# 20 Mayall, Butterfield and Greens

    For the fans, it's about the entertainment, and for most artists, it is about the rush of performing their music live, but for everybody else, it's about the money. Each time an artist takes their music out on tour, it's a potential marketing opportunity. Everyone from bartenders selling drinks to the artist's label have the primary interest of making money from artist's performances.

    So, in an effort to expose Butterfield to a new market, his management and label invests some capital into the November 1966 tour of England. Personally, I think, the band, and especially Butterfield, are really over worked from the unrelenting travel, extra performances, and media interviews. I don't know how any of them can remember the whole experience by the time it's over. In addition to the demanding expectations, Paul is expected to record with the British bluesman John Mayall.

   The October of '65 release of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band caters to the merging of folk, blues, and rock audiences with Chicago Blues standards and a few originals. It is a really well crafted revivalist album by some of the best young musicians of an era. The fact that the album is still in print nearly fifty years after its release is a testament to its credibility as a classic album.

    Credentials are an important factor in promoting all blues artists, and Elektra has the good sense to promote the background of Butterfield and his band members in a way which serves heighten the listening experience for fans. Everything from the album cover photo and liner notes, to the stories about the band's past relationships with the masters of Chicago Blues scene serve to accentuate the authenticity of Butterfield and his album.

    The success of the album inspires other labels to seek out artists to capture the revivalist market. Over in England, Decca Records contracts John Mayall and his band The Blues Breakers to record a revivalist album similar to the Butterfield album. However, it's over a year since the release of The Paul Butterfield Band , and to make matters worse for Mayall, his star guitarist, Eric Clapton leaves his band before the promotion of the album can get started. The situation presents a problem of relevance for Mayall, and his label. The fact is that in 1966, outside of England, Mayall has limited credibly in the blues world, and in blues, that can be a detriment. (Many rappers would describe this as lacking of 'street cred') Maintaining his public persona as a first rate bluesman outside of Britain will require some investments. So, having Mayall record with a white blues artist who comes with some serious credentials, will only serve to enhance his profile.

    As a potential remedy to the problem, producer Mike Vernon, gets the idea to record Butterfield and Mayall together for an album. Then, he pitches the idea to Elektra, arguing that it will be good for the careers of both men. I imagine a summary of the proposal went something like:  The two kings of the new blues rock movement together on one disc.....! 


     However, Elektra has other ideas about the future of their band. They don't want Butterfield to continue recording for the dwindling revivalist market.(Nostalgia is a nice place to visit, but who wants to live there.) They want him to move in the direction of the real money, into the mainstream market. Their position is that a recording with Mayall will only slow down his departure from the revivalist market. In addition, Butterfield has already recorded East West, which is made up of rock, blues, jazz, and R & B, definitely not a revivalist album.

   In spite of  Elektra's rejection, Vernon persists, and manages to negotiate terms for an EP of the two bluesmen. Mayall's label, Decca will distribute the EP , but only in the U.K.. It's not ideal for Mayall, but it can still work in his favour.  The advertising will suggest that this young, white American bluesman with serious street cred's has traveled from America to work for bluesman John Mayall. Elektra probably also insists that he will have to use his own band for the recording, but Mayall doesn't care because he doesn't like Bloomfield's playing much anyway, “I had always liked Paul, and admired his harmonica playing, but I wasn’t fond of his band, particularly Mike Bloomfield, whose playing I never much cared for.”  (Liner notes to John Mayall 1964 -‘69).

   In the end, the sessions produce four songs, three covers and a Mayall original: 1) All My Life, 2) Ridin’ the L. & N., 3) Little By Little, 4) Eagle Eye. Butterfield sings, and plays harmonica in a supporting role on three tracks, and takes the lead on Little By Little. I realize this will sound biased, but the one track that Butterfield does sing lead on is the the strongest track of the whole session.

