Paul Butterfield & Mike Bloomfield

This session we will cover a couple of white Chicago blues artists who were both born in the early 1940s, who worked together in the 1960s creating some groundbreaking modern electric blues and who died of drug overdoses in the 1980s. These two are harpist Paul Butterfield and guitarist Mike Bloomfield.

1 Born in Chicago – 1965 – PBBB – Tk 1 – 2.55

A year or so older than Charlie Musselwhite, Paul Butterfield was the first white harmonica player to develop a style original and powerful enough to place him amongst the true blues greats. It's impossible to underestimate the importance of the doors Butterfield opened: before he came to prominence, white American musicians treated the blues with cautious respect, afraid of coming off as inauthentic imitators of the black sound and style.

And Michael Bloomfield was one of America's first great white blues guitarists, His expressive, fluid solo lines and prodigious technique graced many other projects — most notably Bob Dylan's earliest electric forays.

Together, the two men cleared the way for white musicians to build upon blues tradition bringing electric Chicago blues to white audiences who'd previously considered acoustic Delta blues the only really genuine article. The initial recordings of the racially integrated first edition of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band — were eclectic, groundbreaking offerings that fused electric blues with rock & roll, psychedelia, jazz, and even Indian classical music.

Paul Butterfield was born December 17, 1942 in Chicago and grew in an integrated area on the city's South Side. His father, a lawyer, and mother, a painter, encouraged Butterfield's musical studies from a young age, and he took flute lessons up through high school. By this time, however, Butterfield was growing interested in the blues music of the South Side and began hitting the area blues clubs in 1957. Butterfield was inspired to take up guitar and harmonica, and he playing together on college campuses around the Midwest. Not long after starting college, he decided to focus all his musical energy on the harmonica, eventually dropping out to pursue music full-time.

Meanwhile, Michael Bernard Bloomfield was born July 28, 1943, into a well-off Jewish family on Chicago's North Side. A shy, awkward loner as a child, he became interested in music through the radio, which gave him a regular source for rockabilly, R&B, and blues. He received his first guitar at his bar mitzvah and he and his friends began sneaking out to hear electric blues in the South Side clubs. The young Bloomfield sometimes jumped on-stage to jam with the musicians - eventually gaining himself session work as a guitarist around the Chicago club scene.

In 1964, Bloomfield was discovered through this session work by producer John Hammond Senior, who signed him to CBS. However, several recordings from 1964 went unreleased as the label wasn't sure how to market a white American blues guitarist. Track from these sessions with harpist Charlie Musselwhite.

2 Feel So Good – July 1964 – Don’t Say – Tk 3 – start at 32 sec - 2.56

While this was going on, Butterfield and guitarist friend Elvin Bishop began making the rounds of the South Side's blues clubs, sitting in whenever they could. They were often the only whites present, but were accepted because of their enthusiasm and skill. In late 1964, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band was discovered by producer Paul Rothchild, and after adding lead guitarist Michael Bloomfield, they signed to Elektra and recorded several sessions for a debut album, the results of which were never released. (Rothchild was the house producer for Elektra, responsible for giving the Doors their distinctive sound and also worked with Janis Joplin and Arthur Lee’s Love).

In mid 1965, Butterfield and his band re-entered the studio for a second try at their debut album, but in the meantime, were booked to play that year's Newport Folk Festival. When Bob Dylan saw them play at an urban blues workshop during the festival, he asked them to back him for part of his own set later that evening. This became Dylan's infamous “plugged-in” performance where he was booed and called a traitor, but which shook the folk world. Bloomfield was also a prominent presence on Dylans classic Highway 61 Revisited, also released in 1965

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band eventually released their self-titled debut album later in 1965. The LP caused quite a stir among white blues fans who had never heard electric Chicago-style blues performed by anyone besides British blues-rock groups. Listen out for MBs slide work on this next track…

3 Look Over Yonder Wall – 1965 – PBBB – Tk 11 – 2.23

Butterfield was pushing to expand the band's sound, aided by Bloomfield's growing interest in Eastern music, especially Ravi Shankar. This interest manifested itself on their second album, 1966's East West. The title track was a lengthy instrumental incorporating blues, jazz, rock, psychedelic rock and raga; and it became their signature statement. We will play the last few minutes which feature some of MB’s guitar work.

