The Butterfield Blues Band - The Resurrection Of Pigboy Crabshaw (1967)

The Butterfield Blues Band were an American blues group fronted by vocalist and harmonica player Paul Butterfield, who was one of the first well-known white blues singers.

The Butterfield Blues Band's lead guitarist and star player Mike Bloomfield departed in 1967, tired of the group's rigorous touring schedule and wanting to start his own band. He relocated to San Francisco, and formed The Electric Flag.
This left Elvin Bishop as the Butterfield Band's only guitarist. He rose to the task admirably, as he had always been a first-class blues player, but being in a band alongside Bloomfield had forced him (as it would have done to almost anyone) into the role of 'second guitarist'. But now he was able to show what he was really made of. Bassist Jerome Arnold and drummer Billy Davenport had also left, so The Resurrection Of Pigboy Crabshaw was the band's first album with the revised line-up of Paul Butterfield (lead vocals/harmonica), Elvin Bishop (guitar/vocals), Mark Naftalin (keyboards), Bugsy Maugh (bass/vocals) and Phil Wilson (drums). The band also added a three-piece horn section consisting of Gene Dinwiddie (tenor sax), David Sanborn (alto sax) and Keith Johnson (trumpet).
With its extensive use of the horn section, the new album moved ever-so-slightly away from Chicago blues and towards an R&B / soul sound, most notable on the opening track, a cover of the Motown tune "One More Heartache" (written by The Miracles, first recorded by Marvin Gaye). They were still undoubtedly a blues band, but were clearly beginning to expand beyond the confines of the genre.

East-West (1966) <|> In My Own Dream (1968)
More from The Butterfield Blues Band

Download

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This was a seminal record for myself and my circle of friends. Our musical tastes where forever influenced by this one record, and High School was never quite the same.
Enjoyed your post.