    Overall, Paul’s first tour of Britain is a financial success for all participants, but I think it comes with an artistic price for the newly named Butterfield Blues Band. While in Britain it must be difficult for Bloomfield and Bishop, as guitarists, to ignore the public adulation that Clapton receives for his playing.  Clapton has broken away from Mayall, and he appears to be the better off for it. The whole experience will give the guitarists a great deal to ponder in the future.

NOTE: The video below includes all four songs from the Mayall sessions.

# 19 Ready, Steady, Go

   So, the American folk music revival of the fifties and sixties inspires the interest in rural blues, which then leads young musicians to the sounds of electric urban blues. In mid-sixties Chicago, these young white blues enthusiasts are lucky to be living so close to real blues men like Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter and Muddy Waters. More than any of the other bluesmen, Waters affords the most attention on the young musicians, and so, becomes the unofficial musical father of the young Chicago Crowd.

    Across the Atlantic, the London blues scene has a patriarch too. Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies have been playing urban blues since the fifties, but their audiences are so tiny the two are forced to earn money working in local Jazz bands. In frustration, they open their own club in London in an effort to garner support for their love of the music. Their venture proves to be a success, as the club develops a following of young blues enthusiasts from in and out of London. Regulars at the club, mostly guitarist, will become some of the most influential artists of their generation. Among these kids is Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Steve Winwoond, John Mayall, Mick Fleetwood and Eric Clapton; they will bring bring the profile of the guitar slinger idol to America.

   As the interest in urban blues takes root in Britain, American artists like Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson the 2nd and Lightin' Hopkins are invited to tour the UK.  Interest in their music is declining back home, so they gratefully accept the opportunity to work abroad. However, as much as they are impressed with the new interest in their music, they are also confused by the expectations of the audiences. It seems that the British have the romantic view of the blues singer as a black sharecropper with an acoustic guitar. Audiences don't seem to realize that blues is a living breathing art form, and consequently changes with the times.


    After the success of the first The Paul Buttefield Blues Band album in America, other record labels decide to tap into the new market with their own versions of the style Butterfield created. In the U.S., Vanguard contracts an album from Charlie Musselwhite, Stand Back, and in Britain, Decca hires John Mayall to record a similar album.

    In spite of the fact that he is about ten years older than most of the young crop of British blues men, John Mayall is considered part of the group who grow out of the Korner scene. Similar to Butterfield, Mayall is a singer and harmonica player, but more in the tradition of Jimmy Reed and J. D. Lenoir than Waters and Wolf.  He does do some recording in the earlier part of the sixties, but it isn't until he forms his band The Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton on guitar that he earns commercial success.

    So, by July of 1966, Mayall records an album to challenge The Paul Butterfield Blues Band which includes a rival to Bloomfield with the introduction of Eric Clapton. Mayall's album The Blues Breakers is a very similar format to Butterfield's, even down to the cover photo of young men in street clothes with defiant stares. (Clapton is reading a copy of the comic The Beano which I am sure did much for the sales of that publication.)

    However, John Mayall and Blues Breakers, featuring Eric Clapton isn't anything special next to the first Butterfield album, it's really just a collection of mostly covers with Mayall mimicking the original artists. Butterfield has already released that format a over year earlier, and it comes off as being more progressive next to Mayall's attempt. In the end, Mayall’s album is more important because of its introduction of Clapton than its contribution to sixties blues rock.

  Nevertheless, after the success of The Blues Breakers album, Elektra can't deny the competition. A tour of England is planned for the Butterfield band for November, 1966. They will be play several clubs, and share the bill with blues rock acts like: Georgie Fame & Chris Farlowe, Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band, The Animals with Eric Burdon and Cream. In addition, there will be an appearance on the nationally televised show Ready, Steady, Go, plus a recording session with Mayall.

    So, in early November, Paul and his band fly to England for an intense sixteen date tour of clubs in London, Manchester, Edmonton, Birmingham, Brixton, sometimes playing two and three separate audiences in one day. They start out on November 10th, play central London’s famed Marquee Club, and then drive to Manchester to play at The Jigsaw Club, then on to Brixton for two gigs at The Ram Jam Club concluding Cooks Ferry Inn in Edmonton. In addition to the jet lag and culture shock, it must have been an exhausting journey. Adding to the pace, the band then goes into the studio to record with Mayall.