4 East West – 1966 – East West – Tk 9 – 13.10 – start at 10.45??)

To put this period into perspective, 1966 was also the year that British harpist John Mayall released his own first great album – Bluesbreakers with EC, and we will talk more about this later.
Unfortunately, Mike Bloomfield left the band at the height of its success in 1967, and formed a new group called the Electric Flag. Guitarist Elvin Bishop moved into the lead guitar slot for the band's third album, 1967's The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw (a reference to guitarist Bishop's nickname). This album marked the end of the Butterfield Band's best days;

5 One More Heartache – 1967 – Pigboy Crabshaw – Tk 1 – 3.20

Meanwhile, Bloomfield formed a new band called the Electric Flag which was supposed to build on the innovations of East-West and accordingly featured an expanded lineup complete with a horn section, which allowed the group to add soul music to their laundry list of influences. The Electric Flag debuted at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and issued a debut album, A Long Time Comin', in 1968. This track is from that album, with longtime Chicago friend Nick Gravenites on vocals.

6 Killing Floor – 1967 – Don’t Say – Tk 8 – 4.11

Unfortunately, the band was already disintegrating - rivalries, management problems and drug abuse — all took their toll. Bloomfield himself left the band he'd formed before their album was even released.

He next teamed up with organist Al Kooper, whom he'd played with in the Dylan band, (and who like MB had just been forced out of a band he had helped found – in this case Blood Sweat and Tears). Bloomfield, Kooper and Stephen Stills cut Super Session, a jam-oriented record that spotlighted Bloomfield’s own guitar skills on one half and those of Stephen Stills on the other.

Issued in 1968, it became the best-selling album of Bloomfield's career. Super Session's success led to a sequel, The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, which was recorded over three shows at the Fillmore West in 1968 and released the following year;

He also recorded another live album at the same venue called Live At Bill Graham’s Fillmore West in early 1969, this time with a full band and without Kooper, and we will leave MB with 4 minutes of great slide work from this album, again with Nick Gravenites on vocals.

7 It Takes Time – 1969 – Don’t Say – Tk 14 – 4.07

By this stage however Bloomfield, was growing disenchanted with commercial success, fame and touring and in 1970 at age 27, he effectively retired from high-profile activities.

He made a few albums in the 1970s but his best days were behind him – partly due no doubt to the alcoholism and heroin addiction which made him an unreliable concert presence and slowly cost him some of his longtime musical associations as well as his marriage. Eventually his addiction took its toll - on February 15, 1981, Bloomfield was found dead in his car of a drug overdose; he was only 37.

After Bloomfield left, Butterfield made two more albums, in 1968 and 1969 but they didn’t get the acclaim of his earlier work. His band was still popular enough though to make the bill at Woodstock, and he also took part in Muddy Waters dubbed Fathers and Sons album, which showcased the Chicago giant's influence on the new generation of bluesmen and greatly broadened his audience. Track from the 1969 album Keep on Moving

8 No Amount of Loving – 1969 – Keep On Moving – Tk 2 – 3.14

In 1971 Butterfield broke up his band and parted ways with Elektra and formed a new group which was eventually given the name Better Days. He released an album with that name in 1972. The group featured folk blues couple Geoff and Maria Muldaur who feature on this next track playing slide and fiddle respectively.

9 Baby Please Don’t Go – 1972 – Better Days – Tk 5 – 3.33

While it didn't quite match up to his earliest efforts, it did return him to critical favor. A follow-up, It All Comes Back, was released in 1973 to positive response, and in 1975 he backed Muddy Waters once again on The Woodstock Album, the last LP release ever on Chess.

Butterfield subsequently pursued a solo career, but with little success. By the early 1980s his health was in decline; years of heavy drinking were beginning to catch up to him - he also developed an addiction to heroin. He toured on a limited basis during the mid-'80s, and in 1986 released his final album. On May 4, 1987, Butterfield too died of a drug overdose; he was only 44 years old.

Champion Jack Dupree

We have previously introduced Roy Byrd in these sessions as one of the great NO pianists, and we have a few more to go. Another of the city’s greats was Champion Jack Dupree, although he really didn't spend much of his life in the Crescent City. Seeking an escape from a racist society, Dupree left New Orleans, first to the cities of the North and then abroad to Europe, only to return to his hometown in the twilight of his life to much fanfare and acceptance.

