er's classic "Dimples," with the title changed for what were most likely legal rather than artistic concerns. That said, the readings of the seminal "Burning Hell" and "Bottle Up and Go" kept their familiar monikers intact. The full-fledged collaborations shine as both parties unleash some of their finest respective work. While Canned Heat get top bill -- probably as it was the group's record company that sprung for Ho**er 'n Heat -- make no mistake, as Ho**er steers the combo with the same gritty and percussive guitar leads that have become his trademark. The epic "Boogie Chillen No. 2" stretches over 11-and-a-half minutes and is full of the same swagger as the original, with the support of Canned Heat igniting the verses and simmering on the subsequent instrumental breaks with all killer and no filler.

TRACKS:
All songs written by John Lee Ho**er except as noted.
Side one
"Messin' with the Hook" – 3:23
"The Feelin' Is Gone" – 4:32
"Send Me Your Pillow" – 4:48
"Sittin' Here Thinkin'" – 4:07
"Meet Me in the Bottom" – 3:34

Side two
"Alimonia Blues" – 4:31
"Driftin' Blues" – 4:57
"You Talk Too Much" – 3:16
"Burnin' Hell" (Bernard Besman, Ho**er) – 5:28
"Bottle Up and Go" – 2:27

Side three
"The World Today" – 7:47
"I Got My Eyes on You" – 4:26
"Whiskey and Wimmen'" – 4:37
"Just You and Me" – 7:42

Side four
"Let's Make It" – 4:06
"Peavine" – 5:07
"Boogie Chillen No. 2" – 11:33

12/28/2021

Take from "The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw" (1967)

12/28/2021

note the way the lead guitar comes in, among other things. From the album, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, "The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw"For entertainmen...

12/28/2021

DECEMBER 1967 (54 YEARS AGO)
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band: The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw is released.
# ALL THINGS MUSIC PLUS+ 4.5/5
# Allmusic 4.5/5

The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw is the third album from The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, released in December 1967. It reached #52 on the Billboard 200 Top LP's chart.

The Butterfield Blues Band sparked a firestorm of blues activity by young white kids all around the world. The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw, saw Elvin Bishop (A.K.A. Pigboy Crabshaw) replace Mike Bloomfield on sizzling lead guitar and ride point for a combo now boasting a wailing horn section led by multi-saxist David Sanborn.

When guitar virtuoso Mike Bloomfield left the Paul Butterfield Blues Band to form Electric Flag, many cynical scene watchers thought PBBB was down for the count. However, with Elvin Bishop’s magnificent metamorphosis to lead guitar player on The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw, those nattering nabobs were quickly quieted. The album, titled in honor of Bishop’s nickname, found the band moving in an R&B direction, aided by the addition of a horn section manned by David Sanborn, Gene Dinwiddle and Keith Johnson. This newly-minted ensemble is especially potent on tracks like “Born Under a Bad Sign,” “Double Trouble” and “Drivin’ Wheel.” Far from being over, the PBBB launched a new phase of their career with the release of this seminal album. This Sundazed reissue was carefully remastered from the original analog session tapes and pressed on A-1, bees’ knees, high-definition vinyl for the utmost in aural excellence. All hail Pigboy Crabshaw!

REVIEW
by Michael G. Nastos, allmusic
The 1968 edition of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band featured a larger ensemble with a horn section, allowing for a jazzier feeling while retaining its Chicago blues core. They also adopted the psychedelic flower power stance of the era, as evidenced by a few selections, the rather oblique title, and the stunning pastiche art work on the cover. Butterfield himself was really coming into his own playing harmonica and singing, while his band of keyboardist Mark Naftalin, guitarist Elvin Bishop, drummer Phil Wilson, electric bassist Bugsy Maugh, and the horns featuring young alto saxophonist David Sanborn was as cohesive a unit as you'd find in this time period. Butterfield's most well known song "One More Heartache" kicks off the album, a definitive blues-rock radio favorite with great harmonica and an infectious beat urged on by the top-notch horns. The band covers "Born Under a Bad Sign" at a time when Cream also did it -- which one was better? "Driftin' & Driftin'" is another well known tune, and over nine minutes is stretched out with the horns cryin' and sighin', including a definitive solo from Sanborn over the choruses. There's the Otis Rush tune "Double Trouble," and "Drivin' Wheel" penned by Roosevelt Sykes; Butterfield wrote two tunes, including "Run Out of Time" and the somewhat psychedelic "Tollin' Bells" where Bishop's guitar and Naftalin's slow ringing, resonant keyboard evokes a haunting sound.

TRACKS:
Side one
"One More Heartache" (Smokey Robinson, The Miracles) – 3:20
"Driftin' and Driftin'" (C. Brown, J. Moore, E. Williams) – 9:09
"I Pity the Fool" (Deadric Malone) – 6:00
"Born Under a Bad Sign" (William Bell, Booker T. Jones) – 4:10

Side two
"Run Out of Time" (Butterfield, Dinwiddie, Peterson) – 2:59
"Double Trouble" (Otis Rush) – 5:38
"Drivin' Wheel" (Roosevelt Sykes) – 5:34
"Droppin' Out" (Paul Butterfield, Tucker Zimmerman) – 2:16
"Tollin' Bells" (Traditional, arranged Butterfield Blues Band) – 5:23