    After the recording session, they play Birmingham the next day, then travel back to London to appear on the premier pop music television show. Paul is unhappy because he will need to lip-synced their single Droppin' Out to a live studio audience. Once they finish playing Ready Steady Go, the band immediately leaves to play two shows at separate clubs in London, and then a final show the next day before they board the plane for the trip back to New York. The tour is so rapid that everyone barely has a chance to blink. In between gigs they give a succession of interviews to the press where Paul is so tired he offers up an almost inaudible voice when answering the media questions. Fortunately, Bloomfield conducts most of the interviews with all the political savvy of a master blues man.

    There does not seem to be any video available of the Ready, Steady, Go performance, which is odd considering that it has in been in and out of publication many times over the years. The only thing available is a poor audio track of the song they performed Droppin' Out and a photo. The Mayall recording sessions I will cover in the next installment.

# 18 The Matrix

    As I write about the recorded performances Paul Butterfield makes during his career, I'm realize just how much great blues/rock music is being performed in very small, almost invisible clubs during the sixties. It reminds me of the era when the folk singer/songwriters hold court in Greenwich Village. Tiny venues like The Gaslight, Cafe Wha?, and Gerties Folk City showcase artists who will go on to change the direction of popular music.

   By the mid-sixties, there are small music venues in every city, catering to fans of young artists who are blending folk, country and blues with the electric volume and energy found in rock. When Bill Graham starts promoting concerts at The Fillmore in 1965, the size of the venue is an enormous coup for so many unheard artists, but there is still a growth in the smaller clubs.

   As an example, not far from The Fillmore Auditorium is The Matrix at 3130 Fillmore Street. It is a 50 by 80 foot, renovated pizza shop with a 10 foot ceiling at the front of the room which graduates to 20 feet at the back. One wall has a huge mural of The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, all of them carrying musical instruments, and the back wall has a little window which leads to a galley kitchen for the preparation of snacks. The Matrix is so tiny, it's difficult to imagine how the owners manage to fit some tables with chairs, and also include a dance floor. If you are concluding that the stage must be tiny, you are correct.

   In spite of the size of the venue, a huge list of soon to be famous artists make their public debut at The Matrix. The Jefferson Airplane are one of the first band's to work the nightclub. They even feature the inside of the place on their 1967 release, Surrealistic Pillow. In addition, The Grateful Dead, Howlin' Wolf, The Doors, Hot Tuna, Santana are among the many other bands who play the club, some even record albums there.

   Of course, when touring the West Coast, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band plays The Matrix too. Fortunately for us, in December of 1966, someone records the band performing an excellent set, some songs familiar to fans, and others are more obscure. The band is definitely moving away from playing standard Chicago Blues and experimenting with a hybrid of Rhythm and Blues material. The sound quality is fair to good, but the performances are excellent! I notice that Butterfield is in pretty good spirits during this performance as he engages the audience in  some of his wry humour.


1) This is a standard shuffle featuring keyboard work from Naftalin - Excellent solo!
2) This is a standard slow instrumental blues featuring intense guitar solo from Elvin Bishop.
3) This is another shuffle featuring Bishop. No sign of Butterfield or Bloomfield yet.
4) Butterfield arrives, and introduces I feel So Bad. Butterfield on vocals, No harmonica. Sound is a little       rough.
5) Driftin' Blues. This will become a standard for the band, but this version is a very different format than the others. Butterfield performs with a strong vocals, and uses acoustic harp.
6) This is the track which I include below, 300 Pounds of Heavenly Joy dedicated to Louis Myers. Butterfield on vocals, no harmonica. Probably one of the stronger tracks.
7) Reconsider Baby, No Butterfield on this track. Elvin Bishop on vocals and blistering guitar solo by Bloomfield.
8) I don't know what the title of this track is so I call it Elvin's Blues. Slow blues, Bloomfield on guitar,
9) Get Out of My Life Woman, Butterfield on vocals.
10) One More Heartache, No harmonica solo on this version. I think it's the first Butterfield version I've heard with no harmonica solo.
11) Midnight Hour, unknown vocalist, not Bishop or Butterfield. It might be Arnold?? The band does backing vocals and Bloomfield provides the guitar solo.
12) Walkin' By Myself, Butterfield plays some great fluid harp, and vocals!
13) Born in Chicago, Butterfield cracks the joke as he is introducing the song written by the "great" Nick Gravenites, and then says Born in Sonora. More up tempo than the studio version, and Bloomfield is really playing well tonight!
14) Mojo Workin' , Butterfield wryly introduces the song as Melancholy Baby, but then they swing into a very up tempo and funky version of I Got My Mojo Workin.