A formidable contender in the ring before he shifted his focus to pounding the piano instead, Champion Jack Dupree often injected his lyrics with a rowdy sense of down-home humor

1 My Woman Left Me – 1990 – Back Home in NO – Tk 6 – 3.08

William Thomas Dupree was born in July 1910 in New Orleans. Dupree was notoriously vague about his beginnings, claiming in some interviews that his parents died in a fire set by the Ku Klux Klan, at other times saying that the blaze was accidental. Whatever the circumstances, Dupree grew up in New Orleans' Colored Waifs' Home for Boys (Louis Armstrong also spent his formative years there). Learning his trade from a barrelhouse pianist named Willie "Drive 'em Down" Hall, he met another young pianist during this period by the name of Roy Byrd (later known as Professor Longhair) with whom he made an agreement to teach him how to sing in exchange for further lessons on the piano.

.Dupree left the Crescent City in 1930 for Chicago and then Detroit. While in Detroit, he was introduced to boxing legend Joe Louis, who rekindled the young man's interest in the sport and helped Dupree work his way into the ring. By 1935, he was boxing professionally. During his time as a boxer, Dupree fought in 107 bouts and even won the lightweight championship in Indiana. It also earned him the nickname of Champion Jack in the process.

By 1940, he had enough of boxing and turned back to the piano He had been supplementing his income all along by playing part-time and his talent had earned him a reputation as a boogie master in the Midwest. Dupree had also attracted the attention of producer, Lester Melrose, and in 1940, Dupree made his recording debut for OKeh Records.

Dupree's 1940-1941 output for the Columbia subsidiary exhibited a strong New Orleans tinge despite the Chicago surroundings; and his driving "Junker's Blues" was later cleaned up as Fats Domino's 1949 debut, "The Fat Man."

2 Junker’s Blues – Blues Collection – Jan 1941 – Tk 8 – 2.41

In 1942, Dupree was drafted into the navy and was sent to the Pacific front where he worked as a cook. He was eventually captured by the Japanese and spent two years as a prisoner of war.

After the war ended, Dupree decided that the piano beat pugilism any old day. He spent most of his time in New York and quickly became a prolific recording artist, often in the company of Brownie McGhee. Contracts meant little; and like John Lee Hooker at about the same time, Dupree masqueraded as Brother Blues on Abbey, Lightnin' Jr. on Empire, and the truly imaginative Meat Head Johnson for Gotham and Apex. Here is a track from the immediate post war period, with Brownie McGhee on guitar.

3 How Long Blues - – Blues Collection – 1945 – Tk 15 – 2.39

King Records got hold of him in 1953 and held onto him through 1955 (the year he enjoyed his only R&B chart hit, the relaxed "Walking the Blues."). Dupree's King output rates with his very best; the romping "Mail Order Woman," "Let the Doorbell Ring," and "Big Leg Emma's" contrasting with the rural "Me and My Mule"

In 1958, he recorded what is considered by many to be his masterpiece, "Blues From The Gutter". This album recanted tales of prostitution, drug use and the shadier side of life altogether and included marvelous readings of "Stack-O-Lee," "Junker's Blues," and "Frankie & Johnny" beside the risqué "Nasty Boogie

4 Nasty Boogie – 1958 – Blues From The Gutter – Tk 5 – 3.06

Great album with excellent guitar and sax work on every track, backing Dupree’s piano. Next song …Listen out to Dupree telling us of the evils of drug addiction towards the end…….

5 Can’t Kick the Habit – 1958 – Blues From The Gutter – Tk 3 – 3.39

The prejudice and racism throughout the United States became too much and in late 1958, like others we have spoken about in these sessions, he decided to move to Europe. Over the next 32 years, he lived in Switzerland, France, England, Denmark and Germany. He also recorded a multitude of wonderful albums during this time for a long list of European labels.

In 1990, Champion Jack Dupree was talked into returning to the United States and his hometown to make an appearance at the famed New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. It was his first visit to the city since 1954 and he was simply the sensation of the event. He agreed to stay long enough to record the critically acclaimed album, "Back Home In New Orleans", backed by an all-star lineup of NO greats and produced by Ron Levy. The recording showed to an American audience that even at the age of 79, Dupree still had the powerful vocals and stunning barrelhouse piano talent that so many had forgotten over the years.

6 When I’m Drinking – 1990 – Back Home In Chicago – Tk 1 – 3.24

Dupree made an encore performance at JazzFest in 1991 and also played the Chicago Blues Festival that same year. He returned to the studio one more time, in 1991, where he laid down the tracks for what eventually became his final releases, "Forever & Ever"and "One Last Time". Track from One Last Time

7 Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee – 1991 – Portrait of a Champion – Tk 6 – 4.10

Champion Jack returned to his home in Hanover, Germany, where he died from complications of cancer on January 21, 1992.

Dupree was a fun-loving man despite the themes of his music and he left a large catalog of material. Champion Jack Dupree was posthumously honored by the Blues Foundation, receiving election into their Hall of Fame. He found success in a multitude of professions throughout his life: musician, boxer, cook and even as a painter towards the end..

Go out with another track from…….Listen out for the alto sax work

8 Stack O Lee – 1958 – Blues From The Gutter – Tk 10 – 3.56

Taj Mahal

Today we are going to cover one of the most prominent figures in late 20th century blues, and a regular visitor to Australia, who is in fact back here around Easter for the ECBRF - Taj Mahal. In a career that is now 45 years long, Taj, like another regular visitor Bob Brozman, has taken his initial interest in traditional blues music and extended it to include roots music styles from around the world — reggae, jazz, gospel, R&B, zydeco, West African, Latin, even Hawaiian.

Taj's interest in these wider forms was a precursor to the interests currently shown by other young bluesmen — artists like Keb' Mo', Guy Davis, Corey Harris and Alvin Youngblood Hart.

1 Mr Pitiful – 1996 – Senor Blues – Tk 13 – 2.56

Taj Mahal was born with the grand name of Henry St. Clair Fredericks in New York on May 17, 1942. His father a jazz pianist/composer/arranger of Jamaican descent, his mother a schoolteacher from South Carolina who sang gospel — the family moved to Springfield, MA, when he was quite young.

Early on he developed a particular interest in African music, and his parents also encouraged him to pursue music, starting him out with classical piano lessons before he moved on to the clarinet, trombone and harmonica.

When Henry was aged eleven his father was killed in an accident. His mother remarried, and at age 13 or 14 young Henry began messin with his stepfather’s guitar, receiving his first lessons from a neighbour who just happened to be the nephew of the famous bluesman Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup.

Henry loved the blues — both acoustic and electric but also received a solid tertiary education at the University of Massachusetts, where he studied animal husbandry, veterinary science and agronomy. Somewhere around 1959-61, he adopted the musical alias Taj Mahal (an idea that came to him in a dream) and formed Taj Mahal & the Elektras, which played around the area during the early '60s.

In 1964 at age 22, he moved to Santa Monica, California and formed The Rising Sons with fellow blues musician, 17yo Ry Cooder, landing a record deal with Columbia Records soon after.

They recorded 22 tracks in two sessions in late 1965 and 1966, of which only two were released on a single. An album was made, but stayed unreleased until 1992. Available from JB HiFi – good liner notes

Rev Gary Davis track

2 Candy Man – 6 Oct 1965 – Rising Sons – Tk 4 – 2.04

The band opened for numerous high-profile touring artists of the ‘60s, and Taj also mingled with touring blues legends, including Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Lightnin' Hopkins and Sleepy John Estes

Along with Chicago based Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Rising Sons group was one of the first interracial bands of the period – there are a lot of similarities with Taj’s early career and that of PB – both were born in 1942, were harpists, made their first recordings in 1965. The differences of course are that TM was Black, and west coast based, not Chicago, and PBs career descended into drugs and addictions before his death in 1987

The Rising Sons seemed to be going nowhere, and, frustrated, Mahal left the group but stayed on with Columbia as a solo artist. His self-titled debut was released in early 1968 and its stripped-down approach to vintage blues sounds made it unlike virtually anything else on the blues scene at the time.
Track from this album – featuring a then 21 yo Ryland P Cooder on rhythm guitar – Willie McTell number made famous by the Allman Bros a few years later
3 Statesboro Blues – 1968 – Taj Mahal– Tk 2 – 3.00

This album has come to be regarded as a classic of the '60s blues revival, as did its follow-up, Natch'l Blues which appeared in the same year

4 Good Morning Miss Brown – 1968 – Natchl’ Blues– Tk 1 – 3.17

The half-electric, half-acoustic double-LP set Giasnt Step followed in 1969 and those three records built Mahal's reputation as an authentic yet unique modern-day bluesman, gaining wide exposure and leading to collaborations or tours with a wide variety of prominent rockers and bluesmen. Two from this album – an electric number followed by an acoustic one.