                                                                

                                                    

# 17 Droppin in at the Fillmore

     In the mid sixties, the ambitious young businessman Bill Graham begins managing a small theater troupe, and promotes a few music shows in San Francisco. Then he moves on to promoting some free concerts in the Bay area, which are also successful. He has a natural business acumen, and starts a promotion company which will become, Bill Graham Presents. One of the first rock concerts he organizes is with another local promoter by the name of Chet Helms. 

    The two decide to put on a concert featuring The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. The band's performance is so lucrative that Graham's ambition takes over, and he decides to cut Helms out the next concert with the Butterfield Band. So, he stays up all night in a plan to call Butterfield's manager in New York before Helms has a chance to make the a call. Graham asks Grossman for the rights to promote Butterfield for one show, but then negotiates a deal with him that will make Graham the sole promoter for every show Butterfield plays in San Francisco. The whole episode says a lot about Graham, and yes, his actions do piss off Chet Helms. However, it is the start of a long, and prosperous relationship for Graham, Grossman and Paul Butterfield.

   One of the auditoriums that Graham leases for his shows is called The Fillmore. It's an old building in a ghetto neighbourhood of San Francisco called the The Fillmore District. In the coming years, Bill Graham will acquire, The Fillmore then Winterland, and Family Dog Concert Halls. In these buildings he will host most of the rock bands who create some of the most of the influential music of a generation. Bands such as: The Grateful Dead, The Jefferson Airplane, BIg Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin, Starship, The Eagles, Country Joe and the Fish, The New Riders of the Purple Sage, Moby Grape, Santana, Frank Zappa, Steve Miller, The Mamas and the Papas, Crosby Stills, Nash and Young, Taj Mahal and many more. (BTW, The Grateful Dead hold the record for playing The Fillmore, 52 times between 1965 and '69.) Through his foresight, business leadership, generosity, and talented staff, Bill Graham becomes the most important rock concert promoter of a generation.  

   The Fillmore actually becomes as famous as many of the names who play there. It also develops into both a local as well as an international focal point for psychedelic music, and an institution of the counter culture in the United States..

    One of the reasons the venue becomes famous is because of its ambiance. There are strobe lights, swirling light show projections, and my favourite, the iconic light show which appears behind so many bands of that era. (Here is how they created that effect: they take the lens' from two clocks you can find in most public institutions. The lens' are about 8 or 10 inches in diameter. They pour vegetable oil mixed with food colouring on one side, and sandwich the two lens' together. Finally, they place the sandwiched lens' on a standard overhead projector, which magnifies the designs between the lens'.)

    A lot of Bill Graham's initial success as a promoter, and The Fillmore is because of the The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. They become the band to see when in San Francisco. As an example of his gratitude to Butterfield, in 1973, when Butterfield is playing Winterland with his band, Better Days, Graham introduces them with "If it weren't for Paul, I don't know if a lot of us would be tonight"  That is a pretty solid endorsement from the most important promoter of an era.

   Initially, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band are different than all of the San Francisco bands who play The Fillmore. They look different, none have long hair, and they show up on stage dressed in their street close. The other thing that sets them apart from everyone else is their obvious elevated level of musicianship. One of the reasons for this is the wide variety of music they have been exposed to growing up in Chicago. The most important skill gained from all that musical experience is the sensibility that comes from the improvising found in Be-bop, and then the more eclectic Hard- bop. I know from reading interviews with Butterfield that he is very familiar with Be-bop and Hard-bop jazz. As Charlie Parker so succinctly sums up playing the music, "Master your instrument, Master the music, and then forget all the stuff, and just play."

    In these types of Jazz, the musicians play an introduction, referred to as the head. Then, they take turns improvising inside the groove. It's an artist based music, not audience based, as is the case with pop. As slight digression, often, the media still depicts The Beatniks and Be-bop musicians as one unified social group, but in reality, it is The Beats who fall in love Be-bop artists and their music, the love is not always reciprocated. The reasons are probably as simple or complex as that The Beats feel connected to the seemly spontaneous self-expression of Be-bop, and so claim it as their music, but often, the Be-bop artists see the The Beats as lazy. 

   Anyway, the musical format used by both Be-bop and the more eclectic Hard-bop players, sounds like a simple enough format, but it requires mastery of the instrument, and then the ability to creatively put that mastery into a soundscape. While the Butterfield Band are willing to attempt the music, most of the other local bands in San Francisco are not. I don't know if I would place any of the Butterfield Band in the same skill category as the Hard-bop players, but they definitely had the sensibility, and compared with most of the other rock musicians in San Francisco, they are pretty proficient musicians. 

   So, here is the key reason why The Fillmore recording is so important. The band chooses to play Nat Adderley's 1960, Hard-bop cross over hit Work Song as part of their repertoire. They may choose the tune as a way to distance themselves from Blues or to signal a more eclectic approach to playing rock, but they make the effort, and it pays off. Keep in mind that no other rock band is attempting to fuse rock, blues and jazz together at this time. The Butterfield Band is breaking ground when they substitute saxophone and trumpet parts for electric guitars, and amplified harmonica.

    Which brings us to Droppin In with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Some of it is a bootleg recording of the band at The Fillmore. When I was given a copy, it was on audio cassette. I was both elated, and disappointed, all at the same time. It is made up of a collection of tracks from the An Offer You Can't Refuse, which is a reproduction of Sutherland Hotel collection. (See my post #2) In addition, there are a few tracks from the 1965 The Newport Folk Festival set. For these reasons I was really disappointed with Droppin' In with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

   The remaining tracks are from a set in 1966 at The Fillmore. The sound quality isn't that great, but it is certainly good enough to enjoy on a good system, or with headphones. I imagine some sound engineer at The Fillmore must have taped the show from the soundboard as it definitely sounds better than an audience recordings. 

   The good points about the Fillmore set of tracks is this: once again it is a historical document of the band when they are first making history at The Fillmore. The performances are great! For these reasons alone, I am glad own a copy.

   The band is: Paul Butterfield harmonica and vocals, Mike Bloomfield guitar, Elvin Bishop guitar, Jerome Arnold bass and Bill Davenport drums.

The September,1966 Fillmore tracks are: The Sky is Crying, Oh, Pretty Woman, Help Me, Born in Chicago, Goin' Home, Droppin' Out, Out Love is Drifitin', She's Long She's Tall, My Babe, Kansas City, Work Song and East West.

# 16 Pure Muddy, Rare Butter

    Muddy Waters is such an significant figure in the history of American Blues, Chicago Blues of the fifties, and then Rock/Blues of the sixties and seventies. He sets so many benchmarks over the course of his career, there are just too many to cover in this short blog.

    Much of the authentic blues based rock created in the sixties is a result of Butterfield, with his peers in the Chicago Crowd. Unlike their British contemporaries they have real teacher/student contact with the artists who are creating blues, and consequently develop a clearer understanding of the nuances of the music. It is the difference between learning a new language via Skype, and moving in with a family who speak the language everyday. This is important because, blues, like all folk arts has the unwritten rule of serving an apprenticeship on the way to becoming a journeyman, and most of the Chicago Crowd serve their masters.

Muddy in action with Butterfield.