5 Give your Woman What She Wants – 1969 – Giant Step – Tk 3 – 2.27

6 Fishin Blues – 1969 – Giant Step – Tk 21 – 3.05

Three years later - album 'Recycling the Blues & Other Related Stuff' (1972) - track with tuba accompaniment:

7 Cakewalk into Town – 1972 – Essential TM Disc 1 – Tk 16 – 2.33

During the early '70s, Taj’s recording material diversify. In 1974, he recorded his most reggae-heavy outing, Mo Roots. Track from this album, recorded in San Fran in 1974, featuring Wailers band member Aston Barret, not on bass but on piano, and Merry Clayton (best known for her work with MJ on Gimme Shelter) on backing vocals

8 Slave Driver – 1974 – Essential TM Disc 2 – Tk 2 – 2.44

Mahal recorded three albums 1977 but changing musical tastes meant decreasing interest in his work and he spent much of the '80s off record, moving to Hawaii where he formed The Hula Blues Band. Originally this was just a group of guys getting together for fishing and a good time, the band soon began performing regularly and touring. Miss John Hurt track from 1976

9 Satisfied n Tickled Too - 1976 – Essential TM Disc 2 – Tk 5 – fade out at 2.35

Mahal returned to the studio in 1987 and made a series of well-received children's albums, and other side projects, including a musical score for a play called Mule Bone. The play wasn’t a commercial success, but the album earned him a Grammy nomination in 1991. Track from that album, recorded in Hawaii...

10 Crossing - 1990 – Essential TM Disc 2 – Tk 8 – 2.33

The same year marked Mahal's full-fledged return to regular recording and touring, kicked off with the first of a series of great albums on the Private Music label. Track from Phantom Blues –released in 1996....

11 Lovin’ in my Baby’s Eyes – 1995 – Essential TM Disc 2 – Tk 13 – 2.43

In 1997, Mahal won a Grammy for Señor Blues, recorded the year before.

12 Irresistible You – 1996 – Senor Blues – Tk 3 – 3.14

Meanwhile, he undertook a number of small-label side projects that constituted some of his most ambitious forays into world music. 1999's Kulanjan was a duo performance with Malian kora player Toumani Diabate.

Track from this album

13 Queen Bee – 1999 – Essential TM Disc 2 – Tk 16 – fade out at 2.30

Taj is quoted as saying that this album "embodies his musical and cultural spirit arriving full circle." To him it was an experience that allowed him to reconnect with his African heritage.

In 2000, Taj released a second Grammy winning album, Shoutin' in Key. Let the man himself introduce this next track:

14 Stranger in my own Home Town – 2000 - Shoutin in Key – Tk 4 start at 4.52 – then go to Tk 5 - 2.55

Taj Mahal has said he prefers to do outdoor performances, saying: "The music was designed for people to move, and it's a bit difficult after a while to have people sitting like they're watching television. That's why I like to play outdoor festivals-because people will just dance.

His broad musical interests have led Taj into other side projects. He became a strong supporter of the Music Maker Relief Foundation in 1997, as a supporter, advisor and MMRF board member, as well as an artistic consultant and contributor to many of that label’s recordings

Taj Mahal has also brought together his two great passions: blues and sports fishing for the benefit of Music Maker, with The Fishin’ Blues Tournament held in Central America for the last eight years.

His wide interests are also evidenced by the links on his website to a large number of environmental websites, especially those devoted to protecting the world’s oceans – http://www.tajblues.com/

Taj is here in April for ECBRF but also doing shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. In Syd and Melb they are double acts with BG, in Adelaide with EHB – you should try to see him at one of these gigs.

Finish off with a few minutes from an instrumental recorded in 1998 with Piedmont blues guitarist and singer Etta Baker. Etta was 85 when this recording was made

15 John Henry – 1998 – Essential TM Disc 2 – Tk 18 – 3.41