   In the early days, Muddy is one of the few great bluesmen who pays attention to the young white kids showing up in the bars. I have read many interviews with members of the Chicago Crowd where they always compliment Muddy on his regal demeanor, and how graciously he affords time to Butterfield, Gravenites, Bloomfield, Bishop when they approach him. There are other bluesmen who are generous with their knowledge, but Muddy's name seems to come up most often.

   As an example, Muddy Waters doesn't think Butterfield is very good the first time he hears him, but he lets him sit-in with his band anyway. Regardless of whether the audiences are enthralled with the novelty of a white kid playing their music, or that Muddy sees opportunities to lay back, Butterfield's first performances in the South Side clubs are part of his genuine education.


   Over my years of reading about this era in Blues, I have come to the conclusion that Muddy has a deeper affinity for Butterfield than he does for the other young players. I think a lot of it has to do with Muddy's love of the harmonica. He is a harp player himself, and hires only the best, Walter, Cotton and Wells to name only three. Also, Muddy likes his harp players to favour the lower register of the harp, or the  'meat' as he calls it. This may be one reason Butterfield rarely ventures above the 6 hole.

   Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any recordings of the young Butterfield serving his apprenticeship with Muddy Waters. There are written documents, and tales from eye witness', but no recordings. What I have included here, may be the earliest recording of the two.

    Below, you will find a pretty rare recording of Butterfield playing harp with Muddy, at least I think it's rare. I definitely have never heard this performance of Mojo before.. The only information I can offer you is: according to the black marker on the CDR, "Mojo, Fillmore, 1966" If you have any other information, please let me know?

                                                         

# 15 Peter, Paul and Mary.

    In retrospect, the Folk Revival of the late fifties and early sixties seems to be about a rebellion by young baby boomers who feel disenfranchised from the post war corporate values to which the middle classes have chosen to adapt. Similar to all folk music, it is a bridge between the desires for change in the social and political expectations of the day. However, as its popularity grows, so does the opportunity to make money from the trend.

    Consequently, there is an irony to the success of the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Armed with a strict criterion of marketability, artist manager Albert Grossman chooses each one of them to form a folk trio who will sing mainstream friendly folk tunes mixed with the some light protest songs. They are essentially a product manufactured by the very people the music is rebelling against. The strategy works though, because the Peter, Paul and Mary become an international success, selling millions of records. On their first six albums, they are just two acoustic guitars and three voices, but as you will see in the selections below, they did their best to adapt to changes in tastes.

    After Dylan establishes the new direction of folk music with the release of Like a Rolling Stone, and then his controversial  electric performance at Newport, most folk singers feel that if they are to survive, they need to move in the same direction. Peter, Paul and Mary are no different, they too add electric guitars, and amplified drums to their songs.

   In 1966,  twenty musicians who have successfully made the transition to folk/rock are hired to play a supporting roles for the group's new album The Peter, Paul and Mary Album. Among the personnel is Butterfield, Mike Bloomfield and Mark Naftalin from The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Paul's harmonica can be heard on the song King of Names. The album hits #22 on the Billboard charts.

   I have heard King of Names without the funky Butterfield sound included, and I am always impressed with how much his fills, and solo add to the atmosphere of the recording.

                                                                   

   By the late sixties the trio's transition from acoustic folk to the new folk-rock format is complete, and sales indicate the change is a success. As they go into the studio to record Late Again you can't help but notice the diversity of the studio musicians chosen: Elvin Bishop, Herbie Hancock, Charlie McCoy to name a few. It's pretty difficult to call a lineup like that folk.

   So, in 1968 they release Late Again which is mostly originals from the trio except for Bob Dylan's Too Much of Nothing. Of all the songs on the album, this song is definitely the stand out track, and as it turns out, Butterfield is right their plugging the holes with his magic harmonica.  The album peaks at #14

                                             

   By the early 80s, so many incarnations of folk/rock have bloomed and wilted since PPM's first release in 1962. Protest songs don't get much radio play anymore, Disco is gasping for its last breath, disenfranchised kids are listening the rise of  Punk, or New Wave and techno is waiting in the wings. Even Butterfield is having difficulty maintaining a direction.

   Butterfield's last recording with Peter, Paul and Mary comes as his own career is hitting all time lows. He is hired to play live in New York for an October of 1981 show. The album, Such Is Love is released in 1982 with Butterfield playing harmonica on But There for Fortune.  The album is an attempt at returning to the original sound from the early 60's, but other than the loyalty of their own shrinking fan base, it goes unnoticed, and doesn't chart.

    I mention this for any harmonica players out there who have followed Butterfield's development of a sound over his career. I prefer the rounder tone he produces when playing acoustically, it seems to be a warmer tone, and the first two recordings above really highlight that tone well. I find that by the later 70's and into the 80's, his acoustic tone seems starker, and sometimes even a little colder.

                                                                       

 

# 14 Very Rare Gravenites/Bloomfield/Butterfield

   It isn't unusual for most successful artists to have a battery of background talent fueling their success. Elvis, Sinatra, and a long list of other well known singers employ songwriters, who help catapult them up the charts. In the world of 1950s Chicago Blues, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf  are among the many Chess artists who have access to staff writer, Willie Dixon.

   For Paul Butterfield and others in the white blues Chicago Crowd of the 1960s,  it's Nick Gravenites. It seems he has a more lasting influence on Butterfield's choice of career, and then his earlier artist direction, than any other single person. In addition, they aren't just professional associates, but they also maintain a friendship from Butterfield's mid teens until he death in 1987.

   During 1940s and 50s Chicago, Gravenites grows into a street wise young man with an edge in a Greek neighbourhood.. He is four years older than the 15 year old Butterfield, so I suspect that the younger must look to elder as an older brother figure. It is during these early years that Gravenites introduces Paul to many of the South Side blues clubs which surround his cosmopolitan neighbourhood of Hyde Park. They even circulate the local scene as the folk duo Nick and Paul. When Butterfield becomes successful a few years later, it is in part because of the Gravenites composition Born in Chicago. This song establishes both of them in the 1960s blues/rock communities.

    During the mid to late sixties, Gravenites leads most of the Chicago crowd, except Butterfield, to live in and around San Francisco. While living there he becomes a musical handyman in the scene: playing, composing, producing, and performing with many of the local bands. Once he becomes established, many of the west coast critics label him the "original connection" between the San Francisco music scene and the Chicago Crowd.

    Gravenites is an important contributor to the success of many projects in the sixties and seventies. During his career on the West Coast his handyman approach  creates a demand for his talents nationally.  He writes Work Me Lord and Buried Alive in the Blues for Janis Joplin, produces an album for Quicksilver Messenger Service, becomes the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company after Joplin leaves the band. In addition, he also writes the musical scores, produces or contributes to film soundtracks such as The Trip and Steelyard Blues.


    During this period, he has some mainstream success when he produces the Brewer and Shipley's pop single One Toke Over the Line, and carries on to be nominated for a Grammy as the producer of Otis Rush's album Right Place,Wrong Time.  In spite of his success he maintains his loyalty to Bloomfield and Butterfield, including them in many of his projects. I suspect that because Butterfield didn't relocate to the West Coast until the mid 80s he missed out many other Gravenites projects.
   Several years ago I was given a copy of two very rare recordings Gravenites made in a studio with a full band, which include Bloomfield and Butterfield. According to the information at the time, the two tracks were recorded in Chicago in 1966, only a a thousand copies printed, and they have never been commercially released.

   ( I have converted the songs to mp3, and then made a video with them, which are posted below. It is my first attempt at this exercise.)
 
   The first song is called Drunken Boat and features Butterfield playing harmonica. The second songs is called Whole Lot of Soul, and does not feature Butterfield. I think at some poin,t these two songs were transferred from vinyl to audio tape, so there is some lost quality in the copies I own.

   Every time I have listen to these two tracks I think of a soundtrack to a 1950s movie about the darker side of  a bohemian life. Let me know what you think of them, and if you know anything about